Theme 74: Surreal

Each one of us can make a difference. Together we can make a change.

Every single thing we do comes back to leaving the world better than we found it.

You don't have to be in the right place at the right time, or have the right idea. You can get right to it, right now, if you really want to. Everything else is just excuses.

"She was a beacon of light and diesel fuel, and gallons of coffee, and boobs and a message of support."

"And I decided I needed to build it. That I needed to create a tool to unite us all and to get us off the bathroom floor. A bright light in a world of bathroom stalls."

Sharing is an important component to the work that I do with animation because sharing leads to connection.

Greed is a survival mechanism that has served us well as a species but it’s a survival mechanism that doesn’t seem to have an off switch.

It’s funny how we teach our kids to share when we as adults tend to often not do that very much.

We’re all kind of greedy.

Memory is a very malleable, self-serving, kind of imperfect thing.

How do we consciously include people, without labels?

Surreal is knowing that there’s people who are willing to engage in grace and pace, and reject the world of greed and speed.

Somewhere in this new world of social media, we have forgotten it is OK to hug. We have forgotten that it’s OK to make time and go spend it with strangers who become your lifeblood.

There is so much death in life but there’s the most life in the moments of death.

I'm very fortunate that my grief manifests itself in a way that's a catalyst for both personal change and creativity.

Surreal begets surreal.

How can you tuck in little moments of joy or surprise to make the world feel a little less known than we think? You can do it with one single word. You can do it with how you arrange your words.

When in conversation, ask three more questions than you don't actually care about.

Be grateful for all the obstacles in your life. They have strengthened you as you continue with your journey.

Your future is created by what you do today not tomorrow.

The hardest part of being courageous is when to use it, you use your courage in your very difficult situation that's where it matters

I don't want to die knowing that this is how people will remember me as a negative person, no has anything nice to say.

We need to diversify and look at the problems of homelessness—not necessarily the symptoms of homelessness.

I needed to see the world through the eyes of the homeless people. I needed to see how things were working or were not working through that particular lens.

How can I help? How can I be a part of the solution, and not a part of the problem?

All I could ask myself was why? Why does this have to be so isolating? And why does it have to be so freaking hard?

I believe that one of the most surreal experiences you can have is shaking off the bad stuff and coming full circle.

We want to make money more simple, relatable and positive.

Only by reimagining ourselves, only by reinventing ourselves, constantly, that we can step forward towards changing the world we live in.

Idols are poisonous. I think there’s nothing as sad as leading a life that is not your own.

Before there were finances, there were fonts.

Get good mentors. Get people who can help you in different facets—whatever you’re doing—and listen to what they have to say.

Many times, people are not going to understand the dream that you have. Because they don’t understand your dream, don’t let that stop you from moving forward.

You can’t get away from things going wrong.

I really don’t look at failure as a negative thing anymore because when you fail, you give yourself a chance to learn. You give yourself a chance to reevaluate.

When you know what your purpose is, then you can deal with those ups and downs.

Whatever you do, if you’re going to go all in, you have to have the right mindset to be able to do that.

Find a way when there is no way. And if the front door’s locked and the back door’s jammed, the window should be the next option.

We can’t wait for someone else to make a difference—it has to start with us.

Keep pushing through, even when the stats are against us.

There are people who have been handed different life situations that we weren’t born into, and until you look at it from their perspective, you won’t see all the solutions that are there to try to help them. You have to put yourself in their shoes.

Garnering intention is about storytelling. Garnering intention is about inviting someone into a conversation...allowing them to become a part of what you're talking about, a point of view, a perspective that you have on the world, on a product or on the organization or whatever you're talking about. Garnering intention is powerful.

We have a city that you don’t have to take your talents to New York, to LA, to Chicago, you can do things right here and that’s one of the things I wanted to in terms of film. I wanted to show that you can do really excited things and you can do them right here in Omaha.

I hope we can be proud of what we're up to, regardless of the footprint that we make. The joy from our work can come from the reasons of why we love doing it, and not from who's affirming us externally. I hope that you have a word, like the word 'surreal' for me that keeps you in check.

How do we stand on the edge of that vast ocean, and pull in for ourselves a most magical fish? How do we make sure that our creative and wild-hearted muse is always in the room with us when we bring a new piece of work into the world?

We all have a private mythology. We all stand with one foot on either side of the looking glass. How do we preserve that wilderness and share our unique terrain with the outer world?

Step through the looking glass frequently, go romping around out there, and come back and share with us what you’ve found.