Michaell Magrutsche with The Smart of Art

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity radio.

Stone Payton: [00:00:15] Welcome to the High Velocity Radio show where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you this afternoon. Oh, you guys are in for such a real treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast artist, speaker, educator and author, Mr. Michaell Magrutsche. How are you, sir?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:00:39] It’s a pleasure. It’s such a pleasure. Stone After our last talk, I’m looking so forward to this.

Stone Payton: [00:00:46] We did have a good time. We probably could have just hit the record button and it done our show. Then we had such a great conversation. I found it inspiring, informative And your perspective? It is so unique. We’re going to get a chance to talk about the power of art and creativity. Maybe a good place to start so that we can give our listeners a little bit of context. Mission Purpose. What are you really out there trying to do for folks?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:01:18] Because they could never fit into a system. I was a sick child and I’m dyslexic and as a neurodiverse and this graphic, but I can’t read my writing and I could never fit into systems, really. I was never a system navigator. And what my mission is, is to only give awareness to to make people aware. No steps, no. You’ve got to do this. You’ve got to do that. Everybody has the things. Just listen to this podcast a couple of times and you’re good. That’s it.

Stone Payton: [00:01:53] So I recognize fully that there are certainly situations where we are imposing those kinds of restrictions and those barriers maybe even intentionally. But do you find that a lot of times we’re doing it, but we’re doing it unconsciously and it’s. Yes, yeah, say more about that.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:02:16] Yeah. So I think it’s not, you know, oh my God, the system is horrible or the people are horrible. It’s our unconsciousness that we don’t are where we’re not aware of what we’re doing and we are not aware we have an also an instinct, an instinct. Our DNA says, hey, be part of the tribe belong. That’s our drive. Right? But you know, the draft that we have. But then the system says, okay, we need to separate between genders because we the system is too limited. When the king was ruling that, they said, okay, I can’t handle man and woman. They’re too complicated. I need to separate them. Oh, my God. Now we have races. I need to separate them. Oh, now we have sexuality. We need to separate it. So in systems, everything has to be separated. And humans don’t work like that. Humans have flow. They are fluid. They are not having you know, they’re not just male or female. That’s very masculine woman and very feminine man. And the same with race. And we are fluid beings because we are unlimited. Everybody is one of one.

Stone Payton: [00:03:28] And it’s it’s all too easy to sort of hide behind some of these systems, don’t you think?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:03:34] I think, yes. You know, once the system takes over, see, if you and I, we we try to handle a garden together. We have a garden together, you and I. We don’t need a system. We don’t need a calendar. We just say, hey, I take it Saturday, Sunday, you take it the last. The rest of the days it’s done. But once, once we say, Hey, I’m going to get my family members and then our friends, all of a sudden we need a calendar, we need an organizer. And sooner or later we have a mayor of that garden. Right. And so the effort it’s to the effort gets too intense to enjoy the garden. You know, you and I had the we had no problems. And I want to switch your day with you. No problem. But now there’s a calendar and you can if you miss out, you miss out for weeks and there’s a mayor. And if you misbehave, you plant the wrong things. We can’t use the garden. And that’s what happened with most of our systems. They should give us safety, enjoyment, pleasure. And they did pivot that that became too big.

Stone Payton: [00:04:48] So do you think the master key to to penetrating through all this and rising above it is creativity? Is that the right word?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:04:58] I think it’s the awareness that we humans kind of frightened by our possibilities, by limitlessness. So and that’s why you say that’s witch hunts and days people were ousted and and so the system tries to to to create an artificial safety. And and we don’t want to see really we are a possibility or that we are limitless that we can create the good and the bad, which you see in the world. We can create extreme good and extreme bad. And I think that is the big fear that we have to That’s why we have system to slowly get eased into that limitlessness that that we can do anything. But at the same time, the sad thing at the same time, we don’t have a definitive answer for what is the meaning of life supposed to be or is. So those two are going is a teeter totter and all the humans are, you know, not secure about that because through systems we have seen our limitlessness, but that has turned into more and more of a limit because every thing that we created is limit has limits. It’s only God created us in nature. So we are the highest priority. But we we pretend we are not. We pretend, you know, a multinational company or a CEO that hides behind a multinational company or a star that is elevated by the system to that is is more averse than you and I. And in nature, as you know, nature never lies in nature. You are valuable because you exist. That doesn’t mean you have system value, but you you worthy that because you exist.

Stone Payton: [00:07:04] So you touched on your background early in the conversation. Was there a catalytic event, a turn of events that compelled you to pursue art, or was it more of an evolution? How did you become an artist?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:07:21] It was an evolution. I wasn’t aware. And most artists, even famous artists, are not aware, you know, uncomfortable to call themself artists, even if they are by society deemed as such. And when I was 30, I think there was around 30 when I looked at my resumes. When I was obviously into art, I knew that saved my life. I knew when I couldn’t understand anything in school and I had to do everything. Self-taught, I, I realized with 30. Really that I am an artist by. By not trade, by being. I am just an artist because every job that I had was art related, creativity related. All my the fact that I survived was because I’m creative and I was dyslexic and this graphic. But I wrote five books. You know, I worked with Robert Evans, who did The Godfather and and I worked with. So I, I kind of tried to be part of the system without being the part of the system.

Stone Payton: [00:08:33] So what was that very first book like? Did it come together pretty easily or was it a real struggle for you when you wrote the first one?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:08:43] It was not a struggle at all. So none of the books were a struggle. They were actually a self exploration. Because my creativity, you know, I loved movies. I wanted to be a big movie producer and I love movies. And that was my escape to to feel human, you know? And when I had that, I was I looked at stories. And when you look at a lot of movies, you you get a feel for stories. And then I did the, you know, the course that Spielberg does on screenwriting or did and then I. I learned how to to to navigate a script. And my first book is a script. So and then I said, No, I want to do a story about humans. And I was always interested in humans and about how family societies or systems say families, everything. But at the same time, you have that paradox that nobody other than family would do things to you that your your friends wouldn’t do. Your friends would never do what your family would do. So it can be the best and the worst.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:10:03] So the whole potential, again, it could be family, could be the best thing that you can have. But at the same time, it can be the worst that you have. And we know and we reveal that right now, you know, oh, my God. And unknowingly, this stuff happens. Obviously, when you beat up somebody that doesn’t happen that that is not unconscious. But but, but but you but we are not conscious of the effects that certain things have. I want to strengthen my boy. I’m going to be hard to him that that really is that is that really what that kid needs? Some boys might be really hard at it. We are too. You can’t put us in systems. You can’t put us in boxes. And we try and we adapt. Our superpower, which I say the third superpower is, is adaptation. We adapt that systems work because systems could never work because they created mouse, but we adapt to systems to the tribe so that we actually all function in unison, which is driven by our drive to belong and be inclusive.

Stone Payton: [00:11:15] So what I think I’m hearing here is try not to do this to other people, but for God’s sakes, don’t put yourself in a box. Right?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:11:24] Exactly. Exactly, exactly. Be open and and say everything is a potential. And since nobody knows this, the meaning of life and what it’s supposed to be, just be in the moment. Enjoy the moment. I mean, I’m milking you and our conversation right now. Yeah, I’m totally engaged in that. I’m not thinking, Oh my God, what bills do I have to pay? What needs to do for my friends or whatever I’m thinking about right now, I’m here with you and you are you with me? I mean, people can hear that. And also people can gauge that, you know?

Stone Payton: [00:11:58] Absolutely. Okay. So subsequent books do are you out there in the world with this vision, this mission, this ethos, this mindset? And then you you see a gap or you see some dynamic and you think to yourself, okay, something more has got to be said to that. We’ve got to get that. We’ve got to talk about this more and get it to more people. Is that how subsequent book concepts have come together for, you.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:12:23] Know, they they’re not they’re not interrelated because the first book was a screenwriting play, the second was a product. And our project that I did, where did I think 300 paintings in three days?

Stone Payton: [00:12:38] Wow.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:12:39] And so so I’m exploring it, my explorer, because I couldn’t if I would have just fit into system, be good in school, I would have gone the way everybody else does. Yeah, I couldn’t. And I discovered curiosity. I you know, I don’t try to fit in a system anymore. I do what I do and I make people aware and I become aware. So I just, you know, I just listen before you I just listen to another podcast because I was curious what these guys say.

Stone Payton: [00:13:14] And does this. I know the answer is yes, but I want to explore how this carries itself into the professional speaking work you do because you speak in front of groups as well on these topics and others.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:13:28] Yeah, it is. It is just it came automatically. I did I did a couple of docs and now that people want to talk to me, you know, it just, it just organically I didn’t I’m not a marketer at all. I have nothing to sell. Stone I mean, I told you that. I mean, you can go into websites, but I have nothing I have nothing to sell other than being with engaging other humans and experience my humanity with them. You know, I’m not rich. I’m not, you know, I’m system wise, I’m not I’m not a navigator or a successful person system wise, you know.

Stone Payton: [00:14:08] So for those of us who do have something to sell, I still think there’s tremendous value in what you’re describing. Because if I’m running a business and incidentally, I am, I own a pretty good piece of the business radio network and I run a studio here locally and they are they’re both viable businesses and I want to grow them. But so much of what you’re saying still resonates with me because I feel like I can bring that to that profit making pursuit. Do you agree?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:14:39] Absolutely. But I’m not a guy that. So my super strength of of of, you know, the dyslexia makes me see context. But at the same time, everything is figures and every system, even economic and business. I can give you the wisdom what you need to look for system. So I do a lot of consulting too, so I’m giving you a sense of that. But I can talk figures, numbers or whatever, you know, I said because I believe, for example, even example, I believe that in the future every business, if it wants to survive, has to be. In service. In service to human nature. Not in those two systems. So. That’s that’s it has to be humane. So, for example, you just buy your radio, which is you don’t have to reinvent yourself, but you buy your radio. You do the second superpower that I define, a second superpower after creativity, which is human, healthy, human discourse. Well, it’s not about right or wrong, this or that. It’s all about. Human potential. We talk right now. This whole talk is not about, you know, how are we going to navigate the system better, because I wouldn’t know that, but I would know how how to do a talk that helps human potential, that whoever listens to this talk doesn’t need two steps.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:16:20] Just listen to the talk. And because once you’re aware of something, you change automatically. See, in the systems, it has to sell you something to change in the with you and me. So, for example, if you if you say if I say your wife is pregnant. You can either say, okay, I get the divorce, but you have to do something. You have said, I don’t care. You know, the moment I give you a conscience, I make you conscious of something that affects you. You have to change. If you want or not. And it’s not hard to change is not hard when you realize it. You just you know, it might feel a little uncomfortable if you say, Hey, Stone, you just said something that really hurt me. Then you can contemplate that and you might feel a little uncomfortable, but then you can see it or you can’t see it, but you have to do something.

Stone Payton: [00:17:15] This vehicle, this this having a platform, a channel. I don’t even know what you would call it to express your creativity. I guess I’ve been incredibly blessed because for me, it is the microphone, right? I get to meet fascinating people who are bright and passionate, excited about what they’re doing. And the conversation is because above and beyond all of the benefits that you’re describing, Michael, it’s just a heck of a lot of fun.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:17:46] But that’s but look at nature. Look at nature. Which animal is serious system make you serious because they want you to focus all your attention to serve them. With your adaptability. And therefore you need to concentrate and concentrate. You say I’m serious, but that’s control and manipulation because you know, the creative, most creative songs or whatever, you know, any artwork took 20 minutes. I mean, the Think Yellow Submarine took 20 minutes to write Jumpin Jack Flash or Satisfaction, 15 minutes or an hour. It is we are disturbed, disturbed and distorted humans to humans because behind systems are humans too. We are just not aware that we fighting each other with creativity. And that’s the that’s the sad. This is the bottom line of the sad thing. We fight each other humans to humans through systems. We experience our human being through the systems doing we we are not. We are born in the hospital and from then it’s always system. So we experienced. And now with the pandemic we are social through systems. You know, it would be much better if you and I sit together and have a beer or something. This is the sad thing, you know.

Stone Payton: [00:19:15] So you’re reaching people who are running organizations. You’re you’re reaching people who have a bit of an innate curiosity for this. They’re on a search. Have you have you found a way to start reaching young people? I don’t know, like people who are in the university system or coming up through school. Have you have you found a way to reach them early?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:19:40] I do it a lot with educators. I work on an educational I’m all over, you know, I mean, I do so many things because they all have the same essence. It’s all about human nature. But when you go and look at the human perspective of anything we do. So I’m building a house. How does it affect me? Humanly. Is this human? Is this okay when it’s noisy? Is this okay when it’s totally coronary? When it has no natural environment in that housing? You can. Is is when you go to a practice, medical practice. Is that good to be all sterile? They know for four years that green is the best color for healing. They know for years that when you have a window and look in nature, that the healing goes much faster. I mean, there’s so many things, but it’s the cost that determine everything and the awareness that all these systems that we have. Are based on a financial system, even religions and everything else, because they have to run on something and that’s why they always go. Bottom line. Financial static. Financial. And humans are fluid, They are organic, they’re fun. Like you said, they’re fun, they’re humor. That’s like animals. Just look at animals. Animals. They always play, always their whole thing. Elephants, everything. Everybody plays. So it’s. Go ahead.

Stone Payton: [00:21:12] I was just going to say. So if I find myself in a system, you know, in my case, I actually own a pretty good piece of of an ongoing concern. And there’s some systems there. But I’m thinking about like that mid-level manager who has some responsibility for for generating some results through other people. Even if I find myself with some of those constraints, I got to believe there are some things that I can do to loosen the strings a little bit to to to promote some of these ideas and give my folks a little room to to express some of these some of these things. Yeah.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:21:47] You’re absolutely right. What this is, is the easiest thing static systems to make. You just have to say, how would I feel on the receiving end? If you are middle manager, you you have to deal with the boss and you have to deal with the with with your workers or with your colleagues and. When you say OC, a good example, you know what? They always say that in hospitality the customer is king. The customer is always right. The biggest lie ever. That’s when the system. This is the truth. Now. This is the human truth. If the team works harmoniously and has fun and is happy. They can do the maximum best job. And the customer feels like a king because he gets what the company is selling.

Stone Payton: [00:22:48] I got to tell you, I had the pleasure of interviewing Haus Schultz, who is responsible for the that whole idea of ladies and gentlemen, serving ladies and gentlemen, with the Ritz Carlton. And when you describe that environment, I know that’s at least what he was what he was striving for. Also, his accent is similar.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:23:12] Yeah, I’m from Vienna. From Austria. So? So. So, yeah, I mean, stolen you. You totally get it. And I think the whole world is waking up and get it that we are. But. But we don’t, you know, we want to save the nature. Save nature doesn’t need saving. I’m not saying we should dirty it, but it doesn’t need save it because it’s so much more intelligent than we are. It always grows over. Look at Chernobyl. Look at the Mayans. They say these and humans have extinct themselves 100 times or whatever, you know. And it. And the nature is as long as one cell lives, they just grow growing over it. We don’t need to save nature for nature. We have so little value as humans. We have conditioned ourselves of our own value and limitlessness self self that we we said, Oh, we need to save nature. No, we need to save nature to save humans. We need to save humans so that when whoever comes afterwards and wants to visit this planet for a short time, they have a good time. It’s like everybody goes to Hawaii and throws everything away, burn stuff and whatever, and then just leaves. We kind of take care of of the environment. So we and our heritage and everybody has a and can enjoy this experience. It is experiential life is we don’t know the sense of meaning of life, but it is an experience. And when we distracting ourselves into systems, we don’t have that sit that that experience of being a human being, a human being not at doing.

Stone Payton: [00:24:56] It is abundantly clear that you so thoroughly enjoy your work, your pursuit. What are you finding the most rewarding these days? What are you enjoying the most?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:25:09] Stone. The most rewarding is for me. To become aware and that you you become automatically so less. Less thinking, more being in the moment. Trying to be in a moment. And, you know, the awareness that I get talking to you. There’s a lot of things. I haven’t talked to people about this, and I’ve given up 90 interviews or something, so. So. You know, there’s a lot of things that went. That’s why I say it’s the superpower. Healthy dialog where it’s not about system discussion, you know? System betterment, yes, but not system discussion. Who is right? You know, which party is better? Republicans or Democrats? That is not that’s not a healthy discussion. It’s about. It’s about. Into action because there’s so much going on between you and me, which you feel and I feel, and probably the listeners feel too, that, Oh my God, there’s this revelation. Look at stolen. Look at Michael. Oh my God, You know, this back and forth. It’s a superpower. That’s why podcasts, people are sick and tired of hearing news that are fabricated by systems where 100 people try to manipulate you to stay on the news and other ones try to get the gist out of the news and not a satisfied because you just talk to each other. That’s what that energy, the humanity is, is is is so much looking for and nobody has ratings but the. The start of doing this movement of podcasting is a good one because it shows us that we don’t want to be prefabricated. We want to be human to human human nature. Our environment value our human potential, not systems. I mean, this is the best episode. This is the best. This episode is the best proof of this, you know?

Stone Payton: [00:27:20] Speaking of podcast, I went and I viewed and listen to some of your other interviews, but I also came across the podcast. You do, and I love the way you do it. It’s just these short little bursts with some very insightful comments. That’s a that’s a really interesting way to leverage this this platform. Do you know where you came up with that idea?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:27:46] By default, Because I’m dyslexic, I couldn’t do what you do. I couldn’t have a staff and organize everything. First of all, I’m an artist and I could never fit. So I’ve not built up any wealth or whatever where I could even employ somebody. But I because I’m dyslexic and this graphic. It just my brain wouldn’t. I would it would take me to do an episode probably a week or two to, to, to organize it and cut it and edit it and or get somebody to do it and converse with it. And I feel. That because I’m a writer too. So I feel that when you condense certain things that people haven’t talked about, like that’s why you find me interesting, you know? Yeah. When I condense certain things just to one get deep, just to one sentence, which is every podcast is a quote and a question too, to make this quote work. It’s 30 seconds. People have no time anyway. And and you. It seats seeds of wisdom that just percolate in you. So whatever I have experienced and found and uncovered because wisdoms you can’t invent or create like a system, you can uncover the wisdom. And then I put it into quotes and I found this out to through art. Because to us creating not through the art product, product through art creating, I found this and I found all everything. My whole wisdom is from creating art and and interacting with other humans like you.

Stone Payton: [00:29:25] Yeah. So what’s next for you? Or do you even know?

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:29:31] I don’t know. I don’t have goals and I don’t know. Stone I live in the moment. I’m being. I’m being right now. And if I start going into buying constructs about the future, I can’t enjoy it now. Because that’s what the world is sick of, because we are in my constructs, because the systems are promoting. Oh, in the future, you’re going to be rich, you’re going to retire. You’ve got and that people are so exhausted, they retire and die. So so and have not experienced anything. I work hard. I’m not leaving basically. I’m not saying not working hard. I work hard. You know that I work all the time. But. I have fun. I enjoy what I do. Every moment I try to. Every moment to enjoy.

Stone Payton: [00:30:23] Well.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:30:24] And if I don’t, I don’t know.

Stone Payton: [00:30:28] Well, you’ve certainly made this conversation a joy for me. So if our listeners would like to follow your work, maybe tap into these books or access the podcast that we talked about. Let’s make sure that we leave them with whatever you think is appropriate, whether it’s a website. But I just want to make sure that we make it easy for them to connect with you.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:30:51] Mm hmm. Yeah. It’s Michael. M dot com. Michael with two L’s. Michael Morcombe and you. All your social my phone number, my emails, my books, my music, my engagement everything is up there. So you can, you can connect with me. And it takes, you know don’t feel intimidated by this episode. It’s about the exchange. It’s not about the knowledge or wisdom. We we say it’s about that, you know, like Stone and I, we connected and we just chatted. That’s it. We have no idea what we’re talking about. I mean, we said, you know, it’s got to be art and systems, but this is this is it.

Stone Payton: [00:31:39] Well, Michael, it has been an absolute delight having you on this show. I can’t thank you enough for investing the time and energy to join us. You’re doing important work and we sincerely appreciate you, man.

Michaell Magrutsche: [00:31:53] Thank you. Stone And any time you want to talk about a specific, we can do this again.

Stone Payton: [00:31:58] All right. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Michael McGurk and everyone here at the business Radio X family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.