garry shandling

Garry Shandling was a famous comedian and actor for a number of years. He was also a mentor for many young comedians and creatives. Folks like Judd Apatow (who produced and/or directed just about every funny movie of the last decade or so) credit Garry's influence with their success.

Garry had a tough childhood, to say the least. He was raised by a mother who was extremely controlling and erratic. His younger brother died when he himself was still a child and his mother refused to let him go to the funeral for fear Garry would see her cry. This led him to a lifetime of struggles with depression and occasional substance abuse. Over time he became very involved with practices such as mindfulness, meditation, and journaling and became one of the most influential voices in his area of expertise. I share all that because in his journal he wrote one of the most powerful four sentences I have ever seen and I just had to send it out to the MSRE team. He wrote:

Give more.
Give what you didn't get.
Love more.
Drop the old story.