F1: Why I Work
“Sometimes there’s this moment when I’m in the car when everything is peaceful and no one can catch me. In that moment, I’m flying.”
- Sonny Hayes, F1
Hi All,
I want to talk about the movie I watched recently. F1 has officially made it into my top three life movies—right alongside The Lion King (childhood forever-favorite), Top Gun: Maverick (fighter jets), and View From a Blue Moon (surfing). I can see the pattern here… had I been born a boy, I probably would have been living life on the edge with extreme sports—flying, sailing, surfing, skiing, racing fast cars.
But this summer, watching F1, I felt something deeper.
Brad Pitt’s character Sonny Hayes keeps repeating: “It’s not about the money.”
That line stopped me. Because that’s exactly why I’ve always chosen my work—not for money, not for titles—but for love. For the joy of being immersed, for the camaraderie of a team chasing the same finish line, for that feeling of being fully alive inside the pursuit.
The movie reminded me of what I miss most: the sheer absorption, when thought and action merge, when purpose aligns with passion. The victories matter—but what lingers is the love of the drive.
As Sonny (played by Brad Pitt) puts it:
“Sometimes there’s this moment when I’m in the car when everything is peaceful and no one can catch me. In that moment, I’m flying.”
“What I missed when I wasn’t racing wasn’t the wins or the glory… it was the pure love of driving.”
That’s exactly how I feel about my own path. My career has always been a calling. And like Sonny’s story—thirty years in the making—I’m reminded: you end up being who you are meant to be. Never doubt, just keep pushing on.
Anyways, highly recommend F1 if you haven't done so yet. Let me know how you like it!
Question for the Obsidian Odyssey community
I have a question for you: DO YOU LOVE WHAT YOU DO?
I recently learned about mid-life individuation. It is the time when we begin to define our own pace and rhythm of life, away from the expectations of family and society. It is the stage when people begin to ask: What do I really love?
Below are some prompt questions that could help you find your own answers:
- When was the last time you felt completely free—so absorbed that the world around you disappeared?
- Do you remember a moment when you chose to do something purely for the joy of it, not for approval, money, or achievement?
- If no one were watching or keeping score, what would you still want to do with your time?
- What rhythms—fast or slow, structured or fluid—feel most natural to you, and how do they differ from the pace others expect of you?
- Looking back, what themes or images keep repeating in your life—flying, water, mountains, music, building—and what do they reveal about what you love?
- If you imagine the next decade, what would it look like to live more from love than from duty?
