This is a replay of episode 26 with Katy Walker and Joel Mejia. Life can sometimes overwhelm us. We get bogged down by all the negative things around us. That's why it was such a pleasure to do an interview with people like Katie and Joel. Their positivity, and inspirational work is something we should all aspire to follow.
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Katy Walker and Joel Mejia are the co-directors of the Time is Art documentary, a film that follow’s Jennifer Palmer’s journey after her aunt’s death and her exploration of synchronicity. They are also the minds behind Things Are Changing Productions, a creative collective that produces youth media programs, indie films, and music videos. In this episode we explore what you must do to take action, why you should work with limitations, and the benefits of empowering others.
Here are three things you can learn from Katy and Joel:
Looking inward is one of the most empowering things people can do. Many of us go days without taking the time to look within ourselves for answers. We are so busy trying to be productive that we forget to think things through.
Most of the time, the answer we are looking for is already within us. The next time you are stuck looking for answers, pause and look inside yourself. You might be surprised by what you discover.
Big budget blockbusters have an almost an unlimited amount of money to work with. They are given every resource they may need, which might be the reason so many of them fall flat.
Joel believes the best way to get the most out of an artist is to give that artist some limitations. When you are up against a wall, you are forced to come up with a creative solution, which often lead to the best results.
Most of us believe the more free you are, the easier it is to be creative. The problem is, this gives you t oo many options. The next time you are stuck, give yourself some limitations. You may be surprised by the results.
Katy and Joel are big believers in empowering other people. They believe apprenticeships are a powerful form of teaching. When someone becomes your apprentice, they are not being forced to learn. They are looking for long term value and a longer term education.
They are also running a series of workshops along with the film. This encourages people to engage and collaborate with others, which leads to a more powerful experience. They want people to connect through the film and the workshops and create long terms connections from it.
Jennifer Palmer is the subject of the upcoming documentary on synchronicity: Time is Art. She is also a writer and the co-founder ofSyncChast, a platform that connects people with thought leaders, artists, and pioneers for change. In this episode, Jennifer talked about how her aunt’s death changed her life, what it was like being the subject of a documentary, and how technology is a powerful tool for connecting people.
Here are three lessons you can learn from Jennifer:
After graduating with her Masters degree, Jennifer was trying to make it as a writer, but ended up with a job in IT. She found herself floating through life at her tech job instead of writing.
Her aunt’s early death was the catalyst that changed her life. This made Jennifer realize she didn’t want to continue her career in IT, so she decided to make a change. Now she is actively writing and helping connect people through SynchCast.
When we are children, we have an insatiable curiosity. We approach life with an open mind and playfulness that we lose in adulthood.
We falsely believe that as we grow up we should start having all the answers. We are scared that other people do know the answers, and we are afraid to show how much we don’t know.
This fear hampers our ability to accept the unexpected. When you open yourself up to new information, you increase your ability to be creativity. You can only achieve this by keeping an open mind and admitting you don’t have all the answers.
Many people have this false idea of technology. They think that is somehow stiff, stilted and weird compared to talking with people face to face. But technology is anything but that.
Sure you’ll encounter hiccups along the way, but technology can be a wonderful aid for connecting people. She has found that the conversations she has online can be very intimate and close. She also found that once, you get used to using technology, it flows very well. She has even found that you can feel the energy flowing at these events.