My wife and I recently watched the Netflix documentary “My Octopus Teacher.” It is an absolutely fascinating story about a man who befriends an Octopus off the coast of South Africa. I highly recommend it. Here’s the trailer:
Warning: Continuing with this post will spoil the end of this documentary for you. You may or may not care, but if you do, you have been warned!
Throughout this film we are exposed to the absolutely incredible intelligence and emotional capacity of this Octopus. I’ve always found the Octopus to be one of if not the most fascinating creatures on the planet. We are probably lucky that they don’t live on land and don’t have opposable thumbs, or we’d likely be their pets.
Towards the end of the film (here comes that spoiler…again, you’ve been warned), the Octopus finds a mate (who immediately takes off post-copulation, as all Octopus and well, many humans do as well). She then proceeds to spend the remainder of her short Octopus life tending to the eggs until they are ready to hatch. Octopuses produce millions of eggs, only a handful of which end up producing a new, living Octopus. Yet, this Octopus - who has spent her entire life alone in the Ocean, fending for herself and slyly avoiding her many predators - devotes every last moment of her life to the *possibility* of a few of those eggs turning into a baby Octopus.
This made me immediately think of a conversation I had on this past week’s Lions of Liberty podcast with Danny from TopLobsta.com (cheap plug: use discount code ROAR for 10% off his awesome merchandise!).
In this clip, Danny details how having children completely changed his perspective on the types of sacrifices he was willing to make in life.
I thought of this conversation as the Octopus in the documentary withered away into almost nothingnesses, devoting 3/4 of its’ body exclusively to her potential progeny, knowing that the very act of nurturing them was simultaneously leading to her death.
Having lives you are responsible for changes things. It changes everything. While I don’t have biological children of my own, I’ve been lucky enough to marry an incredible woman that came along with the gift of a step son, both of whom have shown me so much love and completely changed my outlook on life.
Be like the Octopus.
Find those you would sacrifice everything for.
Come see my do a live podcast and a brief standup comedy set at the Sayulita Superspreader this December 10-12 in Sayulita, Mexico - a place where COVID doesn’t exist. Use discount code “LIONS” before midnight on October 19th for 10% off your tickets!
Check out all of my projects below:
Lions of Liberty, where I facilitate conversations with the hopes of inspiring others to achieve more liberty in their lives.
Second Print Comics podcast, where myself and Remso Martinez take a weekly look at the comic book characters, storylines and events that shaped our fandom.
Thinking about starting a podcast? Already have one? Book a podcast consulting call with yours truly to get yourself on the right track, and learn to grow your show without wasting precious time.
The Expat Money Show - This isn’t my project, but I’m thrilled that I’ve gotten to work directly with my friend Mikkel Thorup to help grow this show over the past few months. I believe greatly in what Mikkel is doing - helping others to achieve greater liberty in their lives by living and investing abroad - and helping grow this program has been a true joy. I also get to help moderate The Expat Money Forum on Facebook - check it out!