Can I make a movie about you?

If we sat down tonight to draft a movie about you, what would we put there? Would it be exciting, would people pay to watch it, admire the hero, cry when he cries, and celebrate their victories?

I love thinking of life as a story, you know that a good story is exciting and has heroes with characteristics we desire. We admire them and like them.

Donald Miller, the author of A Miles in a Thousand Years realized -after two screenwriters tried to make a movie about his life- that the elements that make a good story are the ones that make a good life. What makes a good story?

"A story is a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it." (Donald Miller)

Desire, conflict, and struggle are components of a good story. Miller started wondering whether his life makes for a good story and a movie, which meant "does my life make for a good life?"

I like to think of it this way: What would go into a montage about my life?

You know what goes into an epic montage, perhaps the hero training and getting stronger, or directly in battle, getting beaten up then standing up and slaying the beast. Batman beats the joker, the prince marries the princess, and the team wins the championship. (One of my favorite examples is the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, despite the goal being monetary).

A hero must save the cat and eat the frog...be a good person, and do the most difficult things.

Would scrolling the phone every evening of a 3 months summer make it to the final cut of the montage, or would volunteering at a local hospital?

The rising sun was painting the bottom side of the clouds pink and orange on the side of a large hill, and the cool summer breeze was blowing the smoke away from my coffee cup, and the only sound was that of the small birds landing on the garden's trees.

There was a single chair on that balcony that overlooked the refugee camp. I was thinking of how I changed over the last year, how little I knew about certain things compared to how much I know now, it was a year of many first-times in many different areas of life. I felt, walked, and talked differently. It wasn't all sunshine and roses, but I was grateful for the change.

Realizing how little I knew about certain things and how useful my new knowledge is felt magical, powerful, and eye-opening. "I wonder how much I don't know yet, and how many areas am I completely blind in," I thought.

I took out a book and read the following words:

"Anyone who isn't embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn't learning enough." (Alain de Botton)

A rather harsh metric, but I understood what was meant. That year specifically, it almost felt weird how much I changed that I found myself referring to myself 12 months ago as "he" and "that guy" (not in any derogatory way).

Sacrifice and transformation were what made all great stories meaningful and admirable. “It wasn't necessary to win for the story to be great, it was only necessary to sacrifice everything" explains Miller... now that's what makes the cut.

What do you want to go into your 2023 montage?