1
00:00:00,858 --> 00:00:04,573
So a while ago, I tried an experiment.

2
00:00:04,573 --> 00:00:08,891
For one year, I would say yes
to all the things that scared me.

3
00:00:08,891 --> 00:00:12,188
Anything that made me nervous,
took me out of my comfort zone,

4
00:00:12,188 --> 00:00:14,603
I forced myself to say yes to.

5
00:00:14,603 --> 00:00:16,229
Did I want to speak in public?

6
00:00:16,229 --> 00:00:18,434
No, but yes.

7
00:00:18,434 --> 00:00:20,385
Did I want to be on live TV?

8
00:00:20,385 --> 00:00:22,707
No, but yes.

9
00:00:22,707 --> 00:00:24,518
Did I want to try acting?

10
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No, no, no, but yes, yes, yes.

11
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And a crazy thing happened:

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the very act of doing
the thing that scared me

13
00:00:32,343 --> 00:00:34,107
undid the fear,

14
00:00:34,107 --> 00:00:35,663
made it not scary.

15
00:00:35,663 --> 00:00:40,794
My fear of public speaking,
my social anxiety, poof, gone.

16
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It's amazing the power of one word.

17
00:00:43,813 --> 00:00:46,042
"Yes" changed my life.

18
00:00:46,042 --> 00:00:47,644
"Yes" changed me.

19
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But there was one particular yes

20
00:00:49,896 --> 00:00:52,613
that affected my life
in the most profound way,

21
00:00:52,613 --> 00:00:54,633
in a way that I never imagined,

22
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and it started with a question
from my toddler.

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I have these three amazing daughters,
Harper, Beckett, and Emerson,

24
00:01:01,771 --> 00:01:05,393
and Emerson is a toddler who inexplicably
refers to everyone as "Honey"

25
00:01:05,393 --> 00:01:07,227
as though she's a Southern waitress.

26
00:01:07,227 --> 00:01:08,411
(Laughter)

27
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"Honey I'm gonna need some milk
for my sippy cup."

28
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(Laughter)

29
00:01:13,148 --> 00:01:16,306
The Southern waitress asked me
to play with her one evening

30
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when I was on my way somewhere,
and I said, "Yes."

31
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And that yes was the beginning
of a new way of life for my family.

32
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I made a vow that from now on,

33
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every time one of my children
asks me to play,

34
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no matter what I'm doing
or where I'm going,

35
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I say yes, every single time.

36
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Almost. I'm not perfect at it,
but I try hard to practice it.

37
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And it's had a magical effect on me,

38
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on my children, on our family.

39
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But it's also had a stunning side effect,

40
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and it wasn't until recently
that I fully understood it,

41
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that I understood that saying yes
to playing with my children

42
00:01:53,651 --> 00:01:56,971
likely saved my career.

43
00:01:56,971 --> 00:01:59,734
See, I have what most people
would call a dream job.

44
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I'm a writer. I imagine.
I make stuff up for a living.

45
00:02:02,985 --> 00:02:04,355
Dream job.

46
00:02:04,355 --> 00:02:05,678
No.

47
00:02:05,678 --> 00:02:07,327
I'm a titan.

48
00:02:07,327 --> 00:02:08,766
Dream job.

49
00:02:08,766 --> 00:02:11,251
I create television.
I executive produce television.

50
00:02:11,251 --> 00:02:14,269
I make television,
a great deal of television.

51
00:02:14,269 --> 00:02:16,196
In one way or another, this TV season,

52
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I'm responsible for bringing about
70 hours of programming to the world.

53
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Four television programs,
70 hours of TV -- (Applause) --

54
00:02:22,535 --> 00:02:25,414
three shows in production,
at a time, sometimes four.

55
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Each show creates hundreds of jobs
that didn't exist before.

56
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The budget for one episode
of network television can be

57
00:02:31,381 --> 00:02:33,216
anywhere from three
to six million dollars.

58
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Let's just say five.

59
00:02:34,818 --> 00:02:37,047
A new episode made every nine days
times four shows,

60
00:02:37,047 --> 00:02:39,787
so every nine days that's
20 million dollars worth of television,

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four television programs, 70 hours of TV,
three shows in production at a time,

62
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sometimes four,

63
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16 episodes going on at all times:

64
00:02:46,288 --> 00:02:48,633
24 episodes of Grey's,
21 episodes of Scandal,

65
00:02:48,633 --> 00:02:51,071
15 episodes of
How To Get Away With Murder,

66
00:02:51,071 --> 00:02:52,418
10 episodes of the Catch,
that's 70 hours of TV,

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that's 350 million dollars for a season.

68
00:02:54,647 --> 00:02:57,526
In America, my television shows
are back to back to back

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00:02:57,526 --> 00:02:58,896
on Thursday night.

70
00:02:58,896 --> 00:03:02,959
Around the world, my shows air
in 256 territories in 67 languages

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for an audience of 30 million people.

72
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My brain is global,

73
00:03:06,860 --> 00:03:10,389
and 45 hours of that 70 hours of TV
are shows I personally created

74
00:03:10,389 --> 00:03:12,804
and not just produced,
so on top of everything else,

75
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I need to find time,
real quiet creative time,

76
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to gather my fans around the campfire

77
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and tell my stories.

78
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Four television programs, 70 hours of TV,
three shows in production at a time,

79
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sometimes four, 350 million dollars,
campfires burning all over the world.

80
00:03:28,454 --> 00:03:30,799
You know who else is doing that?

81
00:03:30,799 --> 00:03:33,492
Nobody, so like I said, I'm a titan.

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Dream job.

83
00:03:35,234 --> 00:03:36,673
(Applause)

84
00:03:36,673 --> 00:03:38,624
Now I don't tell you this to impress you.

85
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I tell you this because I know what you
think of when you hear the word "writer."

86
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I tell you this so that all of you
out there who work so hard,

87
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whether you run a company
or a country or a classroom

88
00:03:48,969 --> 00:03:51,361
or a store or a home

89
00:03:51,361 --> 00:03:54,356
take me seriously
when I talk about working,

90
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so you'll get that I don't
peck at a computer and imagine all day,

91
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so you'll hear me when I say

92
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that I understand that a dream job
is not about dreaming.

93
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It's all job, all work, all reality,
all blood, all sweat, no tears.

94
00:04:09,518 --> 00:04:14,116
I work a lot, very hard, and I love it.

95
00:04:14,116 --> 00:04:16,461
When I'm hard at work,
when I'm deep in it,

96
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there is no other feeling.

97
00:04:18,899 --> 00:04:22,405
For me my work is at all times
building a nation out of thin air.

98
00:04:22,405 --> 00:04:24,982
It is manning the troops.
It is painting a canvas.

99
00:04:24,982 --> 00:04:27,467
It is hitting every high note.
It is running a marathon.

100
00:04:27,467 --> 00:04:29,533
It is being Beyonce.

101
00:04:29,533 --> 00:04:32,668
And it is all of those things
at the same time.

102
00:04:32,668 --> 00:04:34,808
I love working.

103
00:04:34,808 --> 00:04:37,849
It is creative and mechanical
and exhausting and exhilarating

104
00:04:37,849 --> 00:04:40,334
and hilarious and disturbing
and clinical and maternal

105
00:04:40,334 --> 00:04:41,959
and cruel and judicious,

106
00:04:41,959 --> 00:04:45,651
and what makes it all so good is the hum.

107
00:04:45,651 --> 00:04:48,577
There is some kind of shift inside me
when the work gets good.

108
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A hum begins in my brain,

109
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and it grows and it grows
and that hum sounds like the open road,

110
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and I could drive it forever.

111
00:04:57,028 --> 00:05:00,070
And a lot of people,
when I try to explain the hum,

112
00:05:00,070 --> 00:05:02,740
they assume that I'm talking
about the writing,

113
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that my writing brings me joy.

114
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And don't get me wrong, it does.

115
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But the hum,

116
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it wasn't until I started
making television

117
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that I started working,
working and making

118
00:05:13,909 --> 00:05:16,741
and building and creative
and collaborating,

119
00:05:16,741 --> 00:05:21,664
that I discovered this thing,
this buzz, this rush, this hum.

120
00:05:21,664 --> 00:05:23,800
The hum is more than writing.

121
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The hum is action and activity.
The hum is a drug.

122
00:05:27,306 --> 00:05:29,999
The hum is music.
The hum is light and air.

123
00:05:29,999 --> 00:05:33,668
The hum is God's whisper right in my ear.

124
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And when you have a hum like that,

125
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you can't help but strive for greatness.

126
00:05:38,892 --> 00:05:43,559
That feeling, you can't help
but strive for greatness at any cost.

127
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That's called the hum.

128
00:05:46,090 --> 00:05:49,898
Or maybe it's called being a workaholic.

129
00:05:49,898 --> 00:05:51,570
(Laughter)

130
00:05:51,570 --> 00:05:53,822
Maybe it's called genius.

131
00:05:53,822 --> 00:05:56,771
Maybe it's called ego.

132
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Maybe it's just fear of failure.

133
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I don't know.

134
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I just know that
I'm not built for failure,

135
00:06:05,246 --> 00:06:07,730
and I just know that I love the hum.

136
00:06:07,730 --> 00:06:10,099
I just know that I want
to tell you I'm a titan,

137
00:06:10,099 --> 00:06:12,653
and I know that I don't
want to question it.

138
00:06:12,653 --> 00:06:14,905
But here's the thing:

139
00:06:14,905 --> 00:06:16,902
the more successful I become,

140
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the more shows, the more episodes,
the more barriers broken,

141
00:06:20,222 --> 00:06:23,101
the more work there is to do,

142
00:06:23,101 --> 00:06:24,448
the more balls in the air,

143
00:06:24,448 --> 00:06:27,048
the more eyes on me,
the more history stares,

144
00:06:27,048 --> 00:06:29,533
the more expectations there are.

145
00:06:29,533 --> 00:06:31,576
The more I work to be successful.

146
00:06:31,576 --> 00:06:34,037
the more I need to work.

147
00:06:34,037 --> 00:06:35,872
And what did I say about work?

148
00:06:35,872 --> 00:06:37,835
I love working, right?

149
00:06:37,835 --> 00:06:39,670
The nation I'm building,
the marathon running,

150
00:06:39,670 --> 00:06:41,736
the troops, the canvas,
the high note, the hum,

151
00:06:41,736 --> 00:06:44,267
the hum, the hum.

152
00:06:44,267 --> 00:06:46,380
I like that hum. I love that hum.

153
00:06:46,380 --> 00:06:49,398
I need that hum. I am that hum.

154
00:06:49,398 --> 00:06:52,092
Am I nothing but that hum?

155
00:06:52,092 --> 00:06:55,575
And then the hum stopped.

156
00:06:55,575 --> 00:06:58,797
Overworked, overused,

157
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overdone, burned out.

158
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The hum stopped.

159
00:07:02,513 --> 00:07:05,694
Now, my three daughters
are used to the truth

160
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that their mother
is a single working titan.

161
00:07:08,782 --> 00:07:10,035
Harper tells people,

162
00:07:10,035 --> 00:07:13,402
"My mom won't be there
but you can text my nanny."

163
00:07:13,402 --> 00:07:17,396
And Emerson says, "Honey,
I'm wanting to go to Shondaland."

164
00:07:17,396 --> 00:07:19,323
They're children of a titan.

165
00:07:19,323 --> 00:07:21,691
They're baby titans.

166
00:07:21,691 --> 00:07:26,033
They were 12, 3, and 1
when the hum stopped.

167
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The hum of the engine died.

168
00:07:28,100 --> 00:07:30,538
I stopped loving work.
I couldn't restart the engine.

169
00:07:30,538 --> 00:07:32,628
The hum would not come back.

170
00:07:32,628 --> 00:07:35,785
My hum was broken.

171
00:07:35,785 --> 00:07:39,407
I was doing the same things
I always did, all the same titan work,

172
00:07:39,407 --> 00:07:41,962
15 hour days, working
straight through the weekends,

173
00:07:41,962 --> 00:07:45,096
no regrets, never surrender,
a titan never sleeps, a titan never quits,

174
00:07:45,096 --> 00:07:48,300
full hearts, clear eyes, yada, whatever.

175
00:07:48,300 --> 00:07:50,297
But there was no hum.

176
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Inside me was silence.

177
00:07:54,212 --> 00:07:57,811
Four television programs, 70 hours of TV,
three shows in production at a time,

178
00:07:57,811 --> 00:08:00,510
sometimes four. I was the perfect titan.

179
00:08:02,752 --> 00:08:07,745
I was a titan you could take home
to your mother.

180
00:08:07,745 --> 00:08:12,783
All the colors were the same,
and I was no longer having any fun.

181
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And it was my life.

182
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It was all I did.

183
00:08:16,428 --> 00:08:19,772
I was the hum, and the hum was me.

184
00:08:19,772 --> 00:08:22,047
So what do you do when the thing you do,

185
00:08:22,047 --> 00:08:26,157
the work you love,
starts to taste like dust?

186
00:08:26,157 --> 00:08:28,874
Now, I know somebody's out there
thinking, "Cry me a river,

187
00:08:28,874 --> 00:08:31,335
stupid writer titan lady."

188
00:08:31,335 --> 00:08:32,775
(Laughter)

189
00:08:32,775 --> 00:08:34,377
But you know, you do,

190
00:08:34,377 --> 00:08:37,256
if you make, if you work,
if you love what you do,

191
00:08:37,256 --> 00:08:40,182
being a teacher, being a banker,
being a mother, being a painter,

192
00:08:40,182 --> 00:08:41,482
being Bill Gates,

193
00:08:41,482 --> 00:08:44,895
if you simply love another person
and that gives you the hum,

194
00:08:44,895 --> 00:08:46,567
if you know the hum,

195
00:08:46,567 --> 00:08:48,355
if you know what the hum feels like,

196
00:08:48,355 --> 00:08:50,491
if you have been to the hum,

197
00:08:50,491 --> 00:08:54,066
when the hum stops, who are you?

198
00:08:54,066 --> 00:08:58,432
What are you? What am I?

199
00:08:58,432 --> 00:09:01,334
Am I still a titan?

200
00:09:01,334 --> 00:09:06,814
If the song of my heart ceases to play,
can I survive in the silence?

201
00:09:06,814 --> 00:09:12,038
And then my southern waitress toddler
asks me a question.

202
00:09:12,038 --> 00:09:15,846
I'm on my way out the door,
I'm late, and she says,

203
00:09:15,846 --> 00:09:18,957
"Momma, wanna play?"

204
00:09:18,957 --> 00:09:22,185
And I'm just about to say no,
when I realize two things.

205
00:09:22,185 --> 00:09:25,342
One, I'm supposed
to say yes to everything,

206
00:09:25,342 --> 00:09:29,770
and two, my Southern waitress
didn't call me "Honey."

207
00:09:29,770 --> 00:09:32,324
She's not calling everyone
"Honey" anymore.

208
00:09:32,324 --> 00:09:34,274
When did that happen?

209
00:09:34,274 --> 00:09:37,084
I'm missing it, being a titan
and mourning my hum,

210
00:09:37,084 --> 00:09:40,544
and here she is changing
right before my eyes.

211
00:09:40,544 --> 00:09:43,933
And so she says, "Mamma, wanna play?"

212
00:09:43,933 --> 00:09:46,139
And I say, "Yes."

213
00:09:46,139 --> 00:09:48,833
There's nothing special about it.

214
00:09:48,833 --> 00:09:51,480
We play, and we're joined
by her sisters,

215
00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:52,803
and there's a lot of laughing,

216
00:09:52,803 --> 00:09:56,425
and I give a dramatic reading
from the book "Everybody poops."

217
00:09:56,425 --> 00:09:59,142
Nothing out of the ordinary.
(Laughter)

218
00:09:59,142 --> 00:10:01,394
And yet, it is extraordinary,

219
00:10:01,394 --> 00:10:03,879
because in my pain and my panic,

220
00:10:03,879 --> 00:10:05,945
in the homelessness
of my humlessness,

221
00:10:05,945 --> 00:10:08,476
I have nothing to do but pay attention.

222
00:10:08,476 --> 00:10:10,241
I focus.

223
00:10:10,241 --> 00:10:11,959
I am still.

224
00:10:11,959 --> 00:10:14,211
The nation I'm building,
the marathon I'm running,

225
00:10:14,211 --> 00:10:18,646
the troops, the canvas,
the high note, does not exist.

226
00:10:18,646 --> 00:10:21,223
All that exists are sticky fingers
and gooey kisses

227
00:10:21,223 --> 00:10:23,824
and tiny voices and crayons,

228
00:10:23,824 --> 00:10:26,796
and that song about letting go
of whatever it is that frozen girl

229
00:10:26,796 --> 00:10:29,405
needs to let go of.

230
00:10:29,405 --> 00:10:30,473
(Laughter)

231
00:10:30,473 --> 00:10:34,119
It's all peace and simplicity.

232
00:10:34,119 --> 00:10:38,368
The air is so rare in this place for me
that I can barely breathe.

233
00:10:38,368 --> 00:10:41,154
I can barely believe I'm breathing.

234
00:10:41,154 --> 00:10:44,730
Play is the opposite of work.

235
00:10:44,730 --> 00:10:48,236
And I am happy.
Something in me loosens.

236
00:10:48,236 --> 00:10:53,065
A door in my brain swings open,
and a rush of energy comes.

237
00:10:53,065 --> 00:10:56,850
And it's not instantaneous,
but it happens, it does happen.

238
00:10:56,850 --> 00:10:58,708
I feel it.

239
00:10:58,708 --> 00:11:00,565
A hum creeps back,

240
00:11:00,565 --> 00:11:03,375
not at full volume, barely there,

241
00:11:03,375 --> 00:11:06,556
it's quiet, but and I have to stay
very still to hear it, but it is there.

242
00:11:06,556 --> 00:11:10,155
Not the hum, but a hum.

243
00:11:10,155 --> 00:11:14,032
And now I feel like I know
a very magical secret.

244
00:11:14,032 --> 00:11:16,354
Well, let's not get carried away.

245
00:11:16,354 --> 00:11:20,928
It's just love. That's all it is.

246
00:11:20,928 --> 00:11:24,132
No magic. No secret. It's just love.

247
00:11:24,132 --> 00:11:26,710
It's just something we forgot.

248
00:11:26,710 --> 00:11:30,146
The hum, the work hum,
the hum of the titan,

249
00:11:30,146 --> 00:11:32,236
that's just a replacement.

250
00:11:32,236 --> 00:11:34,488
If I have to ask you who I am,

251
00:11:34,488 --> 00:11:36,578
if I have to tell you who I am,

252
00:11:36,578 --> 00:11:38,853
if I describe myself in terms of shows

253
00:11:38,853 --> 00:11:42,870
and hours of television
and how globally badass my brain is,

254
00:11:42,870 --> 00:11:46,399
I have forgotten what the real hum is.

255
00:11:46,399 --> 00:11:51,066
The hum is not power
and the hum is not work-specific.

256
00:11:51,066 --> 00:11:53,249
The hum is joy-specific.

257
00:11:53,249 --> 00:11:55,362
The real hum is love-specific.

258
00:11:55,362 --> 00:11:59,147
The hum is the electricity that comes
from being excited by life.

259
00:11:59,147 --> 00:12:01,863
The real hum is confidence and peace.

260
00:12:01,863 --> 00:12:04,348
The real hum ignores the stare of history,

261
00:12:04,348 --> 00:12:07,389
and the balls in the air,
and the expectation, and the pressure.

262
00:12:07,389 --> 00:12:10,338
The real hum is singular and original.

263
00:12:10,338 --> 00:12:12,683
The real hum is God's whisper in my ear

264
00:12:12,683 --> 00:12:15,052
but maybe God was whispering
the wrong words,

265
00:12:15,052 --> 00:12:18,929
because which one of the gods
was telling me I was the titan?

266
00:12:18,929 --> 00:12:21,135
It's just love.

267
00:12:21,135 --> 00:12:24,107
We could all use a little more love,

268
00:12:24,107 --> 00:12:26,475
a lot more love.

269
00:12:26,475 --> 00:12:31,398
Any time my child asks me to play,
I will say yes.

270
00:12:31,398 --> 00:12:33,302
I make it a firm rule for one reason,

271
00:12:33,302 --> 00:12:37,156
to give myself permission, to free me
from all of my workaholic guilt.

272
00:12:37,156 --> 00:12:39,571
It's a law, so I don't have a choice,

273
00:12:39,571 --> 00:12:41,916
and I don't have a choice,

274
00:12:41,916 --> 00:12:44,122
not if I want to feel the hum.

275
00:12:44,122 --> 00:12:46,026
I wish it were that easy,

276
00:12:46,026 --> 00:12:49,509
but I'm not good at playing.

277
00:12:49,509 --> 00:12:51,714
I don't like it.

278
00:12:51,714 --> 00:12:57,542
I'm not interested in doing it
the way I'm interested in doing work.

279
00:12:57,542 --> 00:13:00,979
The truth is incredibly humbling
and humiliating to face.

280
00:13:00,979 --> 00:13:02,581
I don't like playing.

281
00:13:02,581 --> 00:13:05,483
I work all the time
because I like working.

282
00:13:05,483 --> 00:13:09,965
I like working more
than I like being at home.

283
00:13:09,965 --> 00:13:14,144
Facing that fact is incredibly
difficult to handle,

284
00:13:14,144 --> 00:13:21,296
because what kind of person
likes working more than being at home?

285
00:13:21,296 --> 00:13:24,151
Well, me.

286
00:13:24,151 --> 00:13:27,379
I mean, let's be honest,
I call myself a titan.

287
00:13:27,379 --> 00:13:29,585
I've got issues.

288
00:13:29,585 --> 00:13:33,532
And one of those issues
isn't that I'm too relaxed.

289
00:13:33,532 --> 00:13:35,668
(Laughter)

290
00:13:35,668 --> 00:13:38,129
We run around the yard,
up and back and up and back.

291
00:13:38,129 --> 00:13:42,216
We have 30-second dance parties.

292
00:13:42,216 --> 00:13:45,374
We sing show tunes.
We play with balls.

293
00:13:45,374 --> 00:13:47,603
I blow bubbles and they pop them.

294
00:13:47,603 --> 00:13:53,059
Then I feel stiff and delirious
and confused most of the time.

295
00:13:53,059 --> 00:13:56,263
I itch for my cell phone always.

296
00:13:56,263 --> 00:13:57,935
But it is okay.

297
00:13:57,935 --> 00:14:02,718
My tiny humans show me how to live
and the hum of the universe fills me up.

298
00:14:02,718 --> 00:14:05,969
I play and I play until I begin to wonder

299
00:14:05,969 --> 00:14:09,568
why we ever stopped playing
in the first place.

300
00:14:09,568 --> 00:14:11,611
You can do it too,

301
00:14:11,611 --> 00:14:15,187
say yes every time your child
asks you to play.

302
00:14:15,187 --> 00:14:18,619
Are you thinking that maybe
I'm an idiot in diamond shoes?

303
00:14:18,619 --> 00:14:18,869
You're right, but you can still do this.

304
00:14:20,453 --> 00:14:23,100
You have time.

305
00:14:23,100 --> 00:14:26,792
You know why? Because you're not Rihanna
and you're not a muppet.

306
00:14:26,792 --> 00:14:29,206
Your child does not think
you're that interesting.

307
00:14:29,206 --> 00:14:30,716
(Laughter)

308
00:14:30,716 --> 00:14:32,573
You only need 15 minutes.

309
00:14:32,573 --> 00:14:35,336
My two and four year old only ever
want to play with me

310
00:14:35,336 --> 00:14:38,215
for about 15 minutes or so
before they think to themselves

311
00:14:38,215 --> 00:14:39,655
they want to do something else.

312
00:14:39,655 --> 00:14:43,370
It's an amazing 15 minutes,
but it's 15 minutes.

313
00:14:43,370 --> 00:14:47,387
If I'm not a ladybug or a piece of candy,
I'm invisible after 15 minutes.

314
00:14:47,387 --> 00:14:48,362
(Laughter)

315
00:14:48,362 --> 00:14:52,774
And my 13-year old, if I can get
a 13-year old to talk to me for 15 minutes

316
00:14:52,774 --> 00:14:55,385
I'm Parent of the Year.

317
00:14:55,385 --> 00:14:56,337
(Laughter)

318
00:14:56,337 --> 00:14:58,218
15 minutes is all you need.

319
00:14:58,218 --> 00:15:03,280
I can totally pull off 15 minutes
of uninterrupted time on my worst day.

320
00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:05,462
Uninterrupted is the key.

321
00:15:05,462 --> 00:15:08,109
No cell phone, no laundry, no anything.

322
00:15:08,109 --> 00:15:10,074
You have a busy life.
You have to get dinner on the table.

323
00:15:10,074 --> 00:15:13,083
You have to force them to bathe.
But you can do 15 minutes.

324
00:15:14,314 --> 00:15:16,728
My kids are my happy place,
they're my world,

325
00:15:16,728 --> 00:15:19,190
but it doesn't have to be your kids,

326
00:15:19,190 --> 00:15:23,183
the fuel that feeds your hum, the place
where life feels more good than not good.

327
00:15:23,183 --> 00:15:25,645
It's not about playing with your kids,

328
00:15:25,645 --> 00:15:27,177
it's about joy.

329
00:15:27,177 --> 00:15:29,986
It's about playing in general.

330
00:15:29,986 --> 00:15:32,215
Give yourself the 15 minutes.

331
00:15:32,215 --> 00:15:34,491
Find what makes you feel good.

332
00:15:34,491 --> 00:15:38,067
Just figure it out
and play in that arena.

333
00:15:38,067 --> 00:15:43,152
I'm not perfect at it.
In fact, I fail as often as I succeed:

334
00:15:43,152 --> 00:15:46,495
seeing friends, reading books,
staring into space.

335
00:15:46,495 --> 00:15:49,769
"Wanna play?" starts to become shorthand
for indulging myself

336
00:15:49,769 --> 00:15:54,134
in ways I'd given up on right around
the time I got my first TV show,

337
00:15:54,134 --> 00:15:56,735
right around the time I became
a titan in training,

338
00:15:56,735 --> 00:16:00,798
right around the time I started
competing with myself for ways unknown.

339
00:16:00,798 --> 00:16:04,885
15 minutes? What could be wrong
with giving myself my full attention

340
00:16:04,885 --> 00:16:06,742
for 15 minutes?

341
00:16:06,742 --> 00:16:08,925
Turns out, nothing.

342
00:16:08,925 --> 00:16:13,081
The very act of not working has made it
possible for the hum to return,

343
00:16:13,081 --> 00:16:17,353
as if the hum's engine could only refuel
while I was away.

344
00:16:17,353 --> 00:16:20,743
Work doesn't work without play.

345
00:16:20,743 --> 00:16:24,040
It takes a little time,
but after a few months,

346
00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:26,432
one day the floodgates open

347
00:16:26,432 --> 00:16:29,775
and there's a rush, and I find myself
standing in my office

348
00:16:29,775 --> 00:16:34,071
filled with an unfamiliar melody,
full on groove inside me,

349
00:16:34,071 --> 00:16:36,486
and around me, and it sends me
spinning with ideas,

350
00:16:36,486 --> 00:16:39,806
and the humming road is open,
and I can drive it and drive it,

351
00:16:39,806 --> 00:16:42,267
and I love working again.

352
00:16:42,267 --> 00:16:45,959
But now, I like that hum,
but I don't love that hum.

353
00:16:45,959 --> 00:16:47,283
I don't need that hum.

354
00:16:47,283 --> 00:16:50,417
I am not that hum. That hum is not me,

355
00:16:50,417 --> 00:16:52,298
not anymore.

356
00:16:52,298 --> 00:16:55,920
I am bubbles and sticky fingers
and dinners with friends.

357
00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:57,661
I am that hum.

358
00:16:57,661 --> 00:16:58,962
Life's hum.

359
00:16:58,962 --> 00:17:00,401
Love's hum.

360
00:17:00,401 --> 00:17:04,952
Work's hum is still a piece of me,
it is just no longer all of me,

361
00:17:04,952 --> 00:17:07,251
and I am so grateful.

362
00:17:07,251 --> 00:17:09,224
And I don't give a crap
about being a titan,

363
00:17:09,224 --> 00:17:13,938
because I have never once seen a titan
play Red Rover, Red Rover.

364
00:17:13,938 --> 00:17:18,024
I said yes to less work and more play,
and somehow I still run my world.

365
00:17:18,024 --> 00:17:21,414
My brain is still global.
My campfires still burn.

366
00:17:21,414 --> 00:17:25,640
The more I play, the happier I am,
and the happier my kids are.

367
00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,402
The more I play,
the more I feel like a good mother.

368
00:17:29,402 --> 00:17:31,886
The more I play,
the freer my mind becomes.

369
00:17:31,886 --> 00:17:33,767
The more I play, the better I work.

370
00:17:33,767 --> 00:17:36,321
The more I play, the more I feel the hum,

371
00:17:36,321 --> 00:17:38,271
the nation I'm building,
the marathon I'm running,

372
00:17:38,271 --> 00:17:41,127
the troops, the canvas, the high note,
the hum, the hum,

373
00:17:41,127 --> 00:17:44,216
the other hum, the real hum,

374
00:17:44,216 --> 00:17:45,771
life's hum.

375
00:17:45,771 --> 00:17:48,441
The more I feel that hum,
the more this strange,

376
00:17:48,441 --> 00:17:51,785
quivering, un-cocooned,
awkward, brand new,

377
00:17:51,785 --> 00:17:54,919
alive non-titan feels like me.

378
00:17:54,919 --> 00:17:58,333
The more I feel that hum,
the more I know who I am.

379
00:17:58,333 --> 00:18:01,862
I'm a writer, I make stuff up,
I imagine.

380
00:18:01,862 --> 00:18:05,322
That part of the job,
that's living the dream.

381
00:18:05,322 --> 00:18:07,876
That's the dream of the job.

382
00:18:07,876 --> 00:18:11,684
Because a dream job
should be a little bit dreamy.

383
00:18:11,684 --> 00:18:15,422
I said yes to less work and more play.

384
00:18:15,422 --> 00:18:18,069
Titans need not apply.

385
00:18:18,069 --> 00:18:19,950
Wanna play?

386
00:18:19,950 --> 00:18:21,737
Thank you.

387
00:18:21,737 --> 00:18:31,183
(Applause)