Book 295 - A Year of Magical Learning

Reflection Title: Meaningful Work in Contagious!

Book – Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino

Book Description:

In addition to being among the most celebrated of contemporary filmmakers, Quentin Tarantino is possibly the most joyously infectious movie lover alive. For years he has touted in interviews his eventual turn to writing books about films. Now, with Cinema Speculation, the time has come, and the results are everything his passionate fans—and all movie lovers—could have hoped for. Organized around key American films from the 1970s, all of which he first saw as a young moviegoer at the time, this book is as intellectually rigorous and insightful as it is rollicking and entertaining. At once film criticism, film theory, a feat of reporting, and wonderful personal history, it is all written in the singular voice recognizable immediately as QT’s and with the rare perspective about cinema possible only from one of the greatest practitioners of the artform ever.

Reflection:

Wow, Quentin Tarantino truly has a special love of the cinema and all things movies.

He has turned his lifelong love and obsession into a career filled with meaningful work that the rest of world has gotten to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

I’m not a big movie guy. In fact, I’ve probably been to the actual theater maybe once in the past 4 years that I can recall, and that was to see the Top Gun sequel. So why did I pick up a book called “Cinema Speculation” in this first place? Great question, while I may not be a huge fan of movies in general, I’ve seen a few of Tarantino’s movies and I’ve heard him talk about his love of film in the past and figured I was in for an incredible learning adventure.

I was not disappointed.

Here’s the thing about meaningful work, when you have it, everyone in your orbit knows it and it draws them in. Meaningful work is like a black hole that just sucks in everything that comes near…in a good way.

Spending 10 hours with Tarantino changed my perspective on movies forever. I’m not a movie buff now, but you can call me cinema curious if you’d like. Just listening to Tarantino talk about movies like Bullit, Dirty Harry, and Taxi Driver made me want to go watch them for the first-time right meow. His passion for his experiences that he had watching them in the cinema, dissecting the directors and actors work on and off the screen, and the clear inspiration that he learned from the films in his youth was memorizing in a lot of ways. I was sucked into the mind of one man’s lifelong obsession with all things film and couldn’t get enough.

Fast forward a few days after finishing this book and I even found myself at my parent’s house talking about Steve McQueen one evening and thought to myself, “Who the hell am I”? Chris Sears doesn’t talk about movies, and before this book I barely even knew who Steve McQueen even was.

Meaningful work is beautiful because it has the power to change paradigms.

When you meet someone who has their full soul in the game, you just know it. Cherish these people because you will learn more in 10 hours with them than you will learn in a lifetime with most everyone else. I think about some of the author’s that have had the most influence over me on this journey like Adam Grant, Steven Covey, Darren Hardy, James Clear, Simon Sinek, Bill Bryson, Nassim Taleb, Daniel Kahneman, Jonathon Haidt, Jay Shetty, and many more. Through sharing of their meaningful work, they have helped me to find my own and made me want to share it with you all as well.

Meaningful work is contagious! This is one contagion that I’m happy to spread far and wide until I leave this Earth

Question: If you are blessed to have meaningful work in your life, how are you choosing to share that with others?

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Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - Coming Soon

YOML Bookstore - Cinema Speculation