The man is back...

That would be me.

"Oh so humble Mr. Cantelon..."

(yeah, yeah...)

Not, 'The Man' like "I'M THE MAN" just 'The Man' like I'm a man who's back.

On TV.

Pretty cool.

Shot the first thirteen episodes of 'THE DAILY: weekend edition' which is a weekly talk-television series I'll be producing/hosting starting September 7th, 2008.  We'll follow '60 Minutes' on Sunday nights, which is a pretty huge lead-in, and take a look at one of the issues featured on 60M except that we'll examine the issue from the spiritual side of life.

We had some pretty high profile guests this past week including the former Minster of Finance.  

The most fun I had was Thursday when I got to shoot all the wraparounds, the openers, transitions, closers etc.  Basically, I got to stand in front of the camera and do one of the things I do best...

Talk.

Pretty exhausting stuff though. See, I'd underestimated the time it'd take to write the shows and so found myself at the desk at 7:ooam Thursday writing straight through 'till 3:00pm when I raced into the studio, got made up, and started shooting.

Straight through 'till midnight.  

After two days previous of filming and writing 18-hours a day and a week before that racing the clock to get ready and two weeks before that racing the clock to re-write a script (that I just got back from my editor RIPPED to shreds...).

I will say that the crew had some kind things to say about what I was doing.  It was quite humbling to get feedback like that.  See, it's been a while since last I stood in front of the camera--2004 in fact.  So, to find that I still 'had it' to some small degree was very relieving.

Also, it was cool to be back 'speaking' to an audience.

I don't talk about it much but I do miss preaching.  I've been settling into a place of honesty where I'm slowly embracing who I am and what I do.

I'm a husband, father, communicator.

I always knew this, I've just been finding that I'm settling into my role as husband and daddy more than I ever thought possible.  I've always really loved my wife and loved being married but will admit that transitioning from 'happy go lucky newlywed with no kids' to the world of Daddy-dom was more than a little shocking.

Eight years later and I feel like I've really settled in.

And with the communicator thing, I'm turning the facets of that over and over in my mind as I fly between the coasts seeking to find the honest truth about who I am and what--specifically--I'm meant to do.  (Preacher? Writer? Producer? Director? Actor/Host? Motivational speaker? What kind of 'mix' of all six?)  The whole 'your days as a preacher weren't a waste-of-time and you still have plenty of time to make-it in showbiz despite your Church-detour..' conversation is one I will admit to hearing in my head on a regular basis.

(and I'm aware of the 'there is no waste' Kingdom-economy thing and don't really mean 'detour' but I will admit the phrase occurs in my head by times...)

See, you think you're someone or something, and the things you think are loaded with baggage. Expectation, the need for approval, the pressure of what you've always done, peer pressure, what brings you money, etc.

The key is to shine the light of suffering and joy and experience on that 'thing' you've been called to do and see what winks back at you.  Then you look at that spark and see what kind of fire it ignites. Then you see if you can't roast some hot dogs over it and feed 'em to your kids.

Point.

Is what you do the 'thing' you're meant to do, and if it is, to what degree?  At what percentage of 'optimum' are you operating?

I don't think you ever hit 100% but the idea, I think, is to get closer and closer as you age. The goal being that as you get near 65 or so you should be 'expert' at your craft.

(it's, of course, right around then that most people up and retire, but my sense is that retirement is for dead people, so whooha to getting, being, and staying expert...)

Each step is a good step.

Anyway, I'm feeling deeply grateful to have another shot (this is my third time around with my own TV series) and with more resources to hand than I've EVER had before. In fact, I'm sitting in the studio right now blogging while my staff shoots one of the series I'm in charge of.  I'm supposed to be writing tomorrow's episodes--which I'll get to after this--but I figured before that I'd eat some fried chicken (yup' we've got a whole u-shaped table stocked with food outside the control room...) sit on the floor a bit and watch my hosts work, then head back here, write for you a bit, then get to back to work.

One profoundly thankful man back at it and hopefully for a good ten-year run or so this time.

T