Mike Lang

Title: Producer
Expertise: Nothing in particular… except for coming up with crazy ideas and getting people to help.

Biography:

This trip was one of the scariest things I have ever done, but it also has been the most rewarding. It took 10 months to organize the expedition itself and almost 16 months to do the film and all of that time I had no idea what I was doing. A lot of times I thought I was helping but I really just made things more stressful for everyone. If it was not for Aaron Bryant at Hands On Films, and his patience with me, there is a good chance this film would never have been made. Thank you Aaron, Fred, Kevin, Brandon and Travis. You guys have been absolutely amazing over these past few years. I could never ask for a better group of men to join in such a crazy adventure with me. ]

The only thing I had to contribute to this project was my expereince with cancer and a burning passion to use that difficult expereince to make the world better. I often get asked where the themes in the film came from, and to be honest they came from me pacing around in my parents basement trying to understand why this whole cancer thing was so difficult. I asked myself why, unlike any challenge I had ever faced before, cancer was so difficult and disillusioning. That is where the themes came from, and it was not until much later until I found out that many of these themes are universal throughout the cancer expereince, no matter your age or diagnosis, and that almost anyone who had directly or indirectly experienced cancer could relate.

My favorite part of any screening is the Q&A time afterward and the conversations I have with people as they leave. It is amazing how people poor out their own life stories and are able to apply wisdom from the film to their own lives. It reminds me that all of us suffer and expereince pain and hardship, and that only through supporting each other and sharing the wisdom we learn from our stories will any of us make it through. There is a paraphrase that I read before every screening by Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen that sums this up perfectly.

“Everybody is a story and sharing our stories with others is how wisdom is passed along. Our stories are a front-row seat to the real experience. We become in that moment a guest in someone else’s life, and together with them sit at the feet of their teacher. The meaning we may draw from someone’s story may be different from the meaning they themselves have drawn. No matter. Facts bring us to knowledge, but stories lead to wisdom.”

This is why I love stories. I want to be a wise person, not just a knowledgeable one, and I want to be able to pass the things I have learned onto others. That is what this film has allowed me to do and I appreciate all the hard work and dedication of the hundreds of people that have helped make that dream a reality. Thank you.

Please visit

peacefieldretreat.com

to learn about the retreat centre that Bonnie and Mike were given to run retreats with young adult cancer survivors. Visit their blog

huckithuge.com

to watch their story unfold.