We probably all at one time or another have heard the terms “ripple effect,” “six degrees of separation,” and the “butterfly effect.” Just in case you haven’t or as a quick review, in every culture and religion there is a belief in “the ripple effect” — how one event or action will have reach and ripple out, like a pebble thrown in water, affecting the whole. “Six degrees of separation” is the belief that we are all connected only six people away at most from strangers and the underlying idea is that we are all connected through others and many, if not most times, we are completely unaware of it. The “butterfly effect” refers to the theory that a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world can cause a hurricane eventually in another part of the world, thus pointing out that a seemingly tiny, meaningless action can have a much larger, far-reaching effect on subsequent historic events.
All of these ideas tie in to the notion that every thing, every action, every person has an effect on others and the world at large, whether its meant to or not, or whether we are aware of it or not.
What has been interesting to me during my journey of studying epiphanies is that I have experienced these three ideas in super-crisp Technicolor, so to speak. Epiphanies are one way, one prism, for us to study how interconnected we truly are and by examining our epiphanies and noticing the actions that result, we can witness and experience the “ripple effect” in quite profound ways.
When one person changes because of an epiphany it affects not only his or her life, but everyone around them and sometimes the world at large in huge ways.
One very recent example of an epiphany that keeps rippling out is David Hudgins’ epiphany. I interviewed David in 2010 for my book and his epiphany was sparked by his sister encouraging (or reprimanding) him to go for his dreams and not to wait on “some day” or lament them as something he couldn’t do. She was only 37 and battling breast cancer at the time and the next day, David changed his life to start pursuing his dreams of making films and television and now is a very successful television writer and producer. (His Parenthood episode that aired January 1, 2013 was the top rated show the night it aired and has a breast cancer storyline, and his blog of the behind-the-scenes story is stunning.)
That one moment in Catherine Hudgins Tuck’s hospital room not only changed David’s life when he took action on it, but it changed his family’s life and he embarked on a new career that has touched and is touching thousands of people’s lives as he writes for television. Years later, his epiphany proceeded to have a huge impact and act as a major source of encouragement for me (and still is) when he shared it with me for my book and website, and it has gone on to touch others that way. Now the epiphany is moving into even much bigger realms – a couple of weeks ago, the Catherine H. Tuck Foundation was launched. The foundation’s mission is to specifically support women getting treatment for breast cancer with living expenses so they can focus on healing. Catherine and David will now touch many, many more lives for the better…see? Ripple.
How are the things you’ve done and are doing rippling out?
Even with a kind word or action? Have you thought about it? Are you taking action on your epiphanies in big or little ways? Any action counts and makes a ripple. Just take a minute and think about it and observe maybe how you’re “rippling” out in your own lives. Maybe even tell your family and friends how they might have “rippled” out and touched your life in a positive way and thank them — and maybe even ask them how you they see you “rippling” out there. I encourage us all to start thinking about how we can make our ripples as positive as possible as we start out this brand new year.
Maybe we start by thinking about new commitments and outreach by CHECKING OUT DAVID’S FOUNDATION and supporting it financially and/or with your time or with any other charities that resonate with you.
To learn more about Catherine and the foundation, please go here and read David’s beautiful tribute. His interview from Epiphany is excerpted below and/or you can also view his filmed interview.
David Hudgins’ greatest epiphany, as told to Elise Ballard:
If you don’t believe in yourself, nobody else is going to. So go for it. Find what makes you happy and do it. ~ David Hudgins
I grew up in Dallas, Texas, and in the mid-nineties, I was living there, married with two kids, practicing law. Over time I recognized that while I didn’t hate law, I didn’t love it either. I observed the older partners in the firm—very nice people— and saw myself in thirty years. “That will be my life. I’ll practice law at this firm. At sixty years old I’ll be going to the country club and to bar association dinners, after raising three-point-five kids inside a white picket fence.” All that was fine, but it wasn’t enough for me. I didn’t want “fine.” I wanted great.
I started reflecting on what really makes us happy. After a lot of soul searching, I decided that it’s about doing—acting on our deepest aspirations and doing what we really want to do in life, whatever that is. For me, I had to finally admit that meant making movies. I’d done theater in high school and had always been creative. I’d always loved to write and loved films. But how would I ever make them? How did you get into that business? I had no idea.
But then something happened. Some childhood friends of mine in Dallas, Luke and Owen Wilson, made a movie called Bottle Rocket. These guys had no clue what they were doing. They had just had a funny idea, got some money, and shot this movie. Nobody knew whether it would get shown anywhere, and it wasn’t a big hit—but it made their careers. I remember going to the movie theater to see that movie and thinking, “If they can do it, anybody can.” I’m kidding, but seriously, the Wilson brothers inspired me and got me really thinking about what I could do. But I was just doing that—thinking about it—when we got news that changed our lives.
My older sister, Catherine, got diagnosed with breast cancer. About two years into it, I was visiting Catherine in New York. She was undergoing chemo at the time, and we were in her room talking. I had been a lawyer for about seven years at this point, and I started complaining about it. Finally she stopped me and said, “What do you want to do?” I paused and said, “Well, I want to make movies. I want to write and make movies.”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Look at me. Use me as an example. You have got to grab life while you can, David. Do you want to be sixty-five years old, looking back saying, ‘I wish I had done this, I wish I had done that’?”
That was the moment it clicked for me. Catherine was right. When I left her that day, my life took a whole new direction.
Fortunately, I have a very cool wife who is completely supportive, and she was on board with what I felt I needed to do. I quit my job, and we sold our house and moved the family to the hills of Tennessee, where my parents had a cabin, so we could stay rent-free while I wrote.
As with almost anything that’s valuable and worthwhile, there was a lot of risk involved. Everybody thought I was crazy— including me at times. Late at night, I’d lie awake in bed. “Am I really doing this? Am I really going to quit this job, take my wife and two little boys and move to the hills of Tennessee?” But I kept moving forward, no matter how scared I got.
We thought we’d only be at the cabin for six months. Uh, yeah. We ended up living there over two years. Finally I had a screenplay optioned. It was not a lot of money, but that didn’t matter. Somebody thought I could write. Somebody was willing to pay me for my work. It was time to pack up and move to L.A. So once again, we uprooted our family (now with three boys), and moved to Los Angeles.
This was all in 2001, right after 9/11. I had no job and was sitting around wondering what to do. Then, surprise! Megan got pregnant with our fourth boy. Love him to death, but he was not planned. We came to a very dark moment. I said to myself, “It’s a good thing I kept my license current, because I may have to go back to the practice of law. I may have to give up. I may not get to do this.”
So my first year in L.A. was really tough, especially when I was watching my boys go to school and my bank account get smaller and smaller. But I stuck with it. And thank God I did.
At a birthday party, I met a guy named David Kissinger. I was excited just because he was Henry Kissinger’s son, but my sister-in-law who works in the entertainment business said, “No, dummy, he’s the head of NBC Universal Television. You need to give him your scripts.” I didn’t want to be that guy—the one who says, “Hey, I met you at a party. Here, read my script.” But she told me that was how L.A. works, and I had to do it. So I gave him my script. He liked it. He got me a meeting with an agent. The agent signed me. A week later I had my first job. And it’s been a hell of a ride ever since.
Acting on my sister’s advice changed everything for me. I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to do something you love. It’s made me incredibly happy. I get to work with actors and really smart writers. I see the world. I’m creating something. And I knew that I was never going to be fulfilled unless I tried to do that. I tell my boys all the time, “You can do anything. Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t. And don’t tell yourself that. If you don’t believe in yourself, nobody else is going to. So go for it. Find what makes you happy and do it.”
I have tremendous gratitude for Catherine and how instrumental she was in changing my life. When she died in May 2001, at only thirty-nine, I had just gotten my first job. It’s nice that before she died she knew I might be on my way.
~ David Hudgins (See the video and read more.)
