#013 - Alaina Booth - The Death of Fun: Why Your Life Feels So Boring (And How to Come Alive Again)

Description

When did your life start feeling so boring?Alaina Booth has built a following by pointing her camera at something the internet keeps telling us no longer exists: proof that the world is still good. She is a director, videographer, and storyteller whose found-footage videos of strangers, community, and everyday human connection have reached millions — including a series about six generations of women who all lived in the same college house, and a caption that accidentally started a war in her comments: "But what if most people are good?"A few lines that stuck with me:"Courage is a moment of decision where you say, I'm going to trust myself and try something new.""There is no amount of good energy that is ever wasted.""The easiest way to connect with someone is to expect nothing from them.""Never compromise who you are to get closer to the top of the mountain."In this conversation, we explore why life starts to feel boring the moment we automate the play out of it, why the top of courage is simply being seen trying, and what it takes to keep your childlike spirit alive in a world that punishes you for it. Alaina breaks down strangermaxxing, whimsymaxxing, and the difference between someone being unsafe and simply being different. We talk about the Honey House and why people keep finding her videos, why you can automate your entire life into total isolation, the discipline experiment that made her miserable, her Ten Commandments for living, and the Mary Oliver instruction she can't get out of her head: pay attention, be astonished, tell about it.Someone has to dance first so the rest of us remember we can. Alaina is that person.Chapters0:00 A season of change is coming3:09 What makes you feel most alive4:23 Your spirit leaves before your body6:25 Alaina's thesis on life7:25 You should try more9:12 What courage actually is11:02 Raised by a single mom13:30 Watching an adult give herself grace14:46 Let yourself be new at this15:09 The courage to do it bad16:57 Whimsy maxing explained17:49 The stranger maxing formula19: