Ethan Hawke, the screen actor, gets candid about creativity and how people often doubt their own ability to be creative. He reflects on a story about the poet Allen Ginsberg, who was ridiculed for singing a song on a TV show. However, Ginsberg wasn't bothered because he believed his role as a poet was to stir emotions and trigger thoughts.

Ethan emphasizes that we aren't the ones to judge if our creations are good or not - that the world is an unreliable critic. He talks about how in moments of deep emotional pain or overwhelming love, poetry and art become essential ways of making sense of these feelings.

Ethan also discusses his belief that our purpose is to help one another, and a big part of that involves expressing ourselves. He suggests that as we lean into our passions, our authentic selves get revealed and expanded. This reminds me of what this blog is intended to be for me, leaning into my passions. He shares his own love for acting and how the roles he played helped him realize the similarities of the human struggle.

He shares an interesting story about his great-grandmother who dedicated many pages of her biography to the time she made costumes for a play, displaying how creativity was her mode of self-expression. He also nostalgically recalls how he and his stepbrother were inspired by the movie "Top Gun" - Ethan was motivated to become an actor, while his brother was inspired to join the army. Fascinating to me, how we can be impacted by art so differently.

Ethan's main point is the brevity of life and the importance of dedicating it to what truly matters to us. It's about pursuing what we love and being open to appearing foolish in the process. It's about initiating conversations and acknowledging our shared human experience. As he says, don't just read the book you think you should, read the one you want to read. Explore new music, engage with new people, even if it makes you feel a little silly - because that's the point.