Stagnant Water Breeds Mosquito Larva... and That's Gross

“All that matters is the footprint you leave.”

I heard this quote recently from Elgin James, the director of the powerful film “Little Birds”.  I saw the movie in a film class I’m not technically enrolled in (shhh) and listened to the QnA afterwards.  Mr. James used to be in a gang.  After leaving and deciding he wanted to make movies, his past caught up to him, putting him in jail for a crime he committed five years prior.

What he had to say resonated with me.

“We are all going to die one day”, he said. “It’s what you leave behind for others that is important.”  Whether that be an impactful film or charity organization or business of some kind, your legacy will live on long after you.

So what are you waiting for?  Honestly, go do something!  Anything.  Literally anything.  Create something.  Have an idea.  Start a project.  Love something; love someone!

And don’t be afraid to do it.  Coming from me, someone who is most certainly afraid – afraid of failure, rejection, not being accepted, not being liked – that is saying something.  Because who am I, really?  I’m barely anyone at this moment in time.  But I desire so strongly to change that – to leave my mark on this world, that I’ll keep those fears locked away just long enough to put my neck out there.  Taunt me, jab and toss your garbage my way, bring down your axe if you must – as, clearly, I will bare my neck for you to do so, but don’t ever doubt that something will remain of me long after my body has sunken into the earth or risen into the air, dissipating into ashes that fade with the breeze.

Stagnation should be everyone’s antithesis of their own existence.  Move forward!  Move something!  Move someone!  Have some impact on those around you, on the world around you!

No one truly knows what happens when we die.  I don’t want to get in a religious debate here, but the only thing that has been proven to be left behind is your footprint.

One of my favorite quotes comes from the last line of the graphic novel “Blankets”.

“How satisfying it is to leave a mark on a blank surface…to make a map of my movement, no matter how temporary.”

Make your footprints as deep as you can.  Press down into the snow with everything you have to give, because, in all honesty, what else can you do?  Our lives are snow-covered fields waiting for us to stumble around in them and maybe, just maybe, find that pair of snow boots before our feet get too cold.

Mr. James had absolutely no idea how to make a movie.  He had no money, no real home at one point, and a bad rap following him wherever he went. 

And yet, I just watched a touching, well-made, and inspiring film directed by this man.  All he had at one point was an overwhelming desire to leave something behind.

So what are you waiting for?

Go fucking do something.