“Mike you make videos… why do you love art so much?”

There’s something so beautiful about seeing a painting you’ve known about for your whole life in person. Normally, “Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog” is in Hamburg, except last weekend it was at the MET in New York, and so I had to check it out

After taking a typical selfie, I realized something: my first instinct was to make sure to get a picture with it, instead of actually enjoying it with my own eyes

A bit cliché, it’s true. I’d already moved on from the painting when I went all the way back across the entire exhibition so I could get one last look.

And I realized something: those 2 minutes I spent staring at the painting were one of the only moments that Michael Velikonja (yes, that’s my real name) and not Short Form Mike had shown himself in the last 4 months, and that realization was incredibly scary

I’ll explain

Being Present is Hard

The best part of my job is that my entire life is revolved around it, and that I can make videos whenever I want and wherever I want

The worst part of of my job is that my entire life is revolved around it, and that I can make videos whenever I want and wherever I want

I love being able to make videos from anywhere

But I wanna start doing a better job of separating when I’m Michael and when I’m Short Form Mike

Start small. At dinner, put your phone away

When you’re going out for a stroll in NYC, don’t bring your camera with you and tell yourself “I’m not going to film any of this”

When you meet someone new, stay off the topic of “what do you do” for as long as possible. I actually tried doing that on a date earlier this year (that date didn’t go so well) but it allowed me to enjoy the moment more

Separating who you are from what you do is my plan to start being more present

Mike

Washington DC