Short Films

What did it feel like last time you received a handwritten letter? Think back to who was the last person you sent a handwritten letter to? What made you choose that medium for communication. Potentially more personal and heart felt. Maybe it was time commitment to personally send a message instead of popping off a quick “what’s up” text.

Brogan Graham via a Rich Roll interview finally shined light on this idea that I had trouble describing and realizing was unique.

To be honest, even when writing this, I always thought the short film idea was a thing. Doesn’t everybody do it? Send short videos saying what’s up and to connect with others.

It is ridiculous how many videos I still have on my phone from checking in with my dad while picking up cones in the outfield during a rain delay during the time I was in Minor League Baseball. Even just a good old grateful challenge with my friend Mike Rich sending short films back and forth about what we are grateful for everyday for a month.

Never realized this was out of the norm until I listened to Brogan Graham’s interview with Rich Roll. Most important is Brogan shared this concept on a greater stage.

Brogan discussed a really important point of the short film, you can open it whenever you are ready. He discussed a very important observation. Especially during COVID, a close friend would call and you would see their name on the phone. Lacking the energy and capacity to answer because you know if you did that’s a commitment to at least an hour conversation. COVID times took a lot out of us in different ways even in this past example we would even do that to our best friends. Second guessing giving our energy towards people we actually like! Crazy!

Short films create the space where you can watch/listen on your terms when you have the capacity and then reply. As Brogan said, “Just enjoy the vibe when it is convenient for you, when the vibe fits you.”

In closing, the question really is how do you stay in contact with the people you love the most? Is it a handwritten letter to a relative who is 90 just letting them know what you are up to? Or is it the 2 minutes you take to send a video update to your parents about what the best part of your week has been.

As Rich Roll said, “Less texts and more short films'” get creative in connecting with others as they will appreciate it without even knowing it yet. It may not change the world… yet. Changing the world starts with just changing one minute of one person's life. That could be from your video just saying “What’s Up!”.