Aku.👨🏿‍🚀🚀

"Really appreciate you.

Your words have served as motivation for me through tough times."

Micah Johnson is a former MLB player. An undeniably brilliant artist and legendary creator of Aku. A boy who wanted to know if he could be an astronaut, being black. And the first NFT on the front cover of TIME Magazine.

And Micah had just told me my words, motivated him.

It took 15 months. The most employable I'd ever been, doing absolutely nothing with it.

I knew I was meant to be doing something. Something less that would equal much more. But not then. My new full-time job was uncomfortably clear. To go into the void. To wait.

There were no words or map. Following your internal compass is scary, off-putting, unnerving. It leaves you at the mercy of the wind and a stirring weather pattern.

It started with EMDR and IFS therapy. Weekly. Thursdays. And although smart, it became clear: I was an amateur at not knowing how to live. And a master of knowing how to do. And achieve.

It was then I found Micah. An MLB player who chose mental health over major league success. Who, when hearing a child ask, "Can astronauts be black?" answered by building a world around his character Aku’s dreams. A symbol of hope and infinite possibilities. The icon that converted my own equation from “I don’t know if I even can?” to, “it’s time to try.”

There I was, in therapy learning to feel feelings I'd spent decades exiling, building something from nothing.

Not doing. Waiting.

Micah's journey became my North Star. Aku’s courage my constellation. And other committed followers, my community.

Micah didn't survive leaving baseball - he transformed. Shared his mental health struggles with the world and how he used them as creative fuel. And his personal pain as collective global hope.

He wasn't just creating art - he was without even knowing it, producing permission. Permission to dream without limits. Permission to heal in public. Permission to belong.

I messaged Micah to tell him. To thank him. This stranger who had become a powerful pathfinder, teacher and tour guide. His reply:

 "You're a very special person to be able to be yourself on the internet and vulnerable. I appreciate and admire you, a lot." Weeks later: "Really appreciate you. Your words have served as motivation for me through tough times."

And there it was. The moment. Not about following fame or the famous. Not about what can be leveraged from him or his status. It was a moment of mutuality, resonance, appreciation. Connection.

When you show someone their story matters, you may discover you're walking parallel paths. That mental health isn't a detour from success. It’s often the only route back to it. And being a valued part of a global movement, may just inspire your very own.

Aku taught me astronauts can be black. And former CEOs can do less and achieve much more.

And that within us all there is an awkward kid who, if you take the time to listen, will show you exactly how to build the world you crave, around your wildest dreams.

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