Magic Happens During Fireside Gatherings — Even Virtual Ones
Words by Chris Rettstatt and Rana DiOrio, and graphic by Kenny Fernandez, Vice President, Director of Marketing and Communications, and Treasurer, respectively, of the Children’s Media Association | Bay Area
On April 9, 2020, the Children’s Media Association, in cooperation with Good Work House, presented a Virtual Fireside Chat with Brad Montague. The event was hosted deftly by inspirational speaker and kindness advocate, Houston Kraft, via Zoom to an audience of children’s media professionals and creatives spanning three generations and every US time zone. Truth be told, it was an eclectic mash-up of curious people gathered to be inspired, and the organizers viewed the event as an experiment.
Brad is widely known as the creator of the Kid President YouTube series and the author of Becoming Better Grownups: Rediscovering What Matters and Remembering How To Fly. He’s also a film director, Guggenheim curator, camp counselor, father, and all-around positive force of nature.
The Virtual Fireside Chat came about in response to the closing of in-person events across the country. While the Children’s Media Association Bay Area Chapter was brainstorming ideas for online events, Brad’s book tour for Becoming Better Grownups was canceled. Meanwhile, Good Work House was demonstrating how best to host impactful and memorable virtual events. These challenging circumstances, and the alchemy of the presenters and communities, culminated in a truly memorable evening that started with a thought-provoking interview and ended with a heartfelt musical performance. The experiment succeeded, yielding not only inspiration but also magic.
Houston kicked off the interview lightning round with the question, “what is one non-food item you wish you could eat?”
“Paper” was Brad’s immediate response. He went on to relate an anecdote in which Maurice Sendak sent a letter to a child, and the child loved the letter so much that he ate it.
When asked what famous creative person he wished he could be quarantined with, Brad’s immediate answer was Jim Henson, because “I’ve got some questions.”
After the lightning round, Houston surprised the adults in the audience by turning the focus on the kids he invited to be present. Kaylynn started things off by asking, “How does it feel to make the world a better place?”
Brad responded by praising the good-hearted question. He went on to describe the general feeling we all get when we make the world better. “You know that feeling you get when you can make your mom smile or your brother laugh? It’s like bubbles, isn’t it? Or something inside you that’s joyful. You are making things better around you, and you don’t even realize it.”
David, another kid in the audience, posed his question: “How do you become a better person when you grow up?”
Brad referenced the way that butterflies grow, emerging fully formed after their transformation. “I thought that’s what moms and dads are like. But you really grow little by little every day.” The key, Brad says, is to insist that you’re not done, that you’re still growing every day. “There are new things I’m going to learn and new ways I’m going to take care of myself and the people around me.’”
The final question in the children’s segment came from Andy, who asked, “How can kids support other kids?”
After extolling the question, Brad discussed the importance of kids letting other kids know “that they are worthy, that they have value, that they’re awesome,” and that, “no matter what, I’m going to find something to celebrate about the people around me.”
Houston started the next part of the interview with a few of his own questions. “Early in the book, you say, ‘you matter. You’re here’. It’s something you said so many times to others and you’d forgotten to say to yourself. What else have you been reminded to say to yourself?”
“A lot of the things I have made are designed to be encouraging,” Brad responded. He mentioned the Kid President Pep Talk that went insanely viral. “Literally every line in that was because I needed it.”
Houston, drawing additional inspiration from Brad’s book, followed up with a question about creativity and remembering.
“When you play,” Brad responded, “when you create anything, it’s like you are performing CPR on your inner child. When things are heavy, embrace it in a light way. It brings you to that place of who you were when you were a kid. If you can play, you can make good happen.”
The next question was about Brad’s personal philosophy on “how to navigate hard things and find a balance between letting sadness just exist and mobilizing to do something purposeful in the world.”
Brad took a moment to acknowledge the creators participating in the event, those who “move and shake culture, who tell stories.” He said it would be a tragedy if we only told stories that reassured everyone that “it’s easy, everything’s ok, just smile, just be happy.” He invited the audience to reimagine what is possible. “What if we could tell everybody that we are in a challenging situation, but we are in it together?“
Brad mentioned the idea of “joyful rebellion,” which is the idea that kids are rebelling against what is in order to create what could be. “They are doing it because they have a joyful vision of what could be. It’s not putting on a happy face and pretending everything’s fine. It’s saying we have something we’re marching towards together.”
Brad went on to talk about those moments when it feels like everything is crashing down. In such moments, he had a tendency to put on some Bobby McFerrin and hide the sadness. “I had to learn that it’s okay to sit in the heavy and to feel it all. Maybe what you need to do is stop, steady your boat, study your compass, and find the wind and sail.”
Continuing the theme, Houston asked, “What are some things right now that you believe can help people hold the perspective of hope?”
Brad spent some time exploring the true meaning of hope. “Right now, we could think about hope as, ‘I hope this virus ends’. Or we could look around and see the people on the front lines, the doctors, the nurses, the educators, the parents who are at home, everyone who’s collectively fighting and lifting each other up through this, and say, ‘you are fierce hope, you give me fierce hope because we’re writing what happens next together.’ Brad shared the importance of reminding those people on the front lines that we see them as the embodiments of hope walking around. “That’s who we are.”
Toward the end of the interview, Houston asked Brad what it meant for him to be both an artist and a leader in the world.
Brad admitted that he had always thought of art as being something that’s just dessert or candy. But he’s been learning that it’s a sacred task to help remind people who they are, who they could be, and “what we could all be about.” It’s something that great storytellers and great leaders do. Understanding that, creatives can either decide to “just make a thing,” or we can embrace the fact that we’re actually writing what happens next for everybody.
“It’s a task I want to do well, but I also don’t want to take too seriously and have fun. It’s this really sacred task, but you can make some fart jokes.”
The evening then transitioned seamlessly into Good Work House’s “Good Music” program that featured an amazingly relevant musical performance by VEALY (@Iamvealy). But before that, Brad closed his remarks with a poem he reads to students:
Don’t hide your magic
Please share your gift
Seeing you shine
gives the whole world a lift
It’s okay for wizards
to be quiet or shy
but hiding your magic
It’s a crime, and here’s why
The world needs to dazzle
And we need what you’ve got
You might think you’re nothing
and you’re not
YOU’RE MORE! Much more!
And it’s time to be seen!
You’re more loved than you can imagine
more powerful than you can dream
So if you feel less than
or maybe that you don’t count
Or maybe your soul is
all flooded with doubt
Remember the magic
You’re equipped, you’re prepared
never forget
Magic’s meant to be shared
Don’t hide your magic!
Buy Becoming Better Grownups: Rediscovering What Matters and Remembering How to Fly:
http://montagueworkshop.com/book
Experience the magic first hand in this recording:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=RONFj_92-NI&feature=youtu.be
Join the Children’s Media Association (3 months free!):
https://www.childrensmediaassociation.org/join
Join the Good Work House:
