The Genius of Caring

Hello GeniusOfCaring supporters,

Last week, we lost a truly beautiful soul, documentary film producer and impact pioneer Jess Search. Jess died peacefully in London, England, from brain cancer surrounded by loving family and friends. I met Jess in 2012 when Anna and I were selected to pitch The Genius of Marian @ GoodPitch. She was magnetic, so filled with wisdom, warmth and wit. I was nervous for the pitch and also not totally in touch with the sadness of my mother’s illness. I remember her feedback and support was at once razor sharp, precise, and challenging and loving, warm and supportive. She helped me relax into my true feelings and derive a focus and strength from them. I feel so lucky that we met and that I got to be in her orbit with so many other filmmakers and creatives whose lives have been forever changed by knowing her. 

Jess sent out a message titled, No Time Like the Present, announcing her illness and that she would be stepping down from her role at DocSociety. It of course was full of wisdom, warmth, wit and I have gone back to it many times. I wanted to share a bit of it here with you all:

“ Today I am sharing that I’m currently under the care of a neurosurgeon because like 300,000 others every year around the world, I’ve been diagnosed with a brain tumour. I’m stepping back from Doc Society — after 18 years of nonstop creative collaboration, dedicated craft, joyous partying and fierce camaraderie. You may know that for years 6 women directors - Beadie, Maxyne, Megha, Sandra, Shanida, and myself - have been leading the organisation in a flat power-sharing model. So I can do this, knowing that someone else will step in to be unfeasibly late for meetings and break the printer constantly.

Whether you know me from a distance or up close and personal, I want to acknowledge that as a newsletter announcement, this is pretty heavy stuff. But know that I am extremely calm and have literally everything I need around me. My poetry and philosophy texts are an important part of that and I’ve found myself returning to Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius, who wrote these words almost 2000 years ago:

"In the end, what would you gain from everlasting remembrance? Absolutely nothing. So what is left worth living for? This alone: justice in thought, goodness in action, speech that cannot deceive, and a disposition glad of whatever comes."

Filled with Love and Inspiration,

Banker