"I'm Fine, Thanks"

As I've been discussing here and here, I'm one of the newest members of the unemployed class. I'm keeping myself busy with reading, writing, housework, and also looking for a job. Per my last post, I have become disillusioned with the idea of meeting with startup people who are 15-20 years younger than me with the hope of proving that "yes, I'm cool enough to be your co-worker". There have been enough failures in that area for me. I have seen the futility in repeatedly trying something that is not destined to work out for me in the hope that the next opportunity will work out differently. I'm looking at a new idea: to teach what I've learned in over 10 years of experience with the hope of finding a few freelance opportunities.

In the midst of all of this re-evaluation, I finally got around to watching the film "I'm Fine, Thanks" by Grant Peelle that was made with the help of a number of Kickstarter donors (including me). Peelle is a realtor who, somehow along the way, took a detour from his dream of making films to settle into The Script: go to school; get married; get job; get kids; wait until you're retired to follow your dreams (if you're lucky enough to make it). He reaches the breaking point of living a life that is not genuine to him and decides that he is going to follow his dreams and become a filmmaker. "I'm Fine, Thanks" is the manifestation of that dream. In the film, he and his crew interview dozens of people who are in varying degrees of discomfort with the concept of living the traditional rat race life and decide to do something about it. The subjects are not concerned with financial reward- they have a higher, more fulfilling purpose. As one person puts it, "If you live a life cut off from your heart, that's not really living." That line really hits home for me. I have no interest in pounding the pavement in search of another job like those I've had in the past that tend to burn me out after a year. Like the saying goes, the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing repeatedly with the same result in the hope of getting a different outcome." None of the people interviewed in the film are motivated by money. In fact, most of them accept that the key to a fulfilling life is in detaching yourself from material things. I always thought that once I earned a six-figure income that I'd be truly satisfied with myself. Once I got there I was just as miserable as always. In fact, if I were to list the most fulfilling things in my life, money would not be in the Top 5.

I have to admit that I am still on the journey to figure out what I should be doing with my life. I'm taking the advice in Steve Jobs' famous Stanford commencement speech where he talks about finding the things you like with the faith that you will be led down the correct path. I'd like to say that I can define the One Thing that I think I was put on this planet to carry out but I'm not there yet. "I'm Fine, Thanks" has provided me with a much needed shot in the arm to find the courage needed to get off the hamster wheel and onto a much brighter path.

The film has not been widely released yet. More info is at http://cranktank.com/im-fine-thanks/.