This week, Jaclyn speaks with director Brian Ide, about his new film "A Case for Love" and his belief that unselfish love can change the world, one kindness at a time.
Director Brian Ide joins Jaclyn in the studio to discuss his new film, "A Case for Love," human connection, and the simplicity of kindness.
Brian has worked in the entertainment industry for over 20 years, first as an actor, then producer, and ultimately a director. “A Case for Love” is his fifth film and premier feature-length documentary. Before founding Grace-Based Films, he directed “Clear Lake, WI” and the recent faith-based short film, “Reconcile”, which has been viewed and used in 47 different countries.
A three-time national judge for the Polly Bond Awards, he has spoken to colleges, faith centers, and film programs nationwide about the intersection of film and faith. Brian is the son of an ELCA Lutheran pastor-father and devout Catholic mother. He is the husband to a lifelong Episcopalian who is drawn to stories that focus on what unites us rather than what divides.
This podcast is one of the many ways we live out our organization's mission to educate and inspire people to choose kindness. Visit our site kindness.org and sign up to become a part of our global community which spans more than 100 countries. It's free to join and when you do you'll be the first to get access to our latest research, tools, and even episodes of this podcast. Let's build a kinder world, together. Contact us at podcast@kindness.org or on social at @kindnessorg.
Sponsored by Verizon.
Share Your Kindness Story at kindness.org/stories.
A powerful and timely documentary, A Case for Love, asks people around the country whether unselfish love and kindness can change lives and bridge divides. The film shows us, through countless stories, the answer is a resounding yes.
Now it’s your turn. When has someone’s kindness made a difference in your life? We want to hear your stories of kindness. We’ll share them with our community to inspire people everywhere to remember that every act truly makes a difference.
Important links from this week's episode:
Follow Brian on social:
Credits
Transcript available at this link.
Brian Ide
Intro: Why kindness? Because it makes a difference. For connection. Kindness can change lives. It's contagious. The science says you'll be glad you did. Kindness is The key to a healthier, happier world.
Jaclyn: Why kindness? While no one answer is the same, one thing is clear. Kindness is something we all know, but do we know why it matters?
I'm your host, Jaclyn Lindsey, co founder, CEO of kindness. org. And you're listening. To why kindness?
Hello friends. Welcome to another episode of the why kindness podcast. I am really honored and excited to welcome my guest today. Brian and I have not known each other long and yet we met and it was kismet.
Because we're on the same kind of journey, a journey to build a better world, to inspire people and remind them the power things like love and kindness can have, and to help us put it at the forefront of how we treat everyone around us. [00:01:00] I met Brian just a mere two months ago in Los Angeles. We had this incredible lunch and immediately knew we wanted to do some things together.
And the first big thing, which you're going to hear a lot about today, was being a part of a remarkable film that Brian produced and directed, A Case for Love. He's an amazing human. We're going to hear more about his story and his own why. And with that, I'd like to welcome Brian to the Why Kindness podcast.
Hi, Brian. How are you?
Brian: Great. Thank you for having me.
Jaclyn: Thank you so much for being here. Where are you calling in from?
Brian: I am in Los Angeles, here at the end of this rainy, wet, cold period of time.
Jaclyn: Okay. All right. Yeah. I know there's been like mud slides and things like that, but you're safe and everything.
Brian: All is well, all is well. Good.
Jaclyn: Okay. So we open up every show with the big question, no wrong answer. Why kindness? What would you say to that? [00:02:00]
Brian: Oh, uh, I mean, that's a great question. And I had thought about it. And as you said, you know, so much of what goes through my mind. Now is through the lens of what these last few years have been working on, on the film.
And when I think of kindness, the word that jumped out to my mind that I wrote down was simplicity. There's a lot of things that I experienced in the last few years on the film that are big and amazing and complicated and earth shattering in some ways and life changing. And then there was a story in the middle that was about kindness and the simplicity of that.
And, and so I think it, that's what I think of when I think of kindness is The ability to participate in it all the time because it doesn't require a lot of external things. to be pulled off. And, and the other part that went through my mind that I have felt for years now is the extension of that in my own life is kind eyes that I, [00:03:00] I think that you can tell somebody when they have kind eyes and the impact it has on you and, and doing a lot of international travel.
And my wife does a lot of work with, um, Afghan refugees and when language isn't an option. You're left with the nonverbal and eyes can, can say a lot. And um, so I've tried to be mindful of that in my own life. Um, so probably those two things.
Jaclyn: I love that. I will say I've never once thought about the idea.
Of eyes as a means to connect and extend kindness or experience kindness. Um, so that's really wonderful. Thank you for that perspective. I really love that. So let's dive into the film. I'd love to start there. Um, and probably cause it's so fresh for me personally, having seen it recently in the theater.
Um, and I know you're just coming off of a whirlwind tour of the release. Um, but let's just start a little bit at the beginning with. What prompted the film, what, what is the film, and what [00:04:00] prompted you to devote your time, energy, resources to directing and producing this film?
Brian: Well, the film, like you said, is, is called A Case for Love, and I think at its core, it's the exploration of whether unselfish love is and can be the tool that binds us together as human beings.
And, uh, so the film itself is in a journey across America, engaging with ordinary folks and some notable folks, but really mostly ordinary people living their lives in their own unique and complicated ways. And then to explore how Unselfish Love navigates through that. And the, the why for me was when it was first brought up, it was 2020, early 2020, 10 days or so before COVID exploded in Los Angeles.
And I think through the. The course of 2020, when we weren't working on the film because we had to focus on our own lives and, you know, uh, navigating family and, [00:05:00] and, uh, all of that, I found that my world being in Los Angeles and my bubble became very, very small. And when you're not engaging with human beings personally anymore, you start to see, or at least I did, I started to see the world through the lens of whatever my social media was and whatever news I happen.
to participate in. And after a year of that, even though in your mind, you knew it wasn't the case. If you live in Southern California, you really start thinking people from Florida are the devil and vice versa, or Texas or, or the Texas people hate the Los Angeles, you know, or the red and the blue. And I think the human connection that we have negates that and, and reminds us otherwise.
But when you lose that human connection, You become a product of those headlines in a very different way. At least I was. And so what I loved about the film was it was an opportunity for me in the midst of the darkest part of Covid [00:06:00] to be with a team of eight people in three vans and just get in the car and drive, uh, all across America and, and re-engage with people, many of which were very different than I, um, very different in their journeys than mine.
And to see the common humanity in all of us. Um, It was incredibly refreshing, but that was, that was the, why was, was wanting to get past headlines and, um, all that, that feedback that's coming from the world and to, to see for myself and to remind myself that, um, the connection that we all share is humans.
Jaclyn: It's really powerful, and I think you're hitting on a lot of the themes that we think about a lot, and it's the idea of how humanity can rise above the things that often separate us, and I feel like you worked hard to, like, showcase those different perspectives and, You don't ignore that tension, um, in creating the [00:07:00] film.
So when you went on this journey, so it's eight people, three vans all over America, tell us a little bit, like what was the process even to source the stories? What were you hoping to get from who you were interviewing? How organic was the process? Like, just let us in under the hood a little bit.
Brian: I knew early on that I wanted it to mostly be about ordinary people because I, I hope was that if an ordinary.
person sees it and is inspired by it or moved or impacted in any way that then they could internalize that by saying, well, if they can do it, then I can do it. If we only had a bunch of amazing experts and nonprofit leaders and just remarkable people only, I think a lot of us would feel. Yeah. Okay.
That's great that mother Teresa did that, but like, I'm not mother Teresa. So, you know, what does this mean for me? So that was really at the heart of the early desire for it. The other part that was really important to me is that this is not a film [00:08:00] about. Us seeking out the best examples and the experts on any of these things.
None of these people are experts. None of these people are chosen because, Oh, they're the perfect example of X. It really was like, let's get in a car and see who we happen upon. And I think of the four, there's 14 deep dive stories woven together in seven chapters. And that's really the heart of it. And those, those stories are military stories or foster care or adoption or sexually trafficked or sexual identity or volunteerism, all the things.
And I think of those 14, we had five preselected before we started. And then it really was us being in Minneapolis and somebody saying, Oh, you're going to be in Indianapolis. Let me see if the samples would be willing to be with you. Oh, you're going to be in Nashville. Let me see if Tim Shaw is willing to meet you.
And one of my really favorite stories about that was we were in Minneapolis to start. We were new. We're going to start in two days. The crew had all flown in and I thought, well, it'd be [00:09:00] really nice to have a test run of how we're going to shoot this and how we're going to ask questions. So does anybody have any ideas?
And our sound guy who's local said, well, my brother and his wife. live in a small town and they've adopted these three kids. Maybe we could go talk to them and we did that as a test and it's one of the really beautiful stories of the film about this challenging nature of a blended family and so what I learned from that is that everybody has a beautiful and a complicated story And that story's enough, you know, I think the sensationalizing Other high profile stories is, is great for business, but, uh, in the human way, they are going to be enough.
And that was my experience being on the road, the man on the streets. We did probably 250 of those and we just pulled over, literally pulled over. If we saw some people stand on a corner or going to work or on the Brooklyn bridge or in a farm in Pennsylvania, and we just tried to build enough trust with them to see if they'd be willing to talk to [00:10:00] us.
And my favorite part of those interviews were, I mean, there's a skepticism creeps in immediately for people. It's a big camera, a big, you know, it's a big sound thing. And we've all seen the Borat movies or know them enough to know that these people might make me look stupid. But the beauty of it was that once they did trust.
about what you were coming, what, where you were coming from, the wall came down and the vulnerability came out. And time and time again, the sense of it was like, you want to know what I think? Like nobody ever asked me what I think. Like we're living in a world where everybody's telling us what to think and believe and feel all the time.
And you all are walking up to me and you're going to record and use. What's on my heart. And it was just the most beautiful part of the journey for me was, uh, were those, uh, interactions with men on the streets. And then we have 14 or so notable figures who were very good about succinctly summarizing some of the things that we let slowly unpack in a longer story.[00:11:00]
And we had both sides of the aisles of politicians and different kinds of religious leaders. And then ultimately after all that we sat down with Bishop Curry, who's. message was the inspiration for this whole thing. And his message is that we have got to figure out as human beings, how to live into this notion of unselfish love.
And we're seeing the impact of that in the world not happening. And, um, so we got to sit with him and say, okay, here's what we saw. What does this mean? And, and that was an incredibly powerful part too, because then we don't have to be the teachers. I'm not a teacher. I'm not a theologian. I'm not any of those things, but we could say, here's what the journey revealed.
Uh, what does this mean? And he, he lands the plane beautifully as we say, uh, so that was kind of the jury journey behind it was this hopefulness that we could be reminded that we're, I believe very strongly that we are way more connected than the headlines want us to believe. And it was reaffirmation of that for me.
Jaclyn: And so this journey was several years long and you're at kind of the other side, if you [00:12:00] will, as in, I know there's a lot of things that come post production once it's out in the world and all of that, but today, like even on this day, this Wednesday that we're in together, it's a Tuesday or Wednesday, Brian, what's happening?
Brian: It’s Tuesday.
Jaclyn: So on this Tuesday, I want to know for you, Brian, the human, what's the biggest thing you learned about this?
Brian: I get asked that and in my mind, I race towards trying to think of something. Profound. And what I keep landing on again is the reaffirmation that that thing I just said is, is it feels a lot like the world is burning down and everybody hates each other.
And it, the story was built from a place of hope and it, at the end of the day, it was just rema reaffirmation for me. And I would imagine it's like your work, like when you see. [00:13:00] It working and you see the beauty of kindness like you can't imagine doing anything else because It's so desperately needed. Um, and I think people are so hungry for things like this that it just it reaffirmed that for me that Like there is good and people are good and Most people are all trying to do the same thing, take care of their family, figure out why they're existing on this planet, what their purpose is.
And those are hard things. And, um, so I think it was reaffirmation for me, more than anything.
Jaclyn: Did anything surprise you?
Brian: Gosh, a lot. I mean, it was, it's a terrifying thing to do. Because in a normal film, you know, it's scripted. So you already know what everybody's going to say when the actors show up. So this, you're just leaning into hope and trust.
And so I think I was scared all the time. And I think I probably still am scared all the time still. So I think I was surprised that, that you could build relationship with [00:14:00] people that quickly. I think I didn't know, I'd hoped that I could sit with somebody in the living room who I'd never met, put a bunch of equipment in front of them and hope that, that they would go someplace where they needed to go.
And so I think I was surprised at like the simplicity of that, that, that. What trust does to people. We had one of our stories in the film is a really challenging story about a woman who was sexually trafficked by her, her mother really hard for 20 some odd years. She went through this life and now is on the other side of that, doing this really beautiful work.
And before the interview, she's very, she says what she thinks. And before the interview started, she came right out and said, I am not going to talk about my mother. So do not ask about my mother. I'm trying to heal a relationship with my mother. I'm not going to, I was like, great, great. Five minutes in.
She's talking about her mother and it wasn't because we asked about it, but it was because that's ultimately where she needed to go. Um, and I think it was cathartic. And so I think I was, I was surprised by by the openness [00:15:00] that we were, we were gifted with along the way.
Jaclyn: Where for you, like your own origin or relationship with these concepts of love and kindness, let's go back to the beginning.
Like where would you credit your own experience of learning that?
Brian: My parents And you know, they both We hear stories sometimes about our parents when we're older That they didn't reveal when we were little kids because it's our grandparents. They're talking about I had wonderful experiences with my grandparents and um, they were great to me and and uh But as I got older, you hear about my, I would hear about my parents upbringing and it was challenging at times at that it would have been very easy for them to have perpetuated the cycle that then that they received as children as they became parents, because that's what they knew and that's, you know, and the intentionality of breaking that cycle.
And say, we are going [00:16:00] to be about this and creating a new cycle was beautiful. And I didn't realize that to nearly the extent until I was older. Uh, the other part of it was, I mean, we're a pretty religious family growing up. My father's a Lutheran pastor and my mom's devout Catholic. Uh, I married an Episcopalian and, but I, what I learned from them too, through that process.
Because we would all go to the Catholic church on Saturday. We'd all go to Lutheran church on Sunday is I learned very early on that no matter who we are, what our background is or what our journey is, like nobody has ultimate authority over what's right. And what's good. Like you, you were very early on learned that, Oh, there's value in this denomination and this denomination.
And then I think that's, I've carried that out over into my life and the kind of stories that I feel drawn to is how do we build bridges? Between people and, and they get all the credit for that of, um, being those, those role models for me. And I probably don't tell them nearly enough. So yes, very much from them.[00:17:00]
Jaclyn: Well, maybe we'll get a chance to tell them. Um, and so I love that. And what, tell us like before you stepped into grace based films, which is, that's the production company basically behind the film. So before that, what was life? What, like, what did you do? Tell us, like, what did you do professionally and then how did you take the leap in to becoming this documentary filmmaker?
Brian: Uh, so I grew up in Iowa and, um, went to, went to college and then worked at a movie theater for years. And I think that's where the spark of, of like film and. And dreaming came from and, uh, of course, in the nineties in Iowa, there weren't a lot of mentors for people to learn about, uh, filmmaking. And so I found my way, uh, through a number of steps into Los Angeles.
I think over the course of that time, there is no clear roadmap for this work. So you find yourself all over the place. And my journey was no different. Through those years that I spent time in front of [00:18:00] the camera, being an actor in commercials and videos, mostly because I look like a guy selling lawnmowers.
So it, you've got some work for that. And, and, and then, you know, being behind the camera to try to build the projects that were meaningful to me and learning along the way. And so it's been a lot of that. Over the last 25 years. So I've been fortunate enough to have directed some narrative independent films and short films and, and corporate things.
And then done a lot of things in front of the camera. Gray space films is a new, this is the first film under that umbrella and it's a 501c3. And that was really important to me that all of this work is funded by donors. And what I love about that is that. They're not giving funds to these movies to make them a profit.
So they don't own any proceeds from it. I don't own any proceeds from it. They all go towards this work and in the furthering of this work. And I get to sit with people now and instead of saying, Hey, you know, give us money for a film and I'll make you rich or all, you know, here's the kickback. [00:19:00] Like that conversation goes away.
And now it's. It's, and now we're all on a common goal together. And um, so that's where Great Space Films was born out of was this desire to focus on kind of inspirational content that has a greater meaning than just being a media content creator. And uh, this is the first film under that umbrella.
Jaclyn: Congratulations. Okay. Yeah. So I, I want to, you know, hit on something. I think one of the. Complex things with this kind of work is this idea of like the themes of anything related to spirituality or religion and how you put a message out that includes that and still honors the things outside of it, or that like acknowledges the bigness of all of it and allows people to wrestle with it.
And, you know, like what if they don't believe, or they don't know what to think about it. And I really appreciate it. It felt like the intention was. To show love beyond all of that and like [00:20:00] hold all these different perspectives and different walks of life and backgrounds, um, i'm curious for you What do you hope people get when they watch the film and the follow up?
I sometimes will do a one two a one two is how did you think about the layers of faith spirituality or any of that how it was reflected knowing that's a core part of You know, your production company's mission. How did you think about how that showed up in a way that honored the bigness of this idea of love?
Brian: Well, I'll answer the second part first, uh, if that's all right. Because it really was a big focus for us that like I am grounded in my own journey and my own, uh, faith journey. Um, I'm really comfortable with the acknowledging how. little I know in the scheme of things, you know, like, so this is my journey is my journey.
You know, as the team was being built out, we knew that we wanted to tell a story that was [00:21:00] formed by our own background and who we were. I mean, at the end of this day, it's a journey story and it's Brian's journey. And if you would have told a story, it would have been a different story because your lens is just different than my lens.
So I knew that it was going to come from there, but it really was always intentionally built for people. To go to them and let whatever that is that formed me hopefully create space that's safe enough for all of us to be vulnerable and to hear again, um, in whatever that means and, um, this was never meant to be a propaganda piece for any kind of Uh, faith journey or, or denomination and we were very intentional about that.
We very little of this was filmed in a church or with people that had colors, but we weren't going to run from that either. And I, I hope that we know that there are some trigger points in this film for people that have a particular background and journey on sexual identity or on the refugee issues or on racial justice.
And what I [00:22:00] believe the power of story is that it allows us to be introduced and then safely engage with a topic or a theme or a trigger point that we may intentionally avoid in our own lives. And I think at the end of the day, for any of these stories that are in there, at the end of the day, it's just Brad's story or Jason's soul story or any of the other stories.
It's not a dissertation on what you should believe on any particular topic. And that was really. important to me. I would love for people to wrestle with it. I'd love for people to, to want to dialogue in whatever that way is. And as you and I talked and we had lunch a few months ago, I really feel like the power of film is that it can activate emotional things in a unique way in its art form.
And then hopefully with a story like this, then it's like, okay, now I want to. Participate in that and then I get to hand it off and say, Oh, like your, your motivating piece walking away from this [00:23:00] is kindness. Well, here's this group that's already doing this in a beautiful way. Like we don't have to reinvent the wheel.
There are groups that are doing this. I think it's when we work together and shine lights on each other that then. Like the ripples start to overlap a little bit in the good. So yeah, I think that's my hope is that, that there is something that they experience through this and maybe the second time they watch it, they experience something different.
And then they see a topic that normally might just be a headline in their life in a different way because it's, it's Brad now instead of just a headline that's in their news feed. So I think that's one of my, my large goals. And I was grateful that the people that were part of a lot of this is. Kind of through the Episcopal Church and our connections were through the Episcopal Church because that's the church I, I attend and they were gracious and beautiful and Bishop Curry oversees that.
But I give them a lot of credit too that their desire wasn't to make a propaganda film as a recruiting tool for the Episcopal Church. That this is a human story through our own personal lens and so I'm just grateful that we were [00:24:00] allowed that, that runway in the making of it.
Jaclyn: I love that and it was felt.
I'm also wondering You know, this idea of, in particular, probably, as we head into an election year, and what feels like Yet again, we find ourselves in quite a divisive climate. So COVID's behind us, but we're still in a place where whatever we're getting from the news and how it's saturating our minds and belief systems about people on the other side of, of whatever that might be, what it's doing to tear us apart, separate us.
What, in making this film, what story for you, if any, um, challenged your own judgments or belief systems? Was there anything that you. You grew with like, Oh, I realized I thought this way, or I judged this kind of person or had these feelings about this thing. And this really helped me overcome that or reframe the narrative around that.
Brian: I think probably the Jason's soul story, which is one of the racial justice [00:25:00] stories in there. I've said this many times in the last number of years that I am acutely aware that as a tall, white, heterosexual Christian male. Like, I have not really faced discrimination in my life and I haven't faced extreme, uh, unkindness in my life just because of who I was.
Maybe something I did caused that, but not just walking into a room. And I think in the absorbing of that story and sitting with him, it was a world that I have not had to navigate in. It was probably one of the stories that I was most nervous about. how I represented it for when he saw the film afterwards, because what's this white guy from Iowa and Los Angeles, you know, doing, telling this story about this guy that was put in prison and, you know, and is now a law professor.
And, and so I don't know if it changed a ton of my [00:26:00] understanding of it, but it drew me in so much deeper because now I was sharing intimate space with him. In his story that I got it right like it you get it differently when it's like, okay He's telling you and not just in factual ways but in emotional ways what this journey has been and and and he wasn't trying to convince me of anything and It was just telling his story and that was definitely the the one I was most nervous about and most relieved When he was happy at the end Yeah, I think that, that world of, you know, I grew up in a very monocultural kind of world and in small town, Iowa in the eighties and nineties and, um, luckily my world is much bigger now, but, but, uh, we're products of that.
Jaclyn: Yeah. Yeah. His story was extraordinary and, and we won't say much more. So we can encourage people to check out the film for themselves to hear more about Jason. incredible things he's overcome and where he is today. I'm curious [00:27:00] when you think about where the stories are going to go or like what comes next.
What do you see both for the film? Tell us a little bit like what's next for the film, but what's next for you? What's next for Grace based films?
Brian: Well, I think film wise first, I mean, we're doing all the normal things of from a business standpoint of preparing to figure out what, what streamer and what outlets and how do we get it into hotels and all the places.
I mean, we're, we're encouraged that we've already been reached out by school districts that want to use it for young people and military groups that want to use it in their, their systems. And because a lot of people, you know, you can interchange some of these words and we use unselfish love in the film, but you know, some people use civility and some people use kindness and some, the themes are the same and everybody's wrestling with that in some way as a, as a corporate leader or a military leader or an individual or a person of faith or a, or a teacher.
So we're doing all those kind of operational things. The other part of it for the film that, [00:28:00] like, excites me is that we never, I didn't make this film as a product that then we just hock the product and then we go to the next product. Like, it's always birthed from a desire to create change, you know, positive change.
So now that it's done and our headspace changes from the completion of it into how does it serve other people? Like, I'm anxious to follow up in our conversation, you know, from our lunch before about, okay, now we are going into election year. What does that look like if, if we gathered the great work of people doing similar work with different tools, and then in summer of 2024, there is some expression of that where all the tools are used together to create some high profile.
Event or movement or something and I don't know what that means But I love the creative conversation that happens with that. So that excites me to see how the film can spotlight other great work and be that one of the [00:29:00] of the steps in in Pushing back on this narrative of division that we're living through.
I think for great space films. I've I Have two kids. My my son is 20 and my daughter is 15 and sort of around a lot of parents that have children and of varying ages. And I, I feel strongly that young people have been absorbing a level of toxicity in these last handful of years at levels that I don't think many of us adults are truly.
aware of. And, um, I think for many of us that are a little older, you know, we can look back at periods of our life. We're like, okay, that felt normal and safe. And so if we can just get back there, I know what normal and safe feels like. But if you're 12 to 22 the formative part of your life has all been terrible from a headline standpoint and COVID and politics and economics and all these things.
And so I feel called to do something that serves young people, that if media can be a tool that can create [00:30:00] harm in some spaces that can also be a powerful tool to respond to that. And um, so I look forward to just sitting with young people and with groups that deal with that and just listening and let young people drive what that should look like.
So it's not some 50 year old guy driving what that should look like, but something in that space of, um, trying to serve young people in a creative way speaks to me.
Jaclyn: I love that. Big need for sure. Big need for sure. I'm excited to keep exploring what collaboration looks like too. Yes. We are gonna wind down soon, um, but I want to make sure I open it up if there's any other Things that you want to speak to or share about please would welcome that.
Brian: Well from my from the film standpoint in this work standpoint I'm I need to say first like I'm grateful.
I'm grateful that we met I'm grateful that you took the leap of faith to believe in it and spread the word in it and I don't take that lightly and I I'm acutely aware of that all the [00:31:00] time and I'm grateful for that. And so I just I guess to circle back like I'm I'm hopeful. I'm a hopeful person, and I'm hopeful that redirecting people to narrative around kindness, around loving, around unselfishness, around civility, around listening, around um, empathy.
Like I'm hopeful that that's where most people are, and we've been given a rare opportunity to Be a part of, um, the thing that people really are hungry for and not everybody's been given the platform to do something about and, um, So it, it plays on my mind all the time. So I'm, I'm, I'm grateful for that.
I'm grateful for what you were doing and, and where conversations might lead down the road in that too. Love that.
Jaclyn: I'm grateful too. And hopeful. I am hopeful. I think we have to always find the hopefulness because that work is hard and it's big and [00:32:00] complex. And I think what you opened with to me, I want to remind people that we end with it, which is everyone has a story.
Everyone listening, you have a story in it. Is important and matters and is beautiful and how we partnered with you all is we created an opportunity for people to share their stories. And so Melissa, um, this is our wonderful producer for our audience. Let's make a note to include the link to people are in the show notes for people to share stories.
So if you're listening and you want to share your story, we would love to hear from you. So we close with a couple things. First is my like round robin questions. Um, so I'm just gonna throw questions out and you get back your answer. Um, okay, define kindness in one word.
Brian: I would go back to simplicity.
Jaclyn: Okay, great.
Um, if you could get everyone around the world to do one kind act today, what would it be?
Brian: Listen, [00:33:00] like really listen to each other. I would do that.
Jaclyn: What are you reading or listening to on Audible right now?
Brian: I'm actually listening to a lot of, uh, Guy Raza's podcasts. Um, and he started with a series called how I built this with, which were entrepreneurial people and the crazy stories of starting Home Depot or whatever that is.
And then he has another version. That's wisdom from the top. Um, and I'm listening to them. Because I think you would probably experience this too. While the heart is good, the creative in us wants to do good. I need to learn how to make sure that we're also effective in it. So the work doesn't disappear.
And I have a lot to learn and, and, uh, from people that have done this before. And so I'm just trying to absorb lessons from people that are better at this than I am from a organizational leadership. standpoint.
Jaclyn: Yeah, that's great. I'm definitely actually going to check that out. That's amazing. [00:34:00] Um, if kindness were a song, what song would it be?
Brian: Um, as soon as we get off, I'm sure I'll come up with a much better answer, but my favorite band growing up is Depeche Mode. Just loved them, loved all things about them, been to a ton of concerts. Um, our first dance at our wedding was the song called Somebody by Depeche Mode. And it, and it breaks down what the songwriter was looking for in somebody.
And it's all the beautiful, simple things. I would say that those were, Like expressions of of kindness. So I think probably my own bias because of the love of the band I would I would go there
Jaclyn: I love that so much Okay, so last thing we do is we choose kindness Okay, we end with action.
And this is an opportunity to think about someone that you want to thank for who they are in your life. So it could be the parents that [00:35:00] your parents that you mentioned earlier. But, um, and we have some people who do it in the moment, they like call or send a text, or they set the intention and let us know who they're going to do it for.
This first season, I have been partnering with Verizon and we did a call for kindness campaign. And the idea was calling or texting and letting that person know you're grateful for them. You love them, what you appreciate about them. And so that's how we'll end. It's just choosing action together and choosing kindness together.
So we'd love to know what's coming to you.
Brian: I had thought about this and. Um, I remember when we were doing interviews on the, on the road, and we were asking about examples of unselfish love and people defaulted to family a lot. Um, you're like, okay, that's, it's great. And then it's a part of you as a filmmaker of like, ah, is there anything else besides family?
Um, but then at the end of the day, like there's a reason for that too. And so as I was thinking and talking to you about, about my parents, like I'm pretty good at telling my parents that I love them. And I, um, [00:36:00] I think that's a default thing that we try to do is. Parents or as children to parents or hopefully that our children would do to us But I think it's a different thing to let them know that you're grateful um for them because that's not a default thing and that's that's a a um a reflection on all that they did and gave and and uh, so that's where I I defaulted is They could take, they could assume that saying that you love them is what you're supposed to do.
And, and, um, I'm going to take this chance to kind of spell out what it is that I'm grateful for. From them too. So that, that is who, who I will be reaching out to.
Jaclyn: Oh, wonderful. Let me know how it goes. I really love that.
Brian: I will.
Brian: I will give you the credit to them too.
Jaclyn: And I agree, it is different than the default, you know, like I love you.
And, um, I think the gratitude is. Um, powerful. We need those reminders. Thank you so much for joining [00:37:00] us on this week's episode of the Why Kindness podcast, sponsored by our friends at Verizon. To learn more about everything you heard today from our wonderful guests, definitely check out our show notes. We hope you're leaving this episode inspired and reminded that every kind act truly does make a difference.
We'd love to hear how you're choosing kindness in your day to day. We write back to every email, so let us know what you think. And please leave a review on Apple podcast or Spotify. This podcast is one of the many ways we live out our organization's mission to educate and inspire people to choose kindness.
Visit our site today at kindness. org and sign up to become a part of our global community which spans more than a hundred countries. It's free to join, and one of the many benefits includes being the first to get access to our latest research tools and even episodes of this podcast. We are so excited to get you involved in building a kinder world.
Please tune in next time as we continue to explore this big question. Why kindness?[00:38:00]