Meeting Icons

29 Aug 2026 Leave a comment

by Dr. Tricia Wolanin in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

“Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism – it’s my least favorite quality, and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”― Conan O’Brien

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of meeting Conan O’Brien after a concert he performed in with his new band The Vigodas at The Lodge Room in Highland Park.  What was interesting is I feel I already knew him after watching him for over thirty years on his talk shows, travel show, and podcast.  After so much familiarity, I feel he already was a friend, we just hadn’t met.  

            In between musical acts, I asked my brother what he would say to Conan if he got the opportunity to meet him. He said he would blame Conan on his poor sleep, because he would stay up to watch his late night show ever since the debut (when my brother was in 4th grade).  I said I would bring up the late Norm McDonald standing me up on a date when I was an extra on his show, because I knew Conan was his beloved friend. I even prepped a photo ready to show him.  

            My brother and I decided to leave during another act, because the LA heat wave was difficult to bear at the concert hall.  Several minutes prior we saw Conan leave from his private room and exit through the front.  We decided to go out the entrance, although my brother warned me the proper exit was preferred, and Conan was probably already long gone.  We stepped into the alley of the front entrance and found Conan there with his crew.  Immediately I was lectured by a staff member that “this is not an exit.” I pretended to not hear the comment, and when I saw Conan I had to say “I love you.” I was wearing a Dolly Parton shirt in honor of her, who had died the day prior.  He said “I love your shirt,” and we both briefly shared our love for her.  

I had prepared to meet Conan earlier that night.  Call it the law of attraction or just an inner knowing.  My brother and I just had discussed this potential interaction.  I showed him and image on my phone of Norm McDonald and I from 20 years ago, stating “your friend stood me up on a date.” He realized who it was, he said “he’s still standing you up.”  After his witty comment, Conan then offered kind genuine words that you would to a friend who had been hurt by someone years ago.  It was a brief interaction but validating.  My brother shared what he wanted to say to him, we talked of his upcoming new season of his travel show Conan O’Brien Must Go which includes the Phillipines this year.  I ended the conversation with giving him one of these itonlytakesasmile kindness cards.  I watched Conan actually reading the Joseph Campbell quote on the back.  The new cards had just come in the mail that day, and I was appreciative I was able to share this with him.  I am not sure if he kept it, but it was an honor to offer something small and tangible to him.  

One of the last things I said to Conan in addition to it being a great performance that evening was “I’m glad you are doing what you love.” Conan has been such an inspiration.  He’s pivoted his career multiple times, and after retirement he opts to start the podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend and a travel show, where he visits his fans internationally.  In his 60’s he’s starting a band for the sole fact that it brings him joy.  Watching him and the Vigodas perform helped spread joy to the audience.  We need more of that in our world today.  There is a contagious nature of happiness and curiosity to try new things and share your passions with the world, regardless of your age.  His playful interactions with the audience in between songs welcomed us all into another facet of him, which was entertaining and engaging. 

Thank you Conan for what you do and taking the time to have a genuine conversation with us.  It would have been easy to say nothing, not be bothered after a performance, as you had people to protect you from bothersome fans like me. Yet those several moments engaging with you will linger and live on as I share the story with others.  After years of watching you, it warmed my heart to feel for a moment we connected as friends. 

 “Fall down. Make a mess. Break something occasionally. But know that your mistakes are your own unique way of getting where you need to be and remember the story is never over.”― Conan O’Brien

UP

25 Jan 2025 Leave a comment

by Dr. Tricia Wolanin in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , ,

On a flight from LA to Tokyo, I finally watched the Pixar film UP.  Generally, I am not one to love animated films, but my brother boasted about this and I had to see it.  Ten minutes into the film, I knew the entirety of it would pull at my heart (or balloon) strings.

It’s with older age, I can appreciate the rich nature that the sentimentality of these films have to offer. There’s such a bittersweetness in watching this elder character carry out his hero’s journey. The storyline begins with two lead characters, Carl and Ellie, who meet in childhood bonding over their love for adventure and explorer Charles Muntz, whose life work was to venture and conquer the unknown in South America. Within a several minute montage, one witnesses Carl and Ellie’s love affair, marriage, home renovation, career, miscarriage, celebrations, and daily rituals.  We witness the characters connect, dream, deal with setbacks, surprise one another, age into their retirement years, slow down, and eventually we reach her death.    Since childhood, Ellie utilized techniques of manifestation to live an adventurous life, through speaking dreams into her reality, creating a book that served as a vision board, and painting out her future reality in South America.  But life gave them setbacks, whether it be their finances, health, car problems, home repairs, or other mishaps.   Ellie and Carl never did make it to South America, particularly to Paradise Falls as they envisioned they would have their home one day. The lead character Carl Fredricksen vowed to carry out Ellie’s dreams which were displayed in her Book of Adventure. 

As the film progresses, Carl (who appears to be his 70s or 80s) is being pushed out of the home he had built with his wife, and forced into a retirement home.  Yet within him still stirs a wild desire to live life more fully, and he is willing to put up creative fight.    It’s the call to adventure.  A threshold is crossed, obstacles arise.  Sidekicks and villains appear as we navigate being in the belly of the whale.  Transformation ensues and atonement, and he eventually returns home. The whole hero’s journey was exemplified in UP.

In our own lives, although we may set out goals for how we want to lives to go, our plans  pivot for one reason or another. We may meet our heroes and are disappointed.  We attain our dreams, and then realize we must let them go to allow our current life to unfold. Sentient beings enter our life in unexpected ways who may need our support.  We are guided and taken care of, by mentors and surprising characters.  There is a realization that caring for others sometimes must take precedence over our own egoic goals.

At one point in the film, Carl is reviewing his wife’s Book of Adventure, which he assumed just included images of their travel dreams.  But as he allowed himself to look further, he found she had posted images of their happy daily life together, which was full of connection and laughter.  At the end of the book, she signed a message to him “Thank you for the adventure, now go have an adventure of your own.” It was her blessing from beyond.  Sometimes we are living with the ghost of who we once were, in trying to honor another we can constrict what is emerging in the current moment.

There is strength in letting go of what we once hoped to allow a new creative opportunity to flow.  Tears streamed down my face as the film neared it’s ending.  It was surprising how poignant the life lessons that were exemplified in a cartoon.  Whenever we engage with a bittersweet piece of art, we cant help but reflect on how this impact our lives.  Watching films such as this can be a contemplative practice, noting how it lands with us today, what emotions arise, and how do we want to direct the narrative of our own stories from this point forward.  Films such as this can be catalyst to course correct one’s journey to live in alignment with one’s current authentic values, not those of the past.