A lot has changed over the last 3 years.
The pandemic has changed all of our lives. Some for the better. Some for the worse.
It's changed mine for the better.
3 years ago, before the coronavirus entered our world, I was living a good life. Had been for almost 20 years. Lived a life in the entertainment business for over 30 years. Just created a film festival in Los Angeles. Began pursuing a terminal degree in the arts in my mid 50's to help educate the next generation of artists.
Then COVID entered our world.
That changed everything. Thousands of people started dying daily. Our country was put into a short lockdown. The world did not know how to adapt to living in isolation. Mental health skyrocketed. The world that we knew became a memory of yesterday. Our nation put out an experimental vaccine that that the media exploited and got people to show up in masses for a quick fix. Suddenly, our world wanted to return to the 'good old days'.
But some of us accepted the change and adapted our lifestyles to the new norm.
Isolation was a godsend to me. I was able to isolate and virtually teach for 18 months. My terminal degree was obtained virtually. I embraced online education. Philosophy with the arts was discovered. Aesthetics and the philosophy of art was embraced virtually. I discovered philosophy and how it applies to the entertainment industry. Dramaturgy was discovered. Philosophy and aesthetics through ancient philosophers like Seneca, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Camus and more opened my eyes to a new world. Suddenly, I discovered stoicism. My life was changed for the better.
Stoicism is defined as accepting the things you cannot change and moving forward. It shows that virtue is the highest good. This is based on knowledge. Our experiences in life shape who we become. The important thing in life is to live a good life and live by example. You can't change the world, but you can change yourself. Along with this, to have a mentality to be able to endure hardship without showing feelings and complaining is a driving force. To mentally block things out and embracing the positive is a major factor. Money and material things are not important. Fame is not important. Your thoughts and the way you believe create your world. Your mind is the most important thing. By living an ethical life of goodness, one achieves happiness.
Discovering this changed my mindset and life.
All of this got me to thinking, how can I make this world a better place? How can I use my lifetime of experiences and education to help change the world for the better?
Through art.
I have a lifetime of experience in the arts. In theatre and film. First, as an actor. Then as a director. Then a writer. Finally, a filmmaker. After these experiences, I received a terminal degree and learned how to educate the next generation of artists. However, it's more important than this. Like Schopenhauer said, "Art is life". There is a philosophy to art. I never knew this. It's important to always be learning. When we stop learning, we begin to die. Learning keeps us young.
Learning this, I discovered the importance of creating a creative hub. All methods of art could be created here. The digital world is the future. We must adapt to the change we see in the world. Arts is changing, just like everything else. Film and theatre will be a digital world in the future. We learned the beginning of this during the pandemic. The coronavirus forced us to adapt to this new reality. Now, I want to help bring this new reality of art to the world.
Out here in the middle of nowhere, I've created a virtual creative hub. It's called The Red Block. Here, anything creative can be made. Books. Movies. Scripts. Teaching. Festivals. Veganism. A political campaign. And more. Anything can be created out here and shared with the world.
This is just the beginning.
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