We recently had the chance to connect with Sam Hendrian and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Sam , thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: Have you ever been glad you didn’t act fast?
Every day, haha. Artists are emotional people by nature, and whenever my ego is wounded by someone, I often want to lash out with some witty zinger or self-pitiful accusation. But if I just breathe and let the feeling sit for a little while… well, I thank myself later for not saying something unkind.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Sam Hendrian, and I am an independent filmmaker and poet striving to foster empathy through art. From making one short film per month and writing screenplays/stories daily, to crafting personalized poems for strangers outside of a bookstore every Sunday and running a creative writing workshop at a mental health center, I quite literally eat/sleep/breathe the art of storytelling.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
A lack of open communication gradually or sometimes instantly destroys the bonds between people; we all fall victim to each other’s unspoken expectations. The best way to restore these relationships is to admit our blindness and accept that we may never fully understand someone we care about, while also affirming that we want them to be as authentic and honest with us as much as possible (and vice versa). If you want to make a person feel misunderstood, tell them you understand them; there is nothing more isolating than being with people who assume they know what you’re going through.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
A perpetual sense of exclusion. Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I remember being one of the only Catholic school attendees in the neighborhood and being looked at with suspicion/indifference by the other kids. When I’d hear them playing and come out to join, they sometimes called me a stalker simply for following the sound of their excited voices. I never forgot that — I always assume people don’t want my company and that I won’t fit in — but I’ve channeled this longing for belonging into an acute sense of empathy towards each person on the outskirts of our so-called inclusive society. This is the only way I know how to heal; going outside of myself and turning pain into love.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What important truth do very few people agree with you on?
Each person matters, and no one is morally superior to anybody else. We are all capable of evil under the right/wrong set of circumstances, and we are only as good as the worst impulses we know about and choose to rise above. Therefore, we have no grounds from which to hate anyone, even our enemies; to quote my favorite author Graham Greene, hate is just a failure of imagination. Either everyone deserves love, or no one really does.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
They’ll probably think I was this super nice person, a “sweetheart,” someone who always meant well and smiled his way to happiness. Well, I sure as hell ain’t a sweetheart, and I am not a nice person; I am a KIND person, which means rising above sentimentality — sometimes even getting super salty — and sitting in discomfort with other people, which is far more valuable than telling them everything will be okay. I am profoundly flawed and frequently melancholic; clouds give me more hope than sunshine, as I feel more empowered to keep loving others despite all the storms inside.
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
