Things read - Week 29

I picked up "Greenlights" on a whim last week. I had started thinking McConaughey as a relatively deep thinker since I heard his Oscar speech so when a couple of other people mentioned that his autobiography wasn't bad, I gave it a shot. And boy! I was blown away.

Within moments, what dawned on me was how self aware this chap is. Probably something to do with his habit of daily journaling. He doesn't shy away from putting himself in unfavorable light. What also became evident is that he doesn't make the book sound like how much he struggled to get into Hollywood as an outsider. No. In fact he sometimes glosses over his struggles without glorifying it. And above all he is not afraid to look for help when he finds trouble inward:

“Since becoming famous,” I professed, “I’ve tried to be a good man, to not lie and deceive myself, to be more pure of heart and mind, but I am full of lust, objectifying other people and myself. I do not feel a connection to my past nor see the path to my future, I’m lost. I don’t feel myself.”

While reading the book, it also felt quite relatable in the sense that what I would have done if I had gotten as much money and as much time as him. After his initial success and relatively bigger paycheck, he decided to do a roadtrip across USA for 48 months where he travelled forty-eight of the forty-nine reachable states. And he didn't have a fixed schedule either:

Now fully self-sufficient, Ms. Hud and I became what the trailer world calls “full-timers.” We carved trails from Manitoba to Guatemala and forty-eight of the forty-nine reachable United States of America in between. Our compass? Wherever we wanted to go. Our schedule? Whenever we wanted to go there. Roger Clemens is pitching in New York three days from now? That’s a three-day drive from Albuquerque, New Mexico, so we’ll head out in the morning and make the game. There’s a Cult concert in Detroit the next night? Perfect, we’ll swing by for that the day after Clemens takes the bump.

The cherry on the cake was that he started doing a version of remote work when it was not mainstream. I think this was perfect use case of his stature.

I also took my meetings with film directors on the road. For instance, if I was in Utah and headed east, I would schedule my guest to fly into Boulder, Colorado, the next morning and pick them up at the local airport. Then we would drive together and discuss the project for the next seven hours until I dropped them off at the airport in Lincoln, Nebraska, for their flight home. Behind the steering wheel has always been my favorite seat, and driving the highways of America has always been my ideal office.

The clarity of his thoughts and focus was also inspiring. I think it is just being able to put your muddy thoughts on paper in writing is what makes all the difference.

I had five things on my proverbial desk to tend to daily: family, foundation, acting, a production company, and a music label. I felt like I was making B’s in all five. By shutting down the production company and the music label, I eliminated two of my five commitments with plans to make A’s in the other three. I told my lawyer that I wanted to take care of my family, my foundation, and be an actor for hire. Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate. Alright, alright, alright.

Naturally, I asked Perplexity if there was indeed any connection between how successful (happy? fulfilled?) a person is and how self aware they are. And sure enough, there is a strong link established by multiple studies. It also mentions that just writing your thoughts down, first thing in the morning can give you the clarity you seek. Journaling also helps in dealing with trauma: According to Emotional Disclosure Theory, writing about emotional experiences helps process traumatic events by organizing chaotic thoughts and releasing pent-up emotions, leading to improved mental clarity and resilience.

And finally, I leave with you his goals that he wrote about 33 years ago. He seems to have achieved all of them in my view.