10 Things I Learned From “Man On Wire”

For those who don’t know, there’s this French guy, Philippe Petit, who is a hire wire artist. That’s right, a high wire artist. Before learning of Mr. Petit, I always referred to this type of “artist” as a tightrope walker, or a circus dude. But hey, tomato, tomato (the latter pronounced Tuh-MAH-Toe.)

Philippe Petit got his claim to fame by walking on a wire, from the roof of one twin tower, to the other, a feat that lasted about 45 minutes on a hazy August morning, 1974 (not because he was walking slow, but because he was taunting the police…my type of guy.) This was a dream of his since childhood, once he got word from a local newspaper, that the towers were being built. Afterwards he was famous, and even more importantly, fulfilled. Oh, and a movie was made about him. Man On Wire.

I saw this movie. And here’s what I learned from it.

1. There is no talent or skill that is silly, or useless. Walking across a wire, inspired the hell out of me.

2. Dreams have no set beginning, and need no set ending. They are conceived when they are conceived, and are fulfilled when they are fulfilled.

3. Insanity is okay, and is often a useful device for accomplishing greatness. (As long as you can make it back over the sanity line.)

4. Fear is never an option.

5. Dreams only come true, through planning…

6. …and help from others. (Petit, hid in the towers for days, with a crew of about 6 to make this happen.)

7. Fame is awesome. And not awesome.

8. There was something just as special about the construction of the Twin Towers, as there was about the destruction.

9. The dream should be fun (to you, at least.)

10. I want to learn French.

And if there was an eleventh, it would probably be, to work on my balance!