How Reading a Book Review Changed My Life
“Seven twenty-five, happy to be alive” is a mantra I recite twice a day, every day. Like clockwork (pun intended) I happen to glance at the time at either 7:25am or 7:25pm and make a conscious choice to be happy and grateful. 7/25 is my birthday. Today is World Mental Health Day. The World Health Organization provides a brief description on their website: “World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.” Today is a great day to introduce my current passion project, Neuroland: Playground of the Mind (Neuroland).
Two years ago in July 2017 I came across a book review on Brain Pickings, a weekly newsletter and blog by Maria Popova. She is an incredible thinker, philosopher, and writer with an amazing personal story. I haven’t introduced myself to properly thank her yet but the least I can do is to take a moment to give Maria and her body of work the respect it deserves, so I won’t butcher it in my words. Here is an excerpt in her own words from the About page of her website:
“I am a reader and writer, and I write about what I read here on Brain Pickings — my one-woman labor of love. It is an inquiry into what it means to live a decent, substantive, rewarding life, and a record of my own becoming as a person — intellectually, creatively, spiritually — drawn from my extended marginalia on the search for meaning across literature, science, art, philosophy, and the various other tentacles of human thought and feeling.”
That.
Maria has also published two books, Figuring, and A Velocity of Being. I read to my kids every night. At this point they have covered most of (what I consider) the classics and are more well-read than many adults. When it came out (I pre-ordered), we read A Velocity of Being from cover to cover, which incidentally is a very special project — not only because of the time and love put into it, but because all proceeds benefit New York Public Libraries. The stories inspire and the art is fantastical — I (and my kids) highly recommend. It’s a book that will sit on your shelf happily radiating inspiration.
Maria — If you happen to read this, thank you.
GETTING TO NOW
Around this time two years-ago I was also at the end of a well-intentioned exploration of the Virtual Reality (VR) market. This was my general thought process at the time:
· What’s next? I want to do something meaningful.
· I enjoy my freedom and would rather build something for myself than for someone else.
· Fantasy: I used to work at Marvel and Disney. Comics are cool. People like comics and movies about comics. Maybe I can find a comic and use a few pages from the playbook to turn it into a franchise.
· Reality check: How am I going to compete with entertainment giants that have buckets of money and established fan-bases?
· Finding my passion: When I did movie marketing at Disney Studios, one of my roles was handling Educational Outreach and Faith & Family Marketing. I always loved the Social Impact components of campaigns because they married pop-culture and themes from the films with curriculum, conversation, and activism. Maybe I can find an interesting property and do something around education.
ENTER NEUROCOMIC
Ironically, when I came across the Neurocomic book review I was in search of children’s books to refresh our personal library. Struck by the cover art and the unique style of the illustrations I ordered a copy on the spot. When the book arrived, it was love at first sight. The cover was a beautiful blue hue embossed with the title and art in silver and gold. I cracked it open and was drawn into the story, characters, and illustrations. Wow. This was unique.
I found a personal connection with Neurocomic based on a conversation we had recently had with a doctor about our daughter, Zoe, who is on the autism spectrum. Pride is an understatement for how I feel about her, what she has accomplished, and what she will achieve in life. Seriously, look out world. Outside of friends and family and those who need to know, it’s not something we publicize on social media; however, it is relevant for this story and I’ve found that when I do share, I am able to help other parents with information and resources. It is an extra layer of parenting that I may write a separate post about one day.
In our conversation with the doctor, she compared neurons to trees. Our goal was to take emphasis away from the neuron branches growing sideways, and to train and strengthen the neuron trunks growing up like trees. (In Neurocomic, the main character pops off a page, tumbles through the optic nerve and lands in a neuron forest.) This resonated with me in a big way. When I was about halfway into the book Zoe bounded into the room and asked what I was reading. I showed it to her, she asked to see it, and I didn’t get it back for a week. This is not an exaggeration — Zoe slept with the book in her bed for five nights.
Deep in my brain there was a gear that started to turn. Slowly it clicked, “If Neurocomic resonates with me and with my five-year-old daughter than I must be onto something. I must have this book. I don’t exactly know what it is yet, but I’m going to do something and it’s going to be important.”
NEXT STEPS
Where to start? Who has the wherewithal to license rights to a literary property? A few years before, my dear friend, Ken Markman, asked if I would help co-instruct an Entertainment Licensing class at UCLA Extension. We had just rolled off the previous class on Entertainment Marketing. It was invigorating sharing my knowledge and experience, but at the same time it was an administrative drag managing 90 students. My lazy brain told me ‘no’, but I listened to my hungry gut and said ‘yes’. One of my motives to help was because I had a curiosity about the world of licensing. The mechanics of it were foreign to me and I wanted to know how to structure a deal. The class was organized around a series of prestigious licensing experts, who provided master level knowledge. Not only did I get what I came for, I walked away with friends and lessons for life. The lesson for life for anyone reading this is that every single time I’ve pushed myself to leave the house and go to an event or do something I was on the fence about it has paid off exponentially.
Along with persistence and tenacity, it certainly paid off in my approach and success with Neurocomic. I naturally assumed that the rights to the book sat with Nobrow Press, a small specialty publisher based in the United Kingdom. As a first step I looked them up and reached out to the email address for general inquiries. Some time went by and I didn’t get a response. Next I found the name of the representative in the United States and sent him two successive emails over the course of a month. Still no response. Then I had an idea. The authors are university researchers so their contact info should be relatively easy to find. Sure enough, I found their contact info and reached out to introduce myself. To my delight they responded and were interested in hearing more. We set up a call on Skype and I shared my ideas about using the book for immersive experiences and education. On the call I learned that Nobrow had only negotiated rights for publishing, which explains the lack of response. I offered to buy the copyright, but understandably the authors wanted to retain ownership of the property. However, they did agree to license the rights to me! At that point I was introduced to their literary agent, who asked me to send an offer. Even though I had learned the basics in the Entertainment Licensing class I knew better than to go it alone and hired an Intellectual Property attorney to advise and eventually paper the contract. Negotiations took 10 months!
DETOUR
One reason negotiating the terms of the contract took so long was because I had to pause for a couple months to take care of my family. In mid-November 2017 my parents were struck head-on in a car collision about 100 yards from the entrance to their neighborhood. The stated speed limit on that stretch of road is 35mph. The other driver was going 107mph and crossed the yellow line at the bottom of a bend to pass a car in a no-passing zone. The estimated combined impact was 144mph. My dad had enough time and reflex to turn slightly so much of the energy from impact spun the car. It saved their lives, but my mom was seriously injured (ruptured colon, fractured ribs and vertebrae). The doctors weren’t sure she would survive. Remarkably, my dad had little more than a sore back from the collision. What they did find when they scanned his body was a brain tumor that had apparently been growing into his right frontal lobe for a few years. I live in Los Angeles and my parents live in my hometown, Orlando. When I got the call that night, I booked a flight and didn’t come back for five weeks. I couldn’t believe this was how their story was going to end. Three things helped me get through that very difficult time:
· I am forever grateful to my wife, Vicki, for holding down the fort with our two young children without a single complaint or ounce of resentment. Vicki is a good woman, wife, mother, friend, human!
· The “Get To Principle.” Remember when I mentioned making friends for life? One of the speakers I befriended, Ted Larkins, went on to write a powerful book called, “Get To Be Happy.” The idea is that we are lucky to be alive and “get to” experience all the things we do, for better or for worse. While I was taking care of my parents, I found peace in the idea that I got to be there for them. “I get to do this” was my mantra and source of Zen.
· Neurocomic. I had something exciting to think about and look forward to when I got back to my life.
Today my parents are doing well and I am grateful to have more time with them. My dad’s surgery to remove the tumor was a success. My mom is still recovering, but she is doing all the things in life — taking care of herself, walking, driving, shopping, and lunching with friends. They have a renewed zest for life and have also resumed their passion for traveling, first with short trips and graduating to longer trips to visit us in Los Angeles. My family and I recently met them in Anchorage for an Alaskan cruise.
PLANS FOR NEUROCOMIC
I officially locked rights on the book in April 2018 and in May 2018 formed a company called Receptor. Receptor’s mission is to entertain, inform, and activate through immersive experiences and technology. It is the culmination of my professional experience and a convergence of two of my passions, pop-culture and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) education, topped with the opportunity to make an impact.
NEUROLAND: PLAYGROUND OF THE MIND
Initially the plan was to develop a digital app in parallel with in-school and youth programs. It is still part of the plan; however, the idea has blossomed into something much bigger. I’m currently in the concept phase of an immersive experience, called “Neuroland: Playground of the Mind,” with the impact objective of saving lives via the primary goals below:
· Communicate ideas in an entertaining medium using pop-culture
· Build an interactive, collaborative, fun and engaging, highly tactile experience
· Generate awareness, understanding, and empathy for addiction and mental health
· Eliminate stigma and self-blame, start open conversations, and provide access to resources for help
At this moment I am thinking about the business model, venue, prospective partners, sources of funding, and how to scale the initiative for maximum impact. I’m also thinking about the target audience, middle to high school age students and their parents, as well as educators.
This generation of tweens and teens is smart and sophisticated. It is a formative time and a tremendous opportunity to provide information that is valuable, relatable, and accessible, to help them make decisions about their life, not to just provide behavioral tools. They deserve to know the “why,” not just what adults think they should do. As related to mental health, helping them identify what (on a chemical level in the brain) might be causing them to feel depressed or anxious, relieving the burden of thinking it is their fault and seeking help without embarrassment or hesitation. On addiction, gaining understanding of how the reward circuit works and that you can become addicted to anything (drugs, food, games, gambling, etc.), and how trying certain substances a single time can change your brain chemistry forever.
It seems like a perfect fit for a science museum; however, science museums typically serve families and kids aged 4–14, so the bottom of my target is the top of theirs. Alternative options for venues include other types of museums and independent spaces.
This is a sample floor plan (subject to change when a real architect/designer draws it) that I’ve sketched out to help provide a sense of the flow of the experience. Neuroland follows the general narrative from the source material, Neurocomic. Neuroland will go beyond general biology by incorporating hands-on interactives that demonstrate how mental health disorders and addiction manifest in the brain. I have ideas for a variety of interactives, from low-tech manipulatives to emerging digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), games, and animated content. It will also include photo-ready scenes that take visitors directly into the world. One of my favorite ideas is an old-school mirror maze that encourages visitors to reflect on our own consciousness.
Neuroland ends on a positive note in what I’m calling, Affirmation Station. It works like “give a penny, take a penny” in convenience stores, only with positivity and love. This will be a special place for visitors to receive messages of encouragement from a stranger and pay it forward by creating a message for someone else. Beyond that will be access to resources on mental health and addiction, as well as on-the-spot counseling and IMMEDIATE HELP through partnerships (to be forged) with organizations such as the Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Crisis Text Line.
As a side note, if you are reading this and are having suicidal thoughts, please get help. Life is worth living and you matter. Here is the phone number for the Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1–800–273–8255.
ACHIEVING SCALE
Note the Escape Room element in the floor plan, which has the potential to spin-out of the original concept to help scale Neuroland into multiple locations. Other spin-out ideas include animated content, a digital app, books, and School/Youth Programs. I would love to bring Neuroland to students in a massive way.
The fact that I am fortunate in many ways is not lost on me and this is the best way that I know how to make a difference. World Mental Health Day should be everyday. If you are interested in more information or want to find a way to be involved with Neuroland: Playground of the Mind, feel free to reach out: shawn @ activatereceptor [dot] com.
