Yesterday I had the opportunity to listen to some very interesting people talk about their lives. I’ve always enjoyed hearing other people’s stories, I guess that’s one of the reasons I enjoy doing interviews.

One of the speakers was Chris Garner, author of The Pursuit of Happyness (made into a movie starring Will Smith) I think through sheer determination and belief in himself, what he’s achieved in his life is pretty amazing. His website: http://www.chrisgardnermedia.com/

Another speaker was Frank Abagnale; his life story was also made into a movie by Steven Spielberg called “Catch Me If You Can”. I was enthralled to hear Frank speak about the things he had done. If you are not familiar with his story, Frank began his misadventures as a con artist/imposter and forger at age 16. He impersonated a pilot, a physician and an attorney and managed some pretty incredible and ballsy feats along the way. He spoke about some of his “achievements” during this time and it was truly mind boggling how he did some of these things. He mentioned the movie and book that were written/inspired by his life and that they were not biographically and therefore some of the stories were not 100% true to life.

He was eventually captured and served time in a prison in France, then was extradited to Sweden where he served time and then finally back to the US where he served more time. After serving 5 years in the US, the FBI asked him to serve out the remainder of his sentence working for them. He has now worked with them for 31 years and is a respected consultant. He spoke about how he was not proud of his past and that his most notable achievement was that of being a father and husband. You can check out his official site here: http://www.abagnale.com/

Quincy Jones also spoke about his life and achievements, his love and passion for music. Which brought me back to my own. As he said, you can’t taste it, can’t touch it, can’t see it - but you feel it in your heart and soul.
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“You are the music while the music lasts.” - T.S. Eliot