I went to a specific high school for art and design students. I was surrounded by people who I admired. I admired them because really, in many ways, these people were better artists than me, in terms of natural talent. They were better illustrators, better photographers, had better networks and access to resources — you name it! I grew up with very little money, but lots and lots of drive. I was accepted into the school with 4 “black books”. I didn’t have a portfolio. I had graffiti, photos, and life drawing. I didn’t know that I was under-prepared until I arrived at the school on my test day. I probably had more drive than sense, and more focus than self-esteem.

It would be years before I learned to apply my drive to ego, and that year was a rough one to be around me. One thing that a lot of my friends (and folks who were NOT my friends) from back then can all say…I never gave up.

There have been times when I have completely been defeated, yes. And that sucks. But I have always learned from my defeats, and have never faced the same mountain twice.

The trouble with running a company based around entertainment, and I think just being in this business in general, is that you’re surrounded by critics. And sometimes we can get carried away with criticism, to a point where we are missing opportunities.

Recently I have found myself surrounded by a lot of negative energy in my professional world. I know we’re all supposed to be too cool to still be excited about movies, but lately, I find myself getting excited, and seeing opportunities, and taking advantage of them, while many around me see darkness and “nothing ever changing”. I spent years living like that, and I left that mindset to pursue my dream. I am in this business by choice. Every time I get a compliment or criticism about what we’re doing, I am honored that someone even gave a damn to say something. I WANT to be here. I don’t know why that’s such a bad thing.

I know that nobody believes movies can change the world anymore. Nobody believes in ideas. I understand clearly that everyone is down because it’s all about the money and that the money is supposed to be all gone. I hear it. But I know better. I know ideas are the fuel that makes things happen, and I’ve got a million of ‘em. Some are even good! Something is about to change, and I am supposed to be a part of that change. I don’t really care what’s come before me. Not really. I respect it, I am a constant student, but my understanding of physics, and martial arts, is a little too strong for me to give credit to a lot of the obstacles that come up.

I was trying to find a way to express this simply, and wouldn’t you know, I found it — from Will Smith. This is a pretty good way to start my September!

My wife always says when she watches interviews with Will, it feels like I did his press coaching. There’s also the “Daryle’s a closet scientologist” rumor. I guess I can see why people say that. A diamond looks like glass until you hit it. It’s funny that this is a Tavis Smiley interview, but that’s a story for another time.

Will speaks about the universe as “water”. It wants to move around things and flow. Bruce Lee used to say “Be water, my friend”. At this point, I have to understand both. We all should. We should be able to flow around what we can’t move, or things that have energy coming towards us to move. But also, we should be able stand so still that we move the water.

The focus at this time is on action. What action we choose to take is sometimes more important than not acting at all. Complaining, for example, is an action. A choice. Making the choice to complain in a business that is really this small is a waste of energy. When there is injustice, by all means, speak out. Then act.

Decide. Act. DO something.