If you remember back over the last few years, you probably remember seeing one of the following viral videos, Kid President, a fourth wall-breaking narrative by 11-year-old Robby Novak addressing his viewers with a memorable pep talk, interviewing Obama, and kissing Beyonce; My Last Days, a series of stories about living as told by young people with terminal illnesses; or How to Connect with Anyone, a street experiment featuring couples sharing uninterrupted eye contact for four minutes; but you might not have realized that it came from the multi-platform media company SoulPancake.
In 2008, Rainn Wilson, you might know him as Dwight Schrute from cult phenom, The Office, founded this positivity-based website with Joshua Homnick and Devon Gundry. The internet was still new and Rainn and his partners’ self-proclaimed mission was (and is) to create smart, uplifting, meaningful, shareable content targeted to the Optimistic Millennial.
Since then, the now entertainment and media content company has grown exponentially. With a thriving YouTube channel, a podcast Metaphysical Milkshake, and partnerships with high profile brands and TV Networks, in less than 5 years years, SoulPancake’s digital, television, and branded entertainment teams have created more than 95 hours of original programming in more than 30 successful series and format, surpassing a whopping 300 million video views across their platforms (SoulPancake).
SoulPancake has created an online community built on positivity, learning from others, sharing stories, and celebrating human connection. In our divisive world, fostering communities and these heartfelt and curious conversations, facilitated by this online network, is just an example of one way that we can move toward the attitudes of A Golden Civilization.
In closing, here is a quote from A Golden Civilization and the Map of Mindfulness about what Media in A Golden Civilization would look like:
“Journalistic media must be a completely independent branch of democracy. Its function is to make the world transparent so that we, in our democracy, and as we navigate the world, can make decisions of greatest wisdom. The basis of that transparency is threefold: science, investigative journalism (through stories), and wisdom arising from experiences of self-knowledge, freedom, virtue, and the present moment. Transparency reveals truth. Journalists are revealers of truth” (page 172).”