Passion breeds purpose! When you make your declaration of who you are and what you want to be, suddenly, it is all you see. On this episode, we talk about the passion of Johnnyswim, surrounding yourself with people who are doing what you want to do and the fundamentality of trusting your gut. You are gonna be juuuust fine! Dive into this episode of Swan Dive.
Share your Swan Dive at www.swandive.us
Passion breeds purpose! When you make your declaration of who you are and what you want to be, suddenly, it is all you see. On this episode, we talk about the passion of Johnnyswim, surrounding yourself with people who are doing what you want to do and the fundamentality of trusting your gut. You are gonna be juuuust fine! Dive into this episode of Swan Dive.
Share your Swan Dive at www.swandive.us
spk_0: 0:00
you ever notice when you buy a new car, all you see on the road is your new car. Similarly, once you make your declaration, this is who I am and this is what I'm gonna D'oh! It's literally all you see in this episode of swan dot cultivating and exploring fields of passion singing along with Johnny Swim the origins of Peacock in Park and fancy Nasty studios. This is swan dive from the studios of Peacock and Park and Beautiful Historic Avondale, Florida near the banks of the Saint John's River
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and fancy nasty studios in Playa Grande, a Costa Rica.
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This is another addition of swan dive pivoting toward your vision towards your value toward who you are into something else into the great wide open haste do It's good to have the mikes open once again.
spk_1: 0:59
Yeah, let's
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do it. I love it. We're now onto Episode five if you're following along at home and just a real quick recap. Ah Stuart, it has has been the diver he dove several decades ago, and for me, I'm on the precipice of the dive, taking ah, sabbatical from my 16 plus year career in media and really walking through and gathering people along the way who have that same or yearning inside to get that thing out. And it has been fascinating, the people we collect along the way and the conversations we've had along the way. So if you've been following along at home, we've been doing this. I'm out. I've exposed myself on transitioning and we've been talking about that. Today's episode is really planting fields of passion. Last week I was uneasy and I was having second thoughts, and this week I was full on going forward and just embracing What's to be in What's to come. Ah and Stuart, I had this great thing, this great analogy. You know, when we have these conversations and you've bought a car, right, if you ever buy a new car, Um, all of a sudden all you see on the road is that new car. I never noticed it before, but but you see it as we've had these conversations. I don't know if it's that same type of thing, but all I seen our people's passions and people's visions and these conversations that are intersecting with what I'm feeling, what we're talking about. It's fascinating when you open your eyes. What, you truly conceit e
spk_1: 2:35
Yeah, and it'll grow exponentially. That awareness and the attraction. You will attract those people, and you will be much, much keener. The radar will be much keener to them, so you'll find in a very short order. I believe that they, you know your your circle will will shift.
spk_0: 2:54
Yeah, well, so Friday night I went out with some friends. We have my son went to this performing arts, one of the top schools in the country. It's called Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. And every February they do this thing called Extravaganza and Extravaganzas, a showcase for all the disciplines from music, too. Art Thio Musical theater to cinema All of these are all on display. My son graduated two years ago, but we still go because it's such a fantastic thing, and each year they they invite back a returning star, and this year it was a 2000 and one graduate. His name's Abner Marta Rodriguez from the band Johnny Swim, and he got up there, and his first words out of his first wife is so freaking excited. I didn't know from Johnny Swim uh, do you know about Johnny Swim? You saw him at Jazz Fest Is amazing that you had that experience. Yeah, he gets on the stage and he's just so grateful to be there. And the first words out of his mouth, He said, I know I don't have that much time to talk. I know, I know. But all I want to say is, you know, passion breeds purpose. And if it wasn't for this school and these passionate arms that wrapped around me in this field of cultivated my existence, I I just I don't know where I would be. And I'm so grateful for my roots that we're here. And I'm listening to this through the lens of what we've been talking about. And it just hit me square in the head. And then he plays. His wife was back in L. A with his young Children. So it was just, uh that was playing with a backup and he blew me away. Stew The words thumb soulfulness, the passion that they exude. It just It was amazing. Um,
spk_1: 4:40
yeah, those guys air, you know they're true. They're true to the game. They They're the classic musical romance story. They happen to be husband and wife, but But they stayed true to their to their vision. And, uh, it was good. And eventually the world the world caught on I five found them by accident. You know that. I know it was just like first Johnny Swim. Not a big fan of the title by the name, by the way. Little clumsy jonny swim dot com If you're looking out there, But but the music, the soul, the truth, the power, the skill Wow. Damn
spk_0: 5:17
well what he said, Passion breeds purpose. You know, we all need to have purpose And what, what a statement that is, right, that you can't have that purpose without passion or even curiosity to find where that's gonna lead you. But I remember, you know, he said he talked about, um, that how grateful he was for that Douglas Anderson community and to be around a school like that that had other artists and other musicians. And I remember the first day I was with my son on that campus going into ninth grade, waiting in line to get a locker assignment. And I'm standing behind these two kids who just met each other and they started organic conversation. One says I play guitar Well, I play guitar. You know this school. It's kind of like X men. Everyone has their hidden talent. Nobody's gonna burn down the building with their eyes. But they all have these hidden artistic talents. And I saw this conversation happened with these two kids that became fast friends because they shared this gift together and they were in this nurturing environment that that brought it out of him. And we most people who are in the workforce might not have that environment around them. And it's up to us in this conversation to kind of be that support group to get them there and back to Abner. So I went on his website and I got a region. This quote back to that, you know, that the origins of that passion that were planted in those fields of passion, he says, on the about, you know, Jonny Swim and Abner Rodriguez, who grew up in Jacksonville. I wouldn't say anything to my 18 year old self, but I'd say something to those around him who disregarded and downplayed this dream. Ah, lot of people are unwilling to take chances. So they protect their fears. They project their fears on you and tell you to stop taking chances. They have to justify the reasons they haven't pursued their dreams or chased a passion. I'd say Do what you need to do, but we're gonna be just fine.
spk_1: 7:22
Yeah, And I would say that to everyone listening. You're gonna be just fine. You gotta distrust your gut. I really believe in life. The things that matter, whether it be in your relationship. Uh, certainly in your professional pursuits, anything that truly existential in your life, it's all in your gut. It's in your stomach, literally. And that's where you feel the truth. And I knew that I knew that I would have a stomachache every Sunday night as a stockbroker. Um, I have the same in a failed, failed marriage on and, you know, must in your stomach doesn't lie. So I agree with you. I think that that and I agree with him that that is where you the truth, lies and you trust that and you'll be just fine.
spk_0: 8:11
Yeah. And last time you said, say who make your marker, Say who you're gonna be And then you know, to his point, surround yourself with these people who are who you want to be, and I want to get back to you. And, you know, because a powerful lesson from your past and you keep talking about that fancy, nasty studios. Talk about fancy, nasty studio. Where did you come up with that name? What's the origin of that? Why is that important?
spk_1: 8:39
Well is very fun. And, uh, and story layered story. But the original genesis of that term is Cem Cem, good friends in the Bay Area who had some success, had this annual trip that they would take to the wine country and they would rent a limousine and they would dress up. They were all there, all fashionistas, both men and women for married couples. And they would dress up nice and go just have this fabulous weekend of wining and dining and and carrying on. So on the way to this weekend, one year, they're in a limo and they're also wine drinkers, wine collectors. They're drinking some fabulous bottle of red wine and, uh, on the in the limo, one of them spills their red wine on his wife's beautiful white silk, whatever. And you know, the first The first response was like, Oh, my God, How could you And then the next thing you know, they're like spilling wine on each other, saying, like, were fancy But we're also nasty And it just became this idea that, you know, you can have both. And so they became my They are my very dear friends that came to this trip eventually sort of evolved into not just going to the wine country, but going places. They One of the places that they went for a few years was our Basel. I was in our Basel, so I would kind of tag along and be a sort of de facto member of fancy nasty while they were there. Well, at that time that they were coming to our Basel, I had started working out of this abandoned houses, decrepit house that my brother had purchased and was eventually going to demolish and build a new house on a few doors down from my home. And it was this, uh, does awful kind of like Miss Mashed, you know, a hodgepodge of design and great disrepair falling apart literally rats and cracked windows and everything
spk_0: 10:50
that was in Miami in
spk_1: 10:51
Miami. And, uh, I needed a studio, and this was three doors down for me. So I started painting in this place. I turn the power on you, turn the water on. And, uh, for a couple years, I was painting in this place and, in fact, sort of the moment where my career kind of started to light up in 2015 I was in this space and I was making art. So the art that that I made for for the shows that really were critical in my car success, I guess, is the word that we could use, although using 10 years that use it, that they happened in that space. So that space had had had juice, It had energy and divide. But it was this horrible just beat up place where you could smash the walls with hammers, which I did. You could throw buckets of paint, which I did, could do anything you want. Anyway, I have a good buddy who was another actually much more successful. Much more well known artist named type O T Y P O g. Looking up. Great guys tell him. I said Hi type. It was sharing the space of me. He needed a place to work. He was doing big crazy work with gunpowder when he would paint stuff with gunpowder and light it up just Anyways. He was working with me for about a year, and I started thinking because the place was going to be demolished in the not too distant future, I started thinking my play itself. This place is so crazy, it's so bad that it's great And it would be optimized if a bunch of artists would come in here and take a room, a door, ah, window of tree and just do whatever they want. It just freeform car flash, go crazy unleash. So I invited a few local artists and typo included and then some of his colleagues. And eventually I had this really tight, very talented young group of artists from the Miami area, all of whom were kind of like coming on strong in their in their element and blowing up in retrospect and then that slowly grew and eventually we had 20 artists from all over the world from Japan, from from Sao Paulo, from Berlin, from New York, the Miami crew. And we just had this posse of random, super passionate, super talented people all there to make this place whatever it was supposed to be for our Basel and I named the show Fancy Nasty, a zit homage to my friends but specifically because Miami is so fancy, tries to be so fancy. But it's really so nasty, and it's just sort of joke in many ways, and it's a caricature. But also in our in all of our natures we have fancy, and we have nasty. So it's sort of like the human condition in many ways, any ways to make a long story short. These 20 artists who they're the only directive was show up. Don't wind kill it like that was that was like the marching orders, and you could do whatever you want within that construct, absolutely slated, every every inch, the swimming pool, the walls, Um, and it became this really breathtaking thing, and it came to life over two or three months, so I was working with artists that I hadn't known before. Day after day, week after week for several months in this sweltering house with no A C and just in there, grinding it for the love of the game. Purely. This was not a commercial endeavour. Nothing was for sale, purely like we got this crazy house. Let's just do our thing, see what happens. And then eventually Basel comes along and we ended up having just an epic opening party. Mad attended, which turned into a closing party for Basel and then another party. And then one of the local magazines had a party with 1500 people, and it just turned into this thing. Eventually, there was incredible, incredible articles written about it, and it was so successful that it became sort of it became kind of legendary. And for me, my career was just starting to get traction. And this was just the next sort of big log on the fire that was sort of newly lit under my career, and it really was gave me huge street cred because, like I said, it was pure. It was it was just about Hey, this would be fun to do as an artist and as a collective, and just because we can and then guess what of boulders. There's gonna take it all down. That's gonna be it. And you either got the magic or you didn't so much about it was so pure and true and righteous and like what I really want to be when I grow up as an artist, not sweating the money and not sweating the, you know, the likes on instagram just doing it because we can and and that the group of people that we we became and you know, the network, if you will was so exhilarating and so cool and so full of love brought so much love to it and so much skill to it. So but Carrabba happened. Yeah, yeah, I was just gonna say to finish that happened. And it was such a It was such a definitive moment that I'm like I'm just gonna be fancy nasty. I bought fan. By the way, my website is Stuart sheldon dot com and fancy nasty dot us They both go to the same place. So depending on who I'm talking to, you either use one or the other of those you are else. But I just became I decided to make it my identity because I was I'm so proud of it. It makes me smile to say the words that make to think about it. And memory is so pure and beautiful. And so that's the story of fancy nasty
spk_0: 16:54
being immersed in your culture, being immersed with with people who were supporting, uh, view surrounding yourself with other visionaries that supported that dream. But also, like, I want to give you the credit for this. I mean, aren't Basil. It has been a huge event for many years, but it seems in my opinion, the last 10 years, it's elevated to an international showcase that it wasn't 10 years ago and my right with that assessment, and you've kind of you've ridden that. So who knows? You're a catalyst. But you were there. You were. You were you were taking part in that studio in that evolution as this thing became and you were part of it, I guess tying it back to what we're talking about. How much did having that support group help you get further down the road?
spk_1: 17:44
Well, it just it just let the whole idea of having street creds having legitimacy being considered, you know, part of the community, but genuinely part of the community and you know, for years, the metaphor I had is an artist in the Bay Area, where I just really couldn't get the traction. And my studio was part of this big artist collective. You know, I'm not collected, but Artist's studio complex, where most of the artists were just sort of complaining, whining, pessimistic. It didn't feed me. But to be around these, these artists that were hungry, that were super talented and really making moves and to be considered one of them. And, you know, that just changed my my level of exhilaration. Um, and it opened opportunities because all of a sudden, you know, the way the world works now is like when there's buzz, when there's when there's, you know, where there's smoke, there's fire and people want to get a part of that fire. So I started being invited to shows, you know? So I was talking about these fancy, nasty and and communicating with these other artists on social media. And so all of a sudden, you know, that kind of spreads and it just one thing led to another at a show in San Francisco has shown Dallas I gotta show in London. I mean, it all just started. Click, click Clicking along in a very organic kind of way. And all the while this this network of cheerleaders and fellow artists and colleagues and peers were like right on goes to And I was like, Right on Go, Kelly, go, Typo! You know everybody. Go, go, go! We're all doing this and you kind of start You kind of start hearing for each other. And so it just became a really joyous fun and, um, just became kind of a support system. And it was it was not competitive, as this base often is. It was really it was really supportive And that that's what we all need as we're really running at our at our goals here, you know? You want to be supported, you want a team, it's there for you that you can sort of say, Oh, man, I have a terrible show. Or I did this or something went wrong or I killed it. Oh, my God! And either way, they're like, I get it. I'm here for you. Proud of you, right on. So that that's was that hole that whole community was building itself as in real time and continues to serve me. And I think that's what everyone that makes this move into their space into their thing can expect to find if you really lean into it and you really commit yourself to it, you start to be part of of that of that world, and that world embraces you.
spk_0: 20:30
And in the words of Abner Rodriguez, do what you need to do. But we're gonna be just fine. You know, it just resonates there. Yeah, and it's a matter of finding that place. And I was Ah, I was telling you a little of the back story of why Peacock and Park, Um so we have this cool mural of a peacock on our fence and you know, my story for that is a little bit of, ah of Ah, uh, I didn't know, you know, trying to find the way you found a way you put a marker in the ground with what you were doing. You found that way for me. I I knew a couple of things, but I knew I didn't know a lot more. And so for me, the story of that is so we have a peacock on the fence. We live on Park Street, and, um, we had a neighbor across the street, lovely family from Canada that was staying there in an apartment across the street. And they had several kids, one of whom is Amelia. Amelia is this wonderful, shy 14 year old girl who hid behind her thick glasses and she is an artist, and she'd come by and should show me some of her portfolios. And one day I stupidly said, You know, that big white fence that's a great mural. I I want a mural out there and the minute I said, that's to this shy child that I couldn't get two words out of, was over at my house every day with her portfolio. Show me stuff and I was like, I I I don't I don't know what to put out there, but when I do, when I do, I'm gonna come see you. And she would come every day and and show me some of the things she made. She was so freaking gifted. I just love that that that brought us together. And so long. Story short. Um, my mom passed away. It's gonna be three years this summer and the story goes that were peacocks presented themselves in this whole scenario. My wife was coming to the hospital in North Georgia to see us, and she calls me and she says, Wow, darndest thing. There's a gaggle of peacocks on the side of red As I turned off into the hospital, my mother passes away after a short illness, fairly unexpectedly but brilliantly swift. And her elegance of leaving this earth was just something to be holding something that I cherish. But, um, I was calling my sister and I were driving back after she had passed and I was calling, Ah, my godmother. My godfather, Cliff Suchman had passed away a year prior, and so we called Betty and say that Mom passed and she said something effective. Oh, I'm sure they're seeing each other. Cliff and and and and Barbara Bobby are together right now, and she said, and I know why. Because I came home the other day and there were three peacocks sitting on my front doorstep, and I said, Every time I see a pic peacock, I know it's Cliff. And then I told her about my wife's seeing the peacocks, and I'm like this is to fricking crazy. So we get back and I say to Amelia, I say, I know what I want. I want a peacock And she had a sketch the next day. She had a sketch the next day, and
spk_1: 23:52
it was you did.
spk_0: 23:53
Of course she did. And it was perfect and and she she worked all summer on it, and she got it out there. And it's beautiful. Not only that, it's kind of a backdrop for people now Thio to take pictures in front of it with their kids and with their families that pose with it. There's this one instagram account that likes to take in the murals in town, and there was so much love and I'm pouring in that and when people talk about the house, they say it's the Peacock house. And for me, all I see is my mom posing in pictures with people and just her joy in that Ah,
spk_1: 24:30
beautiful man that's so powerful, so beautiful. I love that story,
spk_0: 24:35
but it also takes me back to our topic of And then I realized that the first swan dive was my dad because Cliff was Cliff. Suchman was just amazingly successful real estate person developed Dade land in Miami in the seventies, and my dad had every opportunity to go to work with him, and he didn't You didn't want to, uh, you didn't find that that was his passion point. So he went back to school and ultimately became a college professor. And in that whole regard, you know, just do the fast pace of Miami in the in the seventies, a lot of people were doing their thing, and my dad took that dive and he said, Well, I got to get away from here. I can't keep up with the Joneses anymore. I gotta go. And so went to U C F when it was left to you in the middle of Orlando when we're 45 years old and just kind of plotted us down and a whole new thing only because he knew it was right. He knew his opportunity was here to feed a passion for a new place and, um, and get away from some of the corrosive Look what I got that was popping up around him. And I didn't think about that until I thought about the origins of that story that I was kind of the original Swan dive in in my life. And it's interesting now, looking in retrospect, that my dad could have been a very successful real estate guy Miami but shows to really follow where his heart took him and it took him into good places.
spk_1: 26:08
Yeah, well, listen, I mean, what's more valuable to society and an educator expects 50 years teaching, you know, an opening minds are a strip mall builder with all due respect, but nevertheless, I love quotes such men, and I don't mean to disparage him. But given those two choices in terms of what's a more beneficial to the world in the future of human spade species, I dare say your dad made the right choice,
spk_0: 26:35
but he'd also found the people that got him to that space. And I think that's so important. If we go back and talk about you know, all these, you know what the origins are and where we're going with it. You know, the last time you said so eloquently, you know, say who you're gonna be. Um, it's not about the guitar in your hand or the paint brush in your hand or the microphone in front of you. It really isn't. It's whatever it is. There's a myriad of things out there. Another friend of mine that was talking in the same terms. There's a boating term, you know? Just get off the dock. You know the boat is ready. It's gas. What are you waiting for? Just get off the dog. And I think to get off the dock or to do whatever you're gonna do, you have to be immersed in it. And it's so impactful to surround yourself with the people who will help you cultivate that field of passion. I
spk_1: 27:31
believe I am such a firm believer and proven activator of the phrase Fake it till you make it. I really believe that you you start and you figure it out if you've got half a brain. And let me tell you, when I was in my magazine phase, I had spent seven years at a bike racing magazine in Boulder, Colorado. Eventually, I became a publisher of some of their special issues and kind of knew my way around the basics of making a magazine and what it what it took to do that fast forward a couple of years. I'm in the bay area. I'm kind of having a midlife crisis. I'm unemployed. Um, recently divorced, Super set. Just a broken guy. And, uh, I'm surfing with a buddy of mine and he paddles over and says, Hey, man, I'm, uh, thinking about starting a magazine. I'm wondering if maybe you, uh, know any publishers, and it's funny because I did not think of myself for a minute. I thought of one of my former colleagues who had moved to Texas to Austin, and I said, You know, there's a guy I know and I will reach out to him. And I will make contact, get you guys together, and, uh, he paddles back about 10 minutes later, he says, Well, what about you, man? About you? And, uh, that became an absolutely pivotal moment in my life because all of a sudden I was in charge of a magazine from the ground up. I staffed it up. I hired everyone. I was instrumental in the design, Uh, and those choices, aesthetically, those design choices built my confidence as an artist because artists art is really just choice making all day long and the a. The amount of of of knowledge that one would think one needs to have on day one. To start a magazine from scratch is much less than you think. You know, you hire smart people and then you let them kind of take care of each of their lanes, and eventually the connective tissue just grows around you. And that's exactly what happened. We made a beautiful magazine and which, you know, served my friend's company very well and eventually sold it. And we all made a bit of money, and it was a beautiful experience, but I really didn't know much about, you know, starting a mag never started a magazine. So everybody out there thinking, How am I gonna do this? Oh, my God, what's the day after I leave my job look like? What's the first month? What's the first year? What's the 1st 5 years gonna be? You figure it out, man. Put one foot in front of the other, get off the dock, and as you say, fake it till you make it. And, you know, listen, I'm like the biggest faker in the world. I say to our no and just made art and main battle art until it wasn't at anymore. And and I'm still thinking it. But
spk_0: 30:28
then you say you are. Then you set a building on fire and you call that art. I mean, come on.
spk_1: 30:33
Yeah, it's just I mean, you go make the rules and, you know, eventually it comes to pass that what you're what you think is right is is right. It's right to some people, to enough people. And hopefully it's right to yourself. So why not? I think I think you make it. And why not me? That was another thing. You know, I thought it's a pain or going on early on. So much of the art. You see it at galleries, it shows anywhere is terrible. I'm like I can make terrible art. I mean, why not? So why not me? Maybe I'll be one of the lucky guys. It makes terrible art or even better, not terrible art. And so why not me? So I think we should all think in those
spk_0: 31:13
terms, and why not now? And why not make a terrible podcast? I mean, I was sitting with my boss today and she was like, hedge, I'm gonna put it out there. I just want to get your timeline and and, uh, you know, and she was saying So what
spk_1: 31:25
you gonna do? Because I'm not really sure
spk_0: 31:28
on that. And I'm like, Oh, I've got plenty to dio. I've got plenty to d'oh! Ah! And every day there's another connection of something that's happening, and that's gonna take me to where we were. Just another really interesting thing that happened this week. Saturday night I went to my buddy Wayne's house. We're gonna go to Ah, Jazz Fest later this year together, and he has a party of full moon party every year on his property. He's got a very successful solar company as a big piece of property on the outskirts of Gainesville. The moon was so bright Saturday night that you literally were dancing in your shadow. That's how bright it Waas and he attracts is so connected to the music community gains. Will he come? A lot of people, you know, I live there in the eighties and nineties, and the nineties was a special time for music in Gainesville. There was a lot going on there, and there was a guy that I met that I knew from From Way Back When and he had this T shirt on It was the Latch Chua Music Harvest from 1994 and the lateral music harvest was like a five year run of a killer local music festival. But they went out there and said, Why not us? And they had, like, James Brown, George Clinton, Parliament. I mean, they had the goods for, like, a good, solid couple years, and it was because that whole community believes so much in themselves. You know, everybody heard of Ah, Sister Hazel and maybe some people heard of less than Jake. But they're a house of dreams and soma and big white undies and all these people that were there pushing each other. And I can't help that it was such a golden era because it was all of them pulling together, all of them pulling together. And it was beautiful to be a part of. It is just a very small way, and to see someone there and reconnect with him and kind of live through that again, and everyone who was there still was connected to music and still made music in some way shape or form, but kind of moved on. And they have their kids and they're doing their thing. But they had that special, beautiful time together, and that's that's a That's a celebration, man.
spk_1: 33:35
Listen, uh, so fast forward in my magazine. It's a time Thio, you know, we're getting close to launching the first issue, and one of the things that I created was we were gonna have a guest writer, a celebrity, not know, celebrity acting celebrity, but someone notable in the space. The magazine was called streaming Media magazine, and it was about the online delivery of audio and video, which in 19 in 2000. You know, this was a new concept and everything was G s l. And so like, that wasn't a thing yet the idea of watching a video on the Internet. So we were finding pioneers in space and asking them to write a piece. And so, for the very first inaugural premiere issue, I asked Sam Donaldson from ABC News, who had one of the first newscast that was delivered on the Internet. He had, you know, Internet show. He was an absolute pioneer with ABC News in delivering the news on the Internet. So I happened to see him. He spoke at a conference that we were a part of, and I walked up to him afterward. I said, Hey, man, great talk about to launch this magazine streaming media magazine on the publisher. And I would like to invite you to write for the first issue your thoughts on what streaming news looks like, in your opinion, you know, pitfalls, ups, downs, whatever you want. And you just said I'll do it, period. You talk to my assistant over there, and that was it. And he did. It wrote a beautiful piece, point being that he saw my enthusiasm. We were there. We were first. We showed up and you know it. Just he Once you go out there and you pivot, you start doing whatever it is you're doing. You bring a certain level of enthusiasm to the conversations that you have, and by simply showing up and saying like, Hey, I'm a publisher of a magazine. I'm doing this. Will you be a part of it? People are like, Well, sure I want to be part of a magazine or whatever it is you're doing. So fake until you make it. You know, I didn't have That was numbers. No prescription there. I just said, Hey, we want to have a celebrity writer in each issue. This guy's a celebrity boom. And off we went. And so I do believe this, like, this idea of of just once you put a marker down and you present that to the world with enthusiasm and earnestness that you get it back. And as that you are that to Sam Donaldson. I was everything that I said I wasn't. In fact, I was that and became more of it.
spk_0: 36:07
You know, I met Sam Donaldson and I went up to him and I said, Hey, man, you're no Peter Jennings.
spk_1: 36:12
So just get out. He told me about that.
spk_0: 36:15
Yeah, I know it wasn't a good look, but that's awesome. Ah, it's amazing. The trail we've blazed already, you know, from talking aboutthe well, Werling grooves of your life and breaking through them to making that marker to surrounding yourself to visualizing where that is and and ah Tau walk me through this phase of my life. It's It's very valuable. So ah, couple things as we wrap this one up. Listen to Johnny Swim. Find Johnny Swim at johnny swim dot com because that's really good, soulful music that connects to the fields of passion. Read up on stew Sheldon. That's to sheldon dot com on the block. Send us some communications because we're ready Thio to take this thing to others at to lend their voice to the swan dive. I am available at Ron Rothberg, it Comcast dot com and Stew You're available. It's too at stew. Sheldon dot com
spk_1: 37:13
Stuart Stuart at Stewart sheldon dot com
spk_0: 37:17
There you go, and he finally got
spk_1: 37:19
signed. My webs died in fancy, nasty. Got us as in you and me, Right
spk_0: 37:25
on, man. Any final thoughts for the dive?
spk_1: 37:28
Yeah, My final thought is yesterday I was listening to a podcast, this American life about delight. And ultimately, whatever we're doing, however, we're pivoting our lives are we wantto orient our lives toward delight toward joy, towards savoring moments toward that feeling where you just have satisfaction. And so I think, this idea of a swan dive. It's big, it's grandiose. It can be overwhelming because it feels like like your whole existence wrapped up in one pivotal moment but think of it in terms of just like if you're on your path. If you're pointing If you change your direction you're just gonna have more moments of delight where you smile when you say God damn it, man, Look at me. Look at what we did. Look it. Look it. This is right. And light is what I came for now in moments of my life delight, enjoy. And that, I think, is what we all are aiming at in our swan dive.
spk_0: 38:32
So good. Such an easy place to get to and yet way get tethered up in things that keep us away from it. So hopefully we get closer to that as we keep journey on this road. Thanks. D'oh! Food Evita.