I met Spike Lee!

THE POWER OF PROXIMITY

I met Spike Lee! It happened in an elevator as we were both on our way up to a TIFF event (Toronto International Film Festival). He gave me a dap, said “Brooklyn in da house,” and that was that.

So why am I writing about this? It’s not like I got his contact info and he said I could co-write his next film. That elevator ride was it. But there’s a lesson, my friends. There always is.

The event Spike and I (yes, we’re on a first name basis now) attended was a Black excellence lunch. So many incredible creators were in the room — screen writers, directors, actors, producers — they were all there.

And so was I.

That proximity matters. It really does, even when you don’t know what the outcome will be.

I secured my first agent because of proximity. It was a cold winter day and I was walking back to my apartment from a row of hours long meetings. I just wanted to curl up and veg on the couch, but I promised myself that I would go to this book reading.

I was standing in front of my apartment, staring at the front doors, looking at the time on my phone and coming up with every excuse why I didn’t need to go. But I made a promise, and earlier that year, one of my close friends told me to stop breaking promises to myself and my life would change.

So I threw my jacket hood back over my head and dragged my feet to the reading. Before the reading started, the organizer approached me to say hello. I’d been going to a lot of literary events and she recognized my face.

She sparked up a conversation and I obviously started talking about the two self-published books I had out at the time and the fact that I had sold a couple thousand copies.

She was impressed enough to invite me to her next event and introduce me to who would eventually become my first agent (I have a different agent now). I didn’t even need to pitch. I didn’t need to send this agent a query or my first 25 pages. The intro was enough.

That’s the power of proximity.

Another benefit of proximity is energy and confidence. Do you know what kind of energy you absorb when you’re in a room full of people who are excelling and excited about what they do? Do you know what it does to your confidence when you can look to your left and see one of the greatest directors in American history, then look to your right and see writers of shows you’ve watched religiously?

There’s no way to quantify that. None. You need to stand in those rooms, physically stand in those rooms, to understand why it’s so important.

That’s really why I went to the book reading. I wanted to feel the energy of other passionate writers. How could I have known that attending a book reading would lead to what it did? I’d been rejected by so many agents prior to finally securing one that my mind couldn’t make the connection.

Book reading = agent? No, proximity = agent.

Another one of my good friends told me that showing up is 60% of the battle. I’m passing that information on to you.

Just show up. Stop breaking promises to yourself. The power of community can only be summoned when you participate. So once you commit to something, you shouldn’t reason your way out of it. This isn’t ninth grade. This is your life, your career, your passion, your purpose.

Act like it, even when you don’t feel like it. Because you really never know.