recovery and passion.
Over the last few days those of us who knew Justin have been connecting in small meaningful ways. From the postings on his Facebook page, to the phone calls, blogs, emails and text messages… We are all reaching out in our own way; remembering the drive and passion Justin brought to life. Having had a heart transplant 15 years ago, Justin was acutely aware of the fragility of life and never took his time here for granted. I know we’ve all been influenced by his exuberance and the pursuit of his dreams.
At some point in the midst of the shock on Wednesday, a friend mentioned Jill Bolte Taylor’s TED talk “A Stroke of Insight.” Watching Taylor’s story is incredibly moving (and worth watching for many other reasons), but I was especially moved by her recovery. She explains that it was her desire to share her experiences that fueled her during recuperation. I couldn’t help but think of Justin ambition of becoming a story artist at Pixar.
Justin in his own words, from a profile on Pacific Union College’s site:
Justin thinks his glimpse at mortality as a child helped him pursue his dream of becoming a storyboard artist at Pixar. The road to a job at Pixar is a competitive one. All of Justin’s classmates wanted the same job too. But Justin has always been a planner, so he just went to work, even doing what many of his friends thought was unthinkable, quitting a job as a production assistant at Pixar because he didn’t want to be thought of as “the PA guy.” “When my friends heard I’d quit a job, any job, at Pixar, they thought I was crazy—I mean, people do work their way up from being a production assistant,” he says. “But I knew that I wanted to be seen as a storyboard artist. So I quit.”
He credits his heart transplant with giving him the courage to make risky decisions like that. “I knew I’d been allowed to stay on this earth, and that I was lucky. I do think that influenced my decision.”
The risk paid off. He found himself in an internship that turned into a job, the job. Of course, he can’t tell anyone much about what he’s working on these days (Pixar guards its upcoming story projects more closely than an NSA-secret). However, he can say that he worked on the 2D drawings at the end of Ratatouille and on the new short coming out with WALL-E in 2008.
His heart continues to keep him aware of time more contemplatively than most new grads. There’s a maturity beneath the good humor, an awareness that he isn’t invincible, that life is fleeting, ephemeral. Justin’s heart was already 30 years old when it made its new home inside his 12-year-old body, and that was 14 years ago. He knows one day that age difference might become an issue. “I get check-ups and we watch it,” he says. “I try to watch what I eat and live healthy.” And then the smile in his voice is impossible to miss even over the phone. “But right now I’m very happy,” he says. “Right now my heart is doing great.”
>> Justin Wright’s blog: Charlie, a Deck Hand
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