Sunday Night With John: Pinky and The Brain

“What are we going to do tonight, Brain?”

“Same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world.”

Cartoon exchanges have a way of staying with you when you are older, and, as you mature, they reveal their grander meeting. I was enamored with "Pinky and the Brain" when I was a kid. I have recited their famous signature line thousands of times. I try to fit in the second part of the quote in casual conversation whenever anyone asks me, "what are we doing tonight?". However, that’s not why I bring up a very funny, quotable old cartoon. It came up this week as I thought about a being singularly focused on one mission.

Brain never succeeded in his quest for world domination but that does not mean staying focused on a goal day in and day out does not have its merits. My message and mission has morphed and grown over the years but its focus is not to take over the world. It wasn’t until the recent change in political climate and the up tick in anger around the country that my focus heightened. As I have witnessed an increase in intolerance, hate, and exclusion of groups that make my life better, I have become more focused on using compassion to combat it.

This was the only recourse and path I could see clearly after seeing so many communities I have friends in hurt by recent events. I realized I needed to double down on my mission to use compassion, understanding, and  story-telling to make the world a better place. Lately, my focus has been a relentless pursuit of combatting all the negative emotions being put out in the world.  Much like my cartoon buddy, Brain, had a mission every day to take over the world, I too, wake up with singular mission -- to make as many lives as possible better. It’s all any of us can do -- spread joy, love, and compassion among the people we interact with; our loved ones, coworkers, friends, strangers, and whoever else we come in contact with.  It’s more important now than ever, in my lifetime, to spread emotional wellness, professionally and personally.

So if you ask me, “What are we doing today, John?”

My reply will be, “The same thing we do every day. Try to make a better world.”