Good Life Project - Adventures in Kindness | Leon Logothetis

Episode Date: April 9, 2019

From the outside looking in, Leon Logothetis (https://leonlogothetis.com/about/) had everything. But, from the inside looking out, he was dying a little bit more every day, fiercely lonely and falling apart.So, he made a radical decision that led to several trips traveling across America without cash, sustaining himself only on the kindness of others and giving back along the way.This journey into the heart of kindness became a film and the basis of a book and then The Kindness Diaries (https://leonlogothetis.com/netflix/) series, which can now be seen on Netflix. And, Leon has a new book out called Go Be Kind, (https://amzn.to/2Oc5h6x) that is more of a daily journal of fun and easy ways to be kind.-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://www.goodlifeproject.com/sparketypes/) and takes about 7-minutes to complete. At a minimum, it’ll open your eyes in a big way. It also just might change your life.Thank you to our super cool brand partners. If you like the show, please support them - they help make the podcast possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Leon Logothetis was on a track to go into the family business from his youngest days, and as expected, that's exactly what he did. Filling his days, brokering deals in the shipping industry. From the outside in, he kind of had everything. He had a great job, making great money, good position, a clear direction in life. But from the inside looking out, he was dying a little bit more every day, fiercely lonely and falling apart inside. So he made a very radical decision to walk away from the family business, away from the

legacy that had been laid out before him to carve his own path. Where did that lead him? Well, first to land on the East coast of the United States and decide that he was going to find his way across the entire country without cash, sustaining himself only on the kindness of others. This journey actually became a film and then led to a round the world kindness adventure on a motorcycle with a sidecar that he calls Kindness One, and which, of course, was painted a bright, shiny yellow. But this time, the stakes were also raised. Not only could he only live on the kindness of others, he also committed to giving back along the way. Some of the stories that unfolded there were just really astonishing. That journey became the

basis of a book and then the Kindness Diaries series, which can now be seen on Netflix. And Leon also has a new book called Go Be Kind. It's kind of more of a, actually a daily journal of fun and easy ways to be kind, simple ways to integrate kindness into your everyday life. So excited to share this conversation with you today. I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is Good Life Project. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch Series X is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever,

making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you 8 hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series X. Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone Xs are later required. Charge time and actual results will vary. Mayday, mayday. We've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were gonna be fun.

On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing. Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're gonna die. Don't shoot him, we need him. Y'all need a pilot. Flight risk. Your family is part Greek, part English. You were brought up in London, though, and under the influence of all of this. Tell me a bit more just sort of coexisting within these two different cultures. Yeah. So, I mean, I grew upondon uh but my family is greek and but you know if someone would

say to me leon i probably shouldn't admit this but i'm gonna say it anyway if someone was to say to me do you feel more greek or more english i mean look you know i spent and i hope my dad's not listening to this but i spent you know a good chunk of my life in England. So I would say I feel more English. But, you know, I also feel Greek. So it's kind of in the middle. I'm like Gringlish. What parts of you feel English or what elements do you feel like are parts of yourself

do you feel like are distinctly English and what parts of you do you see sort of living like, oh, this is the greek side of me coming out so distinctly english is my fanaticism around football so i support liverpool and literally they mean a lot to me and if anyone is listening in their english they get it and the greek part of me i don't know maybe my adventurous side, maybe my, you know, Greeks are very family orientated. And on some level I am as well. So I would say, I would say that.

Yeah. And so as a kid growing up in that household, what are you into? What captured your interest? Other than football. Other than football. If there's anything. You know what, really as a kid, there was nothing except football. Other than football. If there's anything in the room for anything else. Really, as a kid, there was nothing except football. That was it.

I mean, you know, I was literally, I played football, I watched football, I read about football. Kids used to come up to me because I was like an encyclopedia. Because all I did was read about football. So they'd say, like, who won the FA Cup in 1988? And I would tell them. And now I can't remember who won the FA Cup in 1988. So you were the stats guy like upset knowing every player every number all the history who did what went where um were you a player also

yeah i was um i played for my school in my college and i thought i was pretty good but uh um i know i i always wanted to be a soccer player that was was my dream, but it didn't happen. So that was the end of that one. We had a couple of years back, we had Sir Ken Robinson in here who actually grew up in Liverpool. But at the age of three or four, was one of the final people who got polio literally like a month before the vaccine came out

and ended up in Ireland. He recounted the story of how in his family, he was the one who was sort of like a very young age known as like the football prodigy. And then everything changed in this one moment, but he said his entire family was just massively obsessed. And I think his brothers actually ended up playing pro as well. Yeah. So you end up in college, you're still obsessed with all this. And what did you actually study in college or university? Business management. Yeah. But literally I went to college and I tried to like study as many non-business classes as I could, but I was studying business management. What was that about? Well, I didn't want to be in business.

I mean, I didn't want to sit behind a desk. Even then I knew, but I didn't have the courage or the strength or the foresight or whatever to, or the emotional intelligence to realize that I was going down the wrong road. The wrong road for me, you know, not for others. Yeah. So the business classes were something where it's like, I'm going to do what I think my family wants me to do. Exactly. Exactly. That's exactly what it was. Yeah. Um, I think so many people feel that too. It's like life by other people's expectations. Um, so you end up getting your degree in business then? Yep. Then I start working as a broker in London. Right. And I spent a couple of years there.

And- What were you actually doing? What was your- Do you know, primarily it was actually a ship broker. Ship. But people don't really know what that is. So I just say broker. I was kind of like, you know, buying and selling commodities

and putting them on ships and getting the ship from A to B. And that's's the majority of what i did but i did do some stockbroking but primarily that and that was the family business yeah so this was also for you it's not just i'm sitting at a desk i'm earning my living but was there an assumption built into that like this is just part of my destiny absolutely and where would that lead well where had you had you have stayed where would that have like what was the expectation that would lead to i mean look the reality is that the way i saw it i would have to sit behind this desk for 50 years make as much money as i could have a family um go to church and just be a good English Greek boy. And that was like hell. So I just couldn't fathom that that was going to be my life. I really couldn't, but I didn't have the courage to break free.

So I just sat behind that desk and, you know, on the outside I had everything you could ever want, but on the inside I had nothing and I didn't want that. So then were you working with your dad at the same time? Yes. So then it's not just you doing this thing because he expects you to, but it's actually you're there day to day together also. Yeah, absolutely.

There's nowhere to hide, basically. No, there was not. Did your dad have any sense at all that there was something else brewing inside of you? Do you know, I don't think he did. I don't think he did. I don't think anyone did. I mean, you know, sometimes we wear a mask and the mask tells the world, oh, everything's okay.

But the truth is that we're not okay. And that's what happened to me. I was wearing this mask that told everyone I was fine. They had no idea that I was crumbling inside. How is that actually showing up in you sort of emotionally or physically? Depression, overeating, drinking too much, just doing all the things that as humans we do in order not to feel. So what happens? How does that stop? Well, it stopped. The beginning of the stop let's say was i watched the movie the motorcycle diaries

which is a romanticized version of che guevara traveling around south america relying on kindness and there was something about that movie and in the beginning of that movie he says to his dad his dad wants him to be a doctor to stay in buenos aires and be a doctor and che says to him no i'm sorry i'm leaving. And he gets on a motorbike and goes on an amazing adventure. And I was like, oh my goodness, there's another way to live, literally. So after watching that movie, a few months later, I quit my job and started to travel the world, relying on kindness. So basically I took what he did.

And I think, you know, sometimes people say to me how on earth did you do that how on earth did you leave your job what the hell was going through your mind and the answer is really pain is what propelled me pain is what pushed me to do this because i was in so much emotional pain that i felt like i had no choice but to do something different. And that's what I did. I don't think I was consciously thinking that it would end up here, like, you know, with shows and books and all this kind of stuff. But I knew that I didn't want to sit behind that desk. I knew I am not sitting behind this desk. I don't care what happens. It's not happening anymore. How long was it between when you sit down and watch this thing

and something starts to flicker inside and you actually work your last day at that job? The moment I left the movie, I finished watching the movie, it was instant. I was like, this is new. I knew. I can never live like this again. And I would say, I can't remember exactly,

but I would say a couple of months from the moment I watched that to the moment where it all came to an end. What's going on in your mind at that point? And are you also making preparations or like behind? Yeah, I was making preparations behind the scenes. And I was just, you know, I just had to find a way to free myself from, I don't want to use this word, but from the prison that I found myself in. You know, again, I had everything on the outside, but I was in an emotional prison.

And there were many of us like that, that get stuck in this emotional prison. I just, it was hell you know we seem to in our society we look at people on the outside who have everything and we're like how on earth could could you be upset how on earth could you be sad how on earth could you be depressed how on earth could you feel alone but the reality is money doesn't hide or fix the internal brokenness of a human being doesn't mean that it doesn't help to live a better life it does but um it was just it wasn't good and uh it kind of all came for as a kid because i was bullied really quite profoundly and that was when it started to feel alone and for years and years and years i felt alone and it kind of followed me in my adulthood and um i think a lot of people

have that shared experience also you know that experience both when they're younger and it becomes a part of you but it doesn't become a part of you that's sort of external but you're wearing it on the inside for years until in some way shape or, like it needs to be processed through and out. And that takes, for a lot of people that takes the form of pain and suffering and illness. For you, it sounds like it was causing a lot of pain or it was underneath a lot of what you were feeling, but you externalize it. You sort of brought it to the surface and used it almost as energy to create outer change. When you show up and you know that you need to have the conversation with your dad, what does that moment look like? Well, look, I, I just, you know, I just

told him that I couldn't do it anymore and that I was leaving and he wasn't entirely sure that i was that i was well in the head he's like are you okay like what he couldn't get it he didn't understand he was like look this is he didn't say this but i felt it this is your path you know this is what this is what we do and uh he just didn't he just didn't get it which is fine you know i don't i didn't then i expected him to get it now i understand clearly that he was never going to get it i mean gets it now but he was never going to get it in them in those moments because just different generations yeah different values so yeah and i wonder also when that happens especially um when you have a parent that is more either war era or depression era, where the idea of pursuing a livelihood or a life

that was built primarily around meaning and purpose, you know, that was secondary because you were trying to keep the family alive and put it, like nothing else mattered. You were brought up in a way where there was, you know, it was all about keeping the family safe, putting food on the table and a roof over the head. And then when the next generation comes along and says, but I want something different, I need the existential part of it to be satisfied too. I've, I've had so many

conversations with people who have sort of like had that generational conversation. And it's always really hard because you're just, you spend so much time in these two different worlds and and it's interesting with your dad too i wonder how much of that was about um him having a certain expectation about the legacy being continued it was probably a bit of a bit of everything and he thought that my future and my happiness would be secured if i stayed in the business i knew that that would be the death of me but i couldn't clearly clearly kind of convey that to him in those moments and sometimes you have to do something even when everyone else feels it's wrong and you have to have the strength of character and the strength

of belief in yourself that what you're doing is right and you just keep on going and you don't let anyone else uh stop you because you know yourself better than they do yeah i think it's a really hard thing to do had you shared with uh any any close friends what was going on with you before this moment do you know what i didn't really have any close friends to be able to share it with i just it was a totally different life that i lived back then where there was no connection there was no there was no hope again on the outside i had everything i'm just talking about the internal lack of hope and it was just it was hell my own private hell yeah so you make that call you have the conversation um the door closes behind you and and the new door opens into this new adventure new life in your mind you have

okay so this is leon's version of the motorcycle diaries what are the first steps towards that this is not like you've been training for this year this is like brand so basically the first thing i did was i actually ended up hitchhiking from new york time square to the hollywood sign and i had no money i had like $5. And I brought a few friends along. We ended up like connecting with all these unbelievable people. And I had learned through the news, through business that I'd been doing, that people were mean, that people were not kind, that we lived in this terrible world. And I started meeting people that were like angels, just normal humans on the street, and I was just totally in shock.

It just opened me up to the nth degree, and it made me realize, really, that there was another way to be, and that there were people out there living with their hearts, and it was literally like you'd put me on an alien planet. And it was so refreshing that I never wanted to stop living from that place. Of course, you know, and I'm not perfect. No one's perfect. And there were bad days and there were good days.

And there were many bad days, even after I left my job. But that was like a witness to a new way of living that was very profound. Once you started into that journey, what was the first interaction that you can recall that really opened your eyes, opened your heart to, wow, this is like the people can be different. Things can be different. Something just happened to me that I never saw coming and I will never be the same. Looking back at it, there was a, I was in Times Square. So literally in the first day and no one would help me. So I'd spent like hours trying to get people to talk to me and they wouldn't. And for those who haven't been to Times Square in New York, like if you're local, you don't talk to anybody. You walk fast with your head down. It's like anyone who tries to stop you for any reason, you just pretend they don't exist.

It's sort of like the rule of Times Square for locals. Exactly. I didn't realize that, but I learned the hard way. And it was a couple of hours and I was thinking to myself, what am I doing? You know, I have ended up in the middle of Times Square with basically no money, having to get to the Hollywood sign. Everyone who told me that what I was about to do is right. I am insane. I have to go home. Clearly I wasn't going to go home because I had set my mind on this. So I ended up meeting this guy who started talking to me and it turns out that he was a pimp and we started talking and I had no idea who he was, but this guy was so kind and so loving. And he said to me, um, he actually took me to New Jersey. Now he took me on the path and I didn't realize that the path was free anyway.

And it was back then, but you know, he took me to the path and he said, this is, you know, I wanted to get you out of New York. Here you are in New Jersey. And, you know, it was amazing because in the old days I would have looked at him. Well, I didn't know what he, what he, what he did for a job, but I would have probably looked at him and thought, I don't want to talk to this guy. But it was so different. He was a very kind-hearted human being.

And I was like, well, if he can be like that, then I can be like that. And if he can be like that, I wonder who else is like him or even better on my journeys. So that was kind of an opening moment that really changed things. I mean, it's interesting too that you offered that example. It's because it also, it speaks to me about

how complex we are as human beings, that in probably all of us, there are sides that can be one way in one context and a profoundly different way in another context i've had friends who are criminal lawyers and they're representing some really dark people who've done terrible things and yet they treat them like these people who are like felons violent would treat their their lawyer or their representative in the most nurturing, loving way. It really is fascinating how I think, how complicated we are. We are certainly complicated and no one is perfect.

And we have a, like a trait in our, in us. Maybe it's a human trait that we like building people up and then pulling them down. And there isn't a single human being that you can't pull down if you want to. Instead of trying to pull people down, let's try and lift them up. What was the idea behind doing this with almost nothing in your pocket? Do you know what? As I look back at it, I realize what it was. Because I grew up with whatever I wanted materialistically, within reason, but no love.

I didn't feel it. Yeah, I felt alone. So I did these journeys where I flipped it and I had no money and all I could do was rely on people's love and people's heart. And I didn't consciously do that when I started these journeys. But as I look back, it's, it's just so interesting how, how I did it. Had money, then took away my money, had no, had no connection and made myself live on connection. Yeah. It's almost like your subconscious mind knew what you needed. Exactly. That's exactly what it did.

So fascinating. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you 8 hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series X.

Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone Xs are later required. Charge time and actual results will vary. Mayday, mayday. We've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were going to be fun. On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing.

Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're going to die. Don't shoot him, we need him. Y'all need a pilot. Flight Risk. You said you started this with a couple of friends. Yeah. Were they with you the whole time? So basically what happened was the first adventure, I had a guy who worked in TV.

And I called him up and I said, look, I want to do this show. And he's like, well, you know, first of all, that's insane. You're never going to make it to the Hollywood sign. And secondly, no one's ever going to buy this show. And he's like, well, you know, first of all, that's insane. You're never going to make it to the Hollywood sign. And secondly, no one's ever going to buy this show. And I was like, well, I don't care. I want to do it. He's like, all right. So, you know, he was like in the, in the TV world, we bought a few cameras and we just went across America and I did, you know, the connecting and he did the filming. So the whole time you're recording this whole thing. As you start to move across the country,

did you notice also differences at all? I'm curious, sort of like regional differences in how people were open or closed down or abundant or scarcity oriented or super generous or not. Definitely. So in the bigger cities, people are less, more standoffish in the but you know you can get through the shell but it's harder uh and in the smaller towns people just were so friendly and so loving look my english accent helped the moment you start speaking

english they're like oh my god we love the queen it is. So I would say in the smaller places, and Midwest was beautiful. And then when you got to the bigger cities, people were walking fast. Like you said about Times Square, they were just like walking. They didn't want to have anything to do with you. Yeah.

And then LA, everyone lives in their cars. Exactly. They do. What time of year was this? End of summer. All right. So the weather was good. Yeah.

It wasn't too bad. And what year was that? That was 2005. Okay. And the world has changed a lot since then. Yes, it has. So you end up, how long did it take you to get to LA? You know what?

It only took a month. Is that what you thought? I thought it would take a bit longer. But you see, there was a guy in Galesburg, Illinois, who bought me a train ticket. I couldn't accept money. You couldn't give me money, only kindness. He bought me a train ticket to Denver, which is like 18 hours. So you had these moments where people would drive you for like 12 hours and you would, you know, a lot of distance would be covered. That's amazing. So you end up a month later in la walk up to the hollywood sign i did i couldn't

touch it because it's illegal i didn't want to be arrested i didn't know that but i went i was close to it yeah it's like an inch away exactly um as you're walking up to what's going through your mind i was like it was a sense of achievement it was a sense of wonder it was a sense of wow here i have an opportunity to really live a life that i've always wanted to live and it was also a letdown in a way because i knew that that was it like what am i going to do now because i was at the hollywood sign okay great now what like it was it was weird i didn't didn't have any plans my plans were to get to the hollywood sign there were no after plans yeah i mean it's interesting you hear about olympic athletes who go to the olympics actually medal and fall into deep depressions because the thing that

they've been striving for and working and devoting all their energy to for so long they've gotten everything they wanted and yet they wake up the next morning and that soul driver of purpose is gone and and along with it sort of almost a part of their identity did you experience any of that after immediately after i definitely experienced some depression not major anymore but some depression after the journeys because you have this purpose you have this sense of destiny let's say you're gonna get there you're not gonna give up you're gonna keep going you're connecting with people and then you finish and then what like it's also easy to burn out because you keep on doing these adventures you keep on connecting with people you keep on going and

meeting all these and having all these amazing adventures and then you come home and it's like well now what it's like the adrenaline stops and you wake up in the morning with no real sense of purpose that used to affect me a lot but not not really so much anymore i'd say so where do you go from there i mean how do you go from that place to saying okay this was an incredible, but it needs to become something bigger and something enduring. is that whatever success you have on the outside, if you have no grounding, if you have no spiritual practice, if you have no sense of belonging in your community, it doesn't matter how successful you are because you'll wake up with a hole in your heart.

So I would say, find a practice, find a way to kind of spiritually nourish yourself beyond the world of money, beyond the world of money beyond the world of fame beyond the world of success what did that look like for you a lot of walking through pain a lot of therapy a lot of meditation a lot of retreats a lot of solo travel a lot of meditation, a lot of retreats, a lot of solo travel, a lot of silent meditation, a lot of tears, a lot of many things to break free from the way that society tells us we have to be. So during that process, what assumptions,

like what sort of core level assumptions and beliefs shifted in you? Well, the first and most profound thing that shifted for me was that how do i say this there is a river of love flowing through us all and the moment you find it and the moment you take a swim in that river everything changes i don't know if that's explained it well but there's a vibration of love there's a vibration of beingness that we've lost we're not connected to it and the native americans i think were connected to it and that was their superpower and you know

maybe our superpower in the society we live in is building buildings, sending rockets to the moon and people to the moon. But we've forgotten how to be human. And I would urge people to try and find their humanity once again by taking a jump in that river and swimming. As you wake into that, building on the journey that you had just taken, and then you got to look forward and you're like, okay, so amazing experience, something shifting profoundly within me, a new realization to the fact that there is this river of love that exists

within me and between us, if we allow it to flow freely, then you gotta look forward and say, okay, and what am I gonna do with all of this? Well, it's interesting because it, you know, I finished that journey in 2005, and from 2005 until 2013, I had no idea there was a river. If you told me there was one, I wouldn't have believed you. If you'd shown it to me, I wouldn't have taken a swim. My point being is I was in Hollywood.

I was living the Hollywood life. I was doing all the wrong things. And I thought that was my salvation, that I would find my path by the external success. And I was wrong. What were you actually doing? What types of things? Well, I don't want to go into too much detail but i just wasn't living a very peaceful existence and you know you can imagine i had a house in the hills and things you know got interesting at times and i remember i was basically doing everything i was doing in london you know in the sense that i was thinking to myself success was the answer you know throwing big parties was the answer just connecting with all the wrong people was the answer you know throwing big parties was the answer just connecting with all

the wrong people was the answer um and that went on for seven seven years seven eight years um until 2013 when i just i couldn't do it anymore i was running a production company in la and i just just again I had no spiritual roots. The, you know, my answer about the spiritual roots happened later. It happened after the kindness diaries. Um, those seven, eight years were, I wouldn't give them up. I'm happy I did them, but I don't want to do them again. Yeah. And it was, it was, it was an interesting journey.

Yeah. I mean, what's interesting also is that you have this month long experience. It closes the door on this whole thing. It opens you to the idea that kindness can exist. And then you land in LA. And then something kind of closes the door again for the next seven years. Just interesting. The door wasn't fully closed.

Okay. Because I did keep on kind of doing the kindness adventures. I wrote a few books i i was connecting with people but the bigger part of leon let's say was was not open was not talking about like you know connecting with the heart he wasn't living from that place but it was slowly, slowly getting bigger until 2013 when it was just too much. And I quit my job again. I resigned from my production company and started traveling the world again. And this time it was like, that's it.

This is over. I'm never going back to that job. And I never did. And everything kind of changed. So sometimes when I give my speeches in front of schools or businesses or whatever, I tell them that life isn't always an upward angle. Let's say sometimes you have to go down to go up to jagged line.

Exactly. It always is. You know, you kind of want it to be like a thing going up, but it doesn't happen that way. No. I mean, the hero's journey is not,

you know, this smooth, easy thing. There will be, you've got your tests and your trials and the things that beat you back and make you show you really understand and you really want it. Was there something that happened that then was this final straw where seven years into the production company, you're like, okay, the pressure's been building. I'm awakening to these things.

I'm externally creating things that say, this is what I believe, but there's something inside. And was it, again, just this gradual awakening that led to you saying, okay, boom, I'm blowing this up and something profoundly different and new has to start? Or was there something that actually happened? I think it was gradual, but again,

like the motorcycle diaries, there was one moment that kind of shifted everything. And I was walking on Hollywood Boulevard and I saw this homeless guy with a sign that said kindness is the best medicine and i was like wow kindness is the best medicine it was so profoundly simple but true um gave him a little bit of money chatted with him for a little bit and it was at that moment that kind of everything made sense and And I ended up deciding to buy a vintage yellow motorcycle with a sidecar. And I was going to drive it from Los Angeles all the way around the world back to Los Angeles with nothing, this time, no money. And I would rely on kindness. But this time I would also give something back. So if you were kind to me there

was a chance that i would give you a life-changing gift because kindness really is not just a one-way street it's a two-way street it's about giving and receiving so that was the moment but it'd been building you know it'd been building for for years you know i'd throw these parties i never i never forget this story dennis rodman i read it somewhere he said that he he had this massive house wherever he wherever he was living and he would throw these parties with three four hundred people and he would be in his bedroom just with the door locked reading and i remember reading that and i thought to myself wow that is exactly what i used to do i would throw these parties and I would end up in my room by myself reading. I was surrounded by

people, but I was profoundly alone still because I still hadn't realized that you had to put down your spiritual roots. So I thought, oh, if I throw a party with 200 people, I'll be, you know, they'll like me and everything will be great. But it didn't work that way because there was no connection. It didn't feel connected. Yeah. It's amazing how being alone and being lonely are completely different things. And we conflate them so often. And we just think, well, if we're not alone, if we're surrounded by all these people, how could we possibly be lonely? And yet for so many people, it doesn't solve the loneliness problem. In fact, very often it makes it worse if there are people that you feel disconnected with because then you start to shame yourself for like, how can I, like, what's wrong with me that I would still feel alone?

It's almost like, how dare I when i'm surrounded with so many beautiful and amazing and intelligent people like what's wrong with me well i think the way to feel less alone is simply with all your might to open your heart and i'm not suggesting you immediately open your heart sometimes it's not so simple but to every day try to connect with another human being, try to be a little bit more vulnerable. And as the days go on, it becomes easier and it becomes easier. And then you're living on a different plane. You're living like on the river of love plane. You ever imagine as a like a ship broker, you saying living on the river of love plane?

Do you know what? No, I mean, no, seriously. It's just, you know what? You sometimes forget where you came from. Yeah. You know, I sometimes forget. Like I was, I was actually in London a couple of days ago and I was walking the streets and this was, you know, when I was in my worst place and some of the memories of coming back

to me of how I used to be in London, they came back to me and I was like, thank God I'm not doing that anymore. Thank God I'm not experiencing this. Remember, I was walking down a main street park lane in London many, many years ago and I was so depressed and I was so alone. And I thought to myself, I'm just going to jump in front of a bus. Clearly, I didn't do it, thankfully. But when you're at that point of total brokenness, it's not fun. And sometimes people save me simply by being kind. And I think that's why I do what I do. Because I was saved by people's kindness. I was saved by people's, you know, making me feel like I mattered. Just simple things.

Witnessing my pain. Because sometimes we don't witness other people's pain. Because our pain is so grand and so destructive that it's impossible to see anyone else's pain. Yeah, we become, I think, consumed. Yeah. Without judgment. I mean, we're all living in our own special things and we're all dealing and grappling with whatever it is it's personal to us yeah so

you reach this point where you buy a motorcycle with a sidecar and decide this new adventure is needs to start where you're going to travel literally 24 000 miles around the world and this thing this time starting out with no money and giving back along the way to when you feel in some way compelled to do that what's the intention with this going into it and what was this sort of like your did you call were you calling this the kindness diaries when you started it was this designed also to create a series as you're going? It was designed to create a series, but we had no one who wanted to buy it. So I just said, let's do it. And people were like, well, who's going to buy it? I was like, I have no idea, but we're doing it anyway. So we did it. And I think the intention, to be honest, in that moment,

I was at a low and my intention was like I did with the Amazing Adventures show I did. It was kind of to free myself and to become free and then free by connecting again. And then when I finished it, I realized, and I think it was during that journey that I realized something happened on that journey I realized that if I just spent my life trying to free myself that that wasn't a life well lived and that now after the journey I had kind of freed myself still not perfect but I kind of freed myself and now it became about sharing it with as many people as possible to try in some way and free them. Cause I'd read books that had freed me. I'd watch shows that had freed me. I'd listened to speakers that had freed me, helped along the way. So I wanted to do that

and free others through entertainment, not through preaching. So you'd watch a show about a guy on a yellow motorcycle and you'd think you're just watching a show about a guy on a yellow motorcycle, but really you're having your heart opened and you're having a mirror placed in front of you. And that mirror is showing you your own kindness, your own heart, your own magnificence a wise man once said to me what you see in others is in you because i would always say oh i love martin luther king or i love winston churchill or i love gandhi and he said that to me what you see in them is clearly in you so that's what i want the kind of stories to do to like open up people's hearts to be like, okay, I'm not this bad human being, or there are good human beings out there. biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest charging Apple Watch,

getting you eight hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series 10, available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required, charge time and actual results will vary. Mayday, mayday. We've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were going to be fun. On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing.

Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're going to die. Don't shoot him, we need him. Y'all need a pilot. Flight Risk. And by the way, this eventually does become a series which is now viewable on Netflix, and we'll certainly link to that in the show notes as well. As you're filming this, you started in L.A. again, right?

From what I remember. Yes, we started in L.A. And the first part of the journey is back across the United States. Yes. To the East Coast, which is kind of interesting, right? So it's like you're sort of like tracking back from like that place you started the earlier journey from. I remember watching a couple of days into it, you had met so many different people already.

People have given you food. People have given you gas for the motorcycle. People have given you shelter. And there was a moment, I don't remember where you were in the country, but you approached a man and you asked him if you could go home with him, if you could sleep with him. And he looked at you and there was a pause and you could see in his face, he was struggling. And he said, well, I'm homeless. Tell me more about that moment that experience that was

an experience that changed me um so i'd go out to people in the streets and i would say to them can i stay in your house tonight and they would mostly say no but that's fine um some would say yes clearly others i wouldn't have been able to do it and i asked this guy say can i stay in your house tonight and he goes look i'm really sorry, but I'm homeless. So I felt a shame. I was about to walk off. And he turns around and he says, do you know what? If you want, you can stay with me tonight.

I'll feed you. I'll protect you. And I'll give you some clothes. And I was not expecting that. And I thought to myself, Leon, there is no way that I'm going to let you sleep on the streets of pittsburgh tonight it's just not gonna happen but there was a little part of me that says leon tonight you are sleeping on the streets of pittsburgh so i listened to that voice ended up going with him to his camp um and he did everything he said he would do he fed me protected me and he gave me some clothes and he taught me his name

was tony i am still in touch with him years later he's living in florida now and he taught me that true wealth is not in our wallets but it's in our hearts and he taught me something else too he said he taught me that kindness is free and if a homeless man with nothing can be kind, then I have no excuse. If a homeless man with nothing can be kind, then you have no excuse. So it was really life-changing, really deeply. I remember as you were leaving him, he came out and he gave you some of his clothes to take with you. He did indeed. Good old Tony.

So you move on from there and continue and start this around the world adventure, accepting kindness from other people. And at the same point, giving. You leave the United States fairly quickly, and that takes you into a whole universe of other countries, of developed and developing worlds. Along the way, what were the moments or stories or interactions that shocked you, surprised you, or really stood out in a powerful way to you? I'm sure there were so many.

Yeah, I mean, there really were a lot. I remember meeting these musicians, these buskers in Aix-en-Provence in France. And they were just playing their music, which was beautiful. And then they went up and they asked for some money and people gave them money. And they were from Benin. And I ended up talking to them and telling them what I was doing and they offered to put me up for the night and they had nothing really but they had everything and again it was a lesson because prior to actually just

after Aix-en-Provence I went to Saint-Tropez which is filled with people with money and you know I decided to like try and ask people if I could stay on their yachts. Didn't work, you know, but the street busker from Africa, let me stay with them. So it's kind of interesting sometimes how that works. I think when you, when people with, with money sometimes have a standoffish attitude, they think you're trying to get something from them. What do you, what do you want from me? But those without, they're used to people helping them. They're used to helping others. And that was a really interesting difference I found in society, let's say.

Yeah. I mean, maybe part of it also is that they understand on a lived embodied level, what it's like to exist with very little and how powerful the simple act of kindness can be. Maybe they've experienced it more often and more readily in their own lives. I think the greatest thing that you can give

another human being is to actually see them. And when you see someone, you hear them, you show them that they matter. And the most destructive thing you can do for another human being is not to see them. That leads to pain, leads to anger, leads to hate, leads to the dark side, as Yoda would say. Yeah.

I wonder if part of that equation is also to allow yourself to be seen for who you are. Yeah. That's, that's the tricky part. You see, that's it. Cause to allow yourself to be seen is to allow yourself to be vulnerable and to

allow yourself to be vulnerable means that you could be squashed by another human being. And that's why most people hide behind walls and hide behind masks because they don't want to be vulnerable because it's whiskey. As you headed through this journey into more developing worlds, how did the experience change? It was harder to find people that were willing to let down their barriers, to let down their walls, to take off their masks. But you can do it. You can make anyone take down their mask.

The way to do it is simply to connect with them about something that they like. Like, for example, it's easy for me to connect to someone in England who likes football. Done. You know, if you're wherever you are in the world, sometimes people say to me, how on earth do you connect with people like that? And I tell them, find something that the other person likes and the other person is passionate about and talk to them about it and find something that you both have in common. There's always something you have in common. Oh, I don't have anything in common. Okay. Does the other person have a kid? Yes. Do you have in common oh i don't have anything in common okay does the other person have a kid yes do you have a kid yes well there you go you have something in common talk

about being a parent as the journey continues eventually you go full circle and come back and again this incredible intense emotional round the world eye opening heart opening journey happens and yet once again you're back how do you handle that i got ill physically for months i remember coming home and the adrenaline wore off again and uh i ended up breaking up with my girlfriend. It wasn't good. You know, it wasn't good. Because sometimes people say to me, sometimes they're like, Leon, you're always running. And they were right. I was. And my journeys were me running away. To a certain degree. I mean, I ran towards the light, but I had to come home. Yeah. And coming home was where the challenges were.

It's kind of easier when you're on the road, you're, you know, you're traveling, you're connecting, you're in somewhere different every day, but yeah, it was very difficult, depressed, feeling alone, no sense again, not no sense of purpose. Cause I had a purpose at that stage, but just no spiritual roots, no groundedness, no ability to truly share in daily life. Yes, you can put a camera in front of me and I can share, but can you do that in your daily life? Can you connect with people properly without a camera in front of you? And that, after I came back from A Kind Story as one, was a challenge. So where do you go from there? How do you get back to a place where things are okay? A lot of therapy, a lot of meditation. Repeating itself here. No, absolutely. Absolutely. You know, I'm not, I tell people when I, you know, I tell people because they send me messages all the time,

how are you always so happy? And I say, look, I'm not always so happy. Trust me. I'm like you. I have good days and I have very bad days. I just make an effort to keep on going. Like I said, I read a lot of books. I had people that helped me.

I had wise people that guided me. And I sat in front of the therapist for probably is a thousand hours. Many people, they kind of like committed to their jobs. They're committed to their families, but how many people are committed to themselves, are committed to finding their magic and finding their way through their pain. For whatever reason, I had that. And that's what freed me. I had that. I'll share my pain. I tell people, share your pain. For if you don't share your pain, it'll stay in you and it'll be like a cancer and it'll get worse and it'll get worse. Cry. Like sometimes, you know, people cry and they're like, oh, I'm so sorry I'm crying. I'm like, don't be sorry. It's beautiful. Cry as much as you want. Let it out. So share your pain.

That was one of the things that got me out of it. But yes, there was, like I said, it's like a jagged line. It's not like a straight line. Bad things happen. There's a famous book. What is it? Good things happen to bad people. No it good things happen to bad people well no bad things happen to good people and and also it's like you know the process of awakening is not an easy one and and very often what bubbles up is both you know like the light and the dark you know like

the beauty and the struggle um and you know i think sometimes we get a hit of the beauty and we start thinking well maybe there's a way to just have that and we chase that and only that the struggle is always there until you figure out a way to move through it do you know what i've i've i've realized and i'm not sure that i would have kept going had I realized this. But I've realized that, let's say you have a connection with the divine and you're like so high on life. Unfortunately, there is further to fall, you know. So I've had these moments lately where I'm like connected to the divine and I'm like, oh my God, I've made it. And then three hours later, I'm like, oh my God, I've made it. And then three hours later, I'm like swimming in like a sea of really bad stuff. And there's, it's just, but that's the,

that's, that's the price you pay. You know, that's the price you pay for never giving up, keep on going, laying spiritual roots. There is good and there is bad. There is terrible and there is fantastic. And instead of like living in like the like this nether world of like being disconnected so you don't suffer and you don't enjoy you have to deal with with both of them and that's not fun it's fun when you're high on life but it's not fun when you're not yeah but and i think it's related to how we define a successful life in no small part which is like how so much of it is about happiness rather than meaningfulness. And I feel like when we use happiness as the ultimate gauge of a life well lived, we end up constantly beating ourselves up because nobody can be that all the time.

And it's the polarity. It's like let you understand when there's good stuff happening. It's like there's great research on the fact that the most fulfilling life is what scientists are now calling an emo diverse life. We have the full sweep of emotional experiences, not just perpetually happy or perpetually this. We need contrast to know when we're in one place or the other. Yeah, I get it. But it's not fun. No. And like, we don't necessarily need dark, dark, dark to realize the light.

So you start to emerge from this and to rebuild to a certain extent. And you're speaking and doing all sorts of other stuff around this and writing. And at that point, too, your most recent book, Go Be Kind, I thought it was really interesting given this narrative because you spent so many years going out on these extreme, round the world, cross country adventures to find this place.

And it almost feels like you've written a book now, which is essentially, it's a month of things that any human being can do in the context of their own lives without having to go out on the road and make these massive sweeping gestures. It feels like, it almost feels like this was written for you to convince yourself that, like, can I actually experience all of these things and feel these things that I have traveled traveled the world to experience without running anywhere but actually just being do you know that's that's really interesting you just said that like that you said it's like written for you to prove to yourself that you can do it in everyday life because i would do it when i was out on the road and I would come home and I would fall apart. The beauty of kindness is that it's universal. So you can write it for a 10 year old. You can write it for 110 year old. I have a very close friend who has a nine year old daughter and they

sent me a picture of them doing the book to get the journal together. That was so beautiful because that's what this is all about. It's about A, connecting people. It's about remembering that we are kind, that it's part of who we are. And yeah, it wasn't written for anyone in particular. It was written for all of us. I also like the fact that it's not so much a book that you read, it's a journal that you do it's really a journal about inspiring people

to know that you don't need a yellow motorbike you don't need a 50 year old yellow beetle to go around the world you just need to wake up in the morning and make a commitment to yourself to treat other people with a dignity

and a respect and a grace that you would want to be treated. And to know that you're not perfect and neither are they. And you don't have to wake up every morning, go out and be Gandhi. Because believe it or not, not even Gandhi was Gandhi. So, yeah, that's, I love that. That's another, yes, you should become my agent. We'll talk after this. It's interesting because I think so as I'm a writer also

and so many writers I know, like we write to answer the problems that we have personally or to answer the questions that we have personally or to somehow, almost anyone I know, especially that writes in the world of prescriptive or self-help or personal development or just living a better life, human potential. I think, you know, like we, you write because you hope that what you're putting out into the world is useful to other people. And at the same time, in some way, it's like you're scratching your own it. It's like, it's such a common experience I've seen i know for me it is yeah i guess you know a lot of people they would say to me

i can't do this i can't be kind i have a job i have to raise a family i don't have enough money to go around the world with nothing and i say to them all you have to do is moment to moment, best endeavors, show up with love in your heart. That's all you have to do. You don't have to do anything else. Just do that and see what happens. I can get on board with that. It feels like a good place for us to come full circle as well. So, namely, this is a good life project if I offer up the phrase to live a good life.

What comes up? Follow your heart. Live with kindness. And share your gifts with as many people as you can. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening. And thanks also to our fantastic sponsors who help make this show possible. You can check them out in the links we have included in today's show notes.

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We've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were going to be fun. On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing. Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're going to die.

Don't shoot him, we need him. Y'all need a pilot? Flight risk. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping.

And it's the fastest charging Apple Watch, getting you eight hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series X, available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone Xs are later required. Charge time and actual results will vary.