"Good Night, And Good Luck"

Project: FORWARD - A Brief Update

It has been a while since I posted updates regarding Project: FORWARD, so as most of the US is looking back at the events that took place 25 years ago on 9/11 while also taking note of all the things that changed in our daily life after that, I am choosing to take a hard look at the essence of what this project represents.

PF was meant to be a documentary series that would lead to a youth journalism social platform focused on civics and supported by a media distribution channel. The initial strategy was to lead with the documentary series, then build on top of it as relationships and connections emerged between the participating young content creators. While I originally thought, and hoped, that I would succeed in materializing a small core of supporters of the project, the result thus far overwhelmingly underwhelmed my calculations and expectations: Project: FORWARD attracted two supporters, stats show a small handful of social media shares, and basically a single person inquiring about the project and wanting to know more.

In any type of project anyone would be involved with, these stats would be considered a fundamental failure and the project would be permanently shelved. When something like this happens there are only a few factors driving such a colossal flop: the project was not clearly explained, the project was perceived as absolutely impractical, useless, or futile, the project failed to show the benefits for its existence, the project was massively invisible to the people who could possibly be interested in it. There might be more factors at play, but for me, these are sufficient to draw a line.

When I started Project: FORWARD, I decided to avoid using AI. I also decided to avoid corporate sponsorship, being political (partisan), and - given the current state of the support for the arts in the US - I also avoided seeking funding via traditional means such as grants and years-long applications.

My idea was simple in my head, but not as simple in reality. I went from the belief and hope that a group of people can make a significant impact, to actually having no group at all. This demanded a deeper analysis of the feasibility of the project and consequently a choice based on it. While facing the choice to abandon the project or continue pushing on its current path, my Google Maps kept telling me to find alternate routes while often being stuck on a causeway overwater. A strategic pivot was an obvious answer, but what if I was in an impossible circumstance where there was no alternate route available due to simply having no room to physically exit that situational spot?

In the case of Project: FORWARD, the situational spot I found myself unable to take an alternate route was also a sum of limitations blocking a move forward: a lack of funds, a lack of supporting people, and a lack of social network to increase awareness and stabilize the initial phase of the project.

Believe me when I say that at this stage, every single wisdom quote I remember was blasting out of my memory as my brain tried to calculate probabilities and possibilities from a position of perceived impossibility. Eventually I settled, as anyone else would probably, on two possible outcomes: quit or pivot.

Quitting is something I have trouble doing. Pivoting while being stuck seemed physically impossible. Then of course, the two combined. What if I chose to quit moving forward and also pivoted the actual intent of the entire project? Not long ago, I was talking to a group of kids about the purpose and symbolism of lighthouses. Now I was stuck in traffic on a causeway watching birds glide alongside and cargo ships passing under, while all along Google was insisting on finding an alternate route. The absurd was ironic and my brain finally chose.

“Let IT go.”

On the surface this may seem like abandonment, but you have to know me to understand. My brain was not choosing to “let go” but to “let it go.”

Instead of moving through the storms, become the beacon. A lighthouse.

While a lighthouse stands isolated and grounded to its shores, its light reaches far into the distance, guiding, protecting, ensuring, and why not - inspiring.

I am still not taking Project: FORWARD to corporate sponsorship. I am still not chasing grants where this project cannot fit as is. I am still not turning this idea into an AI-supported ebook of sorts. I am also giving up asking for support. I am giving up hoping that together we can all make an impact. “Together” is too large. Too generic. Too elusive.

On the other hand, a lighthouse can only be seen by the travelers seeking safe harbor. Seeking knowledge. Seeking understanding. Seeking a place to belong to. Seeking.

A lighthouse is a symbol lighting up the sky, letting us know that we are not alone. A lighthouse is not a mere symbol meant to fuel our beliefs, it is a concrete beacon of coordinates, a constant reminder of where the light is coming from and how it reaches everyone. A lighthouse turns the unknown into a safe zone.

So here I am. Letting it go.

What comes next is different. If you are curious, follow along the journey. If you want to help, help. I am no longer asking. A lighthouse asks for nothing, but never stops giving. If anything, maybe it will inspire you to do the same. When darkness falls, lighthouses spread the light of hope, guiding both the vulnerable and the strong. They also push back, again and again, against the dark.

“Good Night, and Good Luck”

https://www.project-forward.org/