Ripples: Who knew a biopic would turn my head

I don't know if this has happened to you before. I went to a movie and I feel it was absolutely life changing! I went with my sister and friend this weekend to see the new Michael Jackson biopic.  It did not disappoint! I will admit I am a little biased since I am a big fan of MJ. However, there were messages in this movie that felt like they were meant for you and I. Let me tell you about it!

Transcript

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Hey guys, it's YK presenting Ripples. So pardon me, you might hear my cat purring in the background, but I figured that's not gonna bother me. Hopefully it doesn't bother you. So today I kind of wanted to talk about um something that I experienced when I went to see a movie this weekend. Um I spent some time going to see the Devilish Prada 2 in the theater, which I enjoyed. And then um the next day I went to see Michael, which is the biopic about Michael Jackson, and it's kind of more about more his early years and things like that. Um and if anyone knows me, I am a huge Michael Jackson fan. Like, I'm I'm not obsessed, like, I don't know all the factoids about him. You know, I can't remember all the things that I know about him, and you know, it's not something I obsess over. But regardless, anyway, um, but I've always loved him since I was like eight years old. Like, Michael Jackson has made a huge impact on me personally through like his music and especially his lifestyle, and I mean the lifestyle where he wanted to provide people with ultimate and utter unconditional love, like in the sense of he like visited hospitals all the time to sick kids. He would um bring kids to his Neverland Park to like give them the childhood that he never had kind of style, and just that he loved everyone, like he believed in love for everybody, it wasn't just for some, it was for all. And I've always kind of taken a lot of that to heart. And I think, especially in this day and age, it's a lot of us versus them mentality right now, and that could be for anything. It could be my parents versus me as a child, or it could be Republicans versus Democrats, or liberals versus MAGAs, or it could be religious, it could be, you know, me versus my boss, you know, the your boss versus the coworkers, it could be anything. The us versus them factor is, I feel like, so apparent. Like, especially also with you know immigration, like immigrants and things like that. It's always, oh, we're citizens and you're not, or we were born here and you weren't. Um, you know, there's always again there's an us versus them mentality quite a bit, and it's becoming almost like a social norm that I would prefer not to see. If I could vote, I'd be like, yeah, I'm I know Likey. Can we go back to where we think that was not cool and we were embarrassed to say it out loud? That would be kind of cool. I would love that for us. Um, but I think there were so many things that kind of impacted me on a personal level level when I watched this film. And I think a part of it was I've always been honest with you guys about how I struggle as kind of like a creator, about having the not not the stamina, that's the wrong word, but like the motivation or the confidence to create on a regular basis without worrying about what people are gonna think. Um it's something I've always struggled with um personally when it comes to posting. Like when I'm in person in public, I'm not you know, I'll wear a chipmunk suit in public. Like it doesn't really, I don't always get phased by, you know, to the right thing, of course. It has to have purpose. Um But um, you know, I'll wear a Cheshire Cat outfit to the cat video festival. Um, but that that I digress. But usually there's a purpose if I dress funny. Um but I like fun shirts, I like fun hats in the winter. I wear like a snow leopard hat um during the winter time, and you know, it took my mom specifically a long time to realize that I am a plus 40-year-old who's going to wear these hats whether she likes it or not. And so she, you know, she had actually bought me the snow leopard hat, and so it was kind of like that big acceptance for me. And I've mentioned it before, but I just want to recap on like, you know, there's certain things you do because you're you're ready. Like you're ready to be you and you're ready to assert your uh you-ness for lack of a better description, I guess. But so when I watched Michael, watching him as a young child kind of like cower in fear from his father. His father was a very forceful man. Um there was, you know, there was definitely physical abuse involved in their family, you know, being the time and whatnot, you know, you would get a you would get a belt if you were, you know, defiant in any way that they seemed fit, you know. Um so coping with that with for Michael was probably pretty tough. I would assume any sort of abuse is a hard thing to get um get through and heal from. Um but watching some of his um development as a as a person and as a as an individual, that eventually he came to his own where he was like, no one's gonna get in my way. Not even my father, who I'm probably terrified of. Like he was probably just petrified of this man, and he was he knew in his heart that he had to be the best him he could be, and he couldn't let anyone get in the way anymore. And watching him realize this through the film was just so beautiful, and it really spoke to me on a personal level, just it really just hit hard for me in a good way. Just it really kind of threw a mirror up in my face and was like, hey, you need to do the things you need to do. Um Michael's mom would talk to him about how even since the day he was born, he he she knew he was different, that he had a light that no one else had. Or like uh some of uh I think it was Quincy Jones when he started to record with Michael Jackson, um, as like his producer, that there was not anyone like him, his voice, and there will never be anyone like him again. Um, and that was it just it hits so home that I know that I am that we all are our own unicorn, if you will, where we all have such special gifts that we were given that we are supposed to use to make the world a better place, you know, just like Michael Jackson, you know, make the world a better place. Music reference from Michael's song. But um for you and for me and the entire human race. Yeah, anyway, so like that's that's again like I've always talked about our life purpose and that you are supposed to be the best you that you can be, and that is your life's purpose. And what every and that looks different for everybody. And I know that I was gifted unto this world, if you will, to share good things with everyone, to show them, show people that life doesn't suck all the time, that it doesn't have to suck, that you can do things about it. That you are the only person standing between you and your happiness, and it's you, you, only you, nothing is in your way, absolutely nothing. You we put ourselves on this limited dream box where we're not allowed to dream too big because that's just silly. And this movie, Michael Jackson really was like, there is nothing I can't do, and I can think as big as I want. And that is the mentality that I need to remember going forward is that I can do anything, and I can do anything, and I just have to remember that. And I I think it's a great lesson for us all that we can always we're always gonna grow, we're always gonna develop, but uh just just think of what does the moon look like to you? Like if you were to shoot for the moon and go for something really, really big, and there was no limitations, what would that look like? And I've I've asked that before on one of my YouTube videos, like if you could be or do anything without any sort of like mm financial restraint or you know, oh well, I need to have three legs if I'm gonna do this, you know. I don't know. I'm just being, you know, that's kind of outdone, but like you don't need three legs to do anything, but you kind of know what I'm saying. Like, don't let any sort of like limit get into your brain when you're brainstorming these ideas, because when I'm uh I think one of my life coach uh has a really good way of doing things, is um some people really find journaling very rewarding. I'm not a big huge journaler, but every once in a while there's this this core idea that happens sometimes when you're journaling, or sometimes when I'm just like sitting and like meditating or thinking to myself. There's this theory that if you are like, let's pretend you're writing down what is my life's purpose on a piece of paper, right? And it's kind of like you can start with it's kind of like a brainstorming. So you just could write down things just without hindrance. You don't have to be able to read it either. Like, just kind of write on the paper, just keep writing, my life's purpose is this, my life's purpose is that, and just see where your brain goes with it. Like, my life's purpose is to be a better person, my life's purpose is to smile more, my life's purpose is to bring joy, my life's purpose is to and just see where it goes, like just ramble. And the theory is once you find the right thing, that sometimes it your body reacts and you start to cry. I know that sounds really weird, but I've done this a couple times where if something rings so true to me, like to my being and my heart and my soul, that I start to tear up. And that happened to me during my while I was watching this Michael Jackson movie was um again, just the concept of I'm in my own way and I need to think big. I need to think bigger, and I started to tear up because I've always known that, but it's such a scary step. And I let fear get in my way, as well as insecurity, um, other th you know, other factors, um, and I limit myself out of those things, and I need to stop doing that, and we all do, we all need to just kind of like hit the ground running and get a little, you know, a step get take a step here and there and just make a step every day. You can make a step. And eventually, as we know, if you make one step every day, eventually you're gonna walk miles and miles and miles and miles. You just have to take the step. So I'm trying to do that. That is my next mental, physical, spiritual goal for myself going forward. And I'm hoping I'm gonna share some of my developments with you guys, um, if you don't mind. And just we'll see where this goes. Because if I if I can do it, you can do it too. Because that's kind of where this is at, is just if we can try something new and work have it work, well, gosh darn it, it could work for you too. That'd be great, right? Um, the other thing that I was watching, or when I was uh when I was watching the movie Michael, last thing for my points of things that came to me. Um I don't mean to like you know um spoil anything for you for this film or whatnot. Um, but it's just a point I'm gonna at least a point in the movie that if something happens to Michael, and it's toward the end of the film when he's older. And he so again, him and his dad just weren't very they were having they always have a hard time together. Um his dad always wanted him to do things for the family and not for himself and things like that, you know, work for the family and all his brothers and his family, you know, the mom and the dad, and every ever it's all about family, and that was his like go-to. Like that was the hammer he would beat Michael over the head with, figuratively, right? And it kind of made me he there's an a point toward the end of the movie where he Michael kind of gives in. Um he he Michael was having these steps, he was making steps to get away from his father and be his own man. But then he heard his dad's voice too loud, and it was like, you need to do things for the family. And so Michael went and did something for the family, and he kind of let his path pause. The path that he started for himself independently, he put it on pause to do things for his family, which it sounds like a noble thing, right? But eventually, when you watch this movie, it bites him in the butt. And the reason why I want to bring this up is partly this happens to a lot of us, where it's kind of like when we self-sacrifice our self-happiness for others, we think we're doing the right thing, and then the universe kind of bops us over the head with a little squeaky hammer and goes, no, that's not right. And unfortunately, that squeaky hammer sometimes leaves a mark. Not always, sometimes it's something small, you know, like, nope, that's wrong. You need to go back to doing what you were doing. But for Michael, the hammer was a little bit bigger, and I mean that sarcastically, like it was a big, big squeaky hammer, and it was like, no, Michael, no, and he got hit in the head with the figurative squeaky squeaky hammer, and he paid for it. And I think part of the greatness of this moment is a he the universe went no, and he went, oh, oh no, oh, like he almost like knew he had made a mistake, right? Going against his own feelings and his intuition and knowing that he was going away from his path that he knew he was supposed to be on. Like this man was confident, he knew exactly where he was supposed to go, and he makes this great joke, and I'm gonna totally steal this for a minute, and it doesn't give away any storyline, but this this joke got me so hard. So I laughed so hard when I heard this. So he was sitting in the pool at his family's house, and he was sitting on a floaty, and all his brothers are kind of like horsing around, they're having a good time or whatever, and they're like, Come on, Michael, come play or whatever. And he's like, No, I'm gonna sit here and I'm gonna. I I don't remember how he worded it. Like, I don't know if he said, I'm gonna sit here and listen to the universe, or he said, I'm gonna sit here and listen. And they're like, Well, what are you doing? What are you doing? He's like, Well, if I don't sit here and listen, the universe is gonna give my ideas to Prince. He means the artist, Prince. Like, if he doesn't sit there and hear what the universe has in store for him, they're gonna give their his ideas, the ones that are designed for Michael specifically, they're gonna the universe will give it to Prince instead. And I thought that that was such a like impactive statement. Because I've heard that before from others, that if the universe picks you to do something, and you there is free will, just like everything else. And if you don't keep going with what you the universe wants you to do overall, you know, you can kind of take your side trips here and there and whatnot. But if you totally abandon it and go F you and go sit in a chair somewhere and go, no, the universe is gonna make it's gonna give your gift to somebody else. That opportunity that you are gonna have, it has to give to someone else. Because like the good has to happen with or without you, and you might as well be on the bus and go with it. That that's gonna be great. It's gonna be a great trip. You just hop on that bus of glory and just be like, Woohoo! Let's go find the good stuff together. Like, that's the design. So, anyway, that was the joke that I thought was fantastic. Was I gotta sit here and listen, otherwise, the universe is gonna give my ideas to Prince. So, anyway, back to the mallet over the head. So he's gotten this big huge mallet slapped on top of his head. The the interesting part was he the universe said no, right? So that's the part one that I thought was interesting because the universe said no and hit him with the squeaky mallet. Now, the other part that I thought was interesting was part two, was that Michael kind of realized that he had made a mistake and then he came into his own and went back on his path. And that was to me, that just was awesome. Like to watch this process of just you know, being the light and knowing that that's what your job is, is you're gonna be the light, and that's your job, and you're gonna go do it. And how exciting it is once you figure out what your light is and what your gift is and you go with it, oh the life you will live is just gonna be astronomically amazing. Will it not will it come, will it be easy? Probably not. Will it come with like no hindrances at all? Absolutely probably not. But is it gonna I feel like the obstacles will be easier? I kind of feel that way sometimes. Where I feel like it's a mental state, like you know, the obstacles don't seem as big when you're and you know you're going in the right direction. You know, like you if you know where you're going, it's a lot easier to go over that boulder if you're like, nope, I know I'm supposed to be on the other side. You just know that's where I'm supposed to be. So I thought this movie to me, it said so many things to me. I teared up like three different times during this movie because it spoke to my inner being. And I was like, oh my gosh. So not only was I enjoying watching Michael Jackson, like his story, and seeing some of the personal stuff that came up and knowing a little bit more about where or who Michael was inside, as much as you know, some of the talent that he'd done on the outside. It was so rewarding to watch this film. It just it impacted me greatly. And I will be buying a copy of this somehow, whether it's online or whatever, because I I have to watch this again at some point throughout my life, just to kind of keep reminding myself that I know where I'm supposed to go. I just gotta go. I mean, I I still have ideas, I don't exactly know exactly where I'm gonna go, but have the right idea, and so I'm like, okay, now I just gotta brainstorm and figure out what is the sky, what is the limit, what is the sky is the limit, and what does that look like for me? And what does that look like for you? I think take some time to kind of see what that looks like for you. It's really once you find your life's purpose, it makes it so much life is just so much more fun and joyful, and it's it's it's contagious. It's literally like those ads you see on TV where you see the lady smile at the cashier across the store, and then the cashier helps an old lady across the street, and then some guy in his bike sees the old lady getting helped across the street, and then helps a lady with the groceries, and like it is that effect, and I think that is what this world needs again, is just to remember it's not an Us versus them, it's just us, and I think that is just like once we remember who we are as people and as a person and the light and life you are supposed to live, the better and the quicker this world is gonna be a better place, like it's supposed to be. Like how oh, it's just oh it just gives me joy just thinking about it. So much joy just thinking about it. So that is my Michael Jackson Michael story reflection for the week that I wanted to share with you because this just blew my mind how much this movie spoke to me. So that's my share, and um I hope to see you so or not, I hope to see you. I will talk to you soon, and I hope and know you'll have a magical moment day.