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You wake up, and the opening scene begins.
You start your day thinking about things that matter to you. Or maybe you scroll social. Regardless, the camera is focused on you. The movie develops as you move through your day.
At the end of the day, you look back and decide whether it was a good movie. And you fall asleep to begin a new film tomorrow.
You’re the main character. Everyone around you is a supporting actor. They are merely pieces of your larger story.
The crazy thing is?
We all have this movie going. We’re all the main characters of our own show.
You’re a supporting actor in someone’s movie. But you’re not the main character.
You’re only the main character in one movie, with the potential to be a supporting character in thousands.
So I suggest our goal be to focus less on our movie and try to help make the movies of others better. You can only do that if your movie is in a good place, so focus on improving that first, and then realize that we all have movies going on and contribute (positively) to the films of others.
How I got to this realization was two-fold. I was interviewing Bolaji Oyejide when he introduced me to the word Sonder. After roughly grasping the concept, I explored it deeper with a friend (Steven Lippold), which created the opening metaphor.
I believe this is the first step in increasing your impact: Realizing we each are the main characters of our own movie and focusing on how to improve the movie of others.
To begin that journey, let’s explore this mystery word:
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The feeling one has on realizing that every other individual one sees has a life as full and rich as one’s own, in which they are the central character and others, including oneself, have secondary or insignificant roles. – From The Dictionary
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For some, this might be intuitive. Others, like me, have experienced this through spirituality, realizing we are all interconnected in one giant “movie.”
I never had a word or concept to wrap around that intuitive feeling. Or to use it as a mantra to step out of myself and contribute to the larger movie. Now I do. I love how simple Sonder is, yet the immense definition it carries.
Why wasn’t this taught in school?
When you understand and accept this concept, you’re free to contribute. You likely see life as an abundant/infinite game. You positively impact other’s stories while enriching your own.