Hello Reader,

You may be familiar with the phrase “it is what it is.” A shrug dressed up as wisdom. A way of stepping back when life doesn’t bend.

But there’s another line — harder, steadier — that Robert De Niro delivers in The Deer Hunter. Holding up a single rifle round, he says:
​“This is this.”

Not resignation. Recognition.

Where “it is what it is” lets you drift away from the moment, “this is this” places you squarely inside it.

One softens the truth by stepping around it. The other faces it directly — not with fatalism, but with clarity.

That’s the stance I keep returning to.
Not surrender.
Not defiance.

Just the quiet strength of naming what’s real… and then choosing how to meet it.

Look

John Cazale’s career is one of those rare reminders that presence can outweigh longevity — five films, all masterpieces, each shaped by the steady, unmistakable gravity he brought to the screen. The documentary about his life doesn’t just honor those performances; it shows what it looks like to inhabit each moment fully, the same grounded clarity at the heart of “this is this.” Watch it here.​

Listen

This conversation between Rich Roll and Oliver Burkeman is a spacious exploration of how we relate to time — not as something we control, and not as something that controls us, but as a reality we each meet in our own way. While Oliver’s perspective differs from mine in meaningful places, especially around acceptance and agency, the episode opens a thoughtful doorway into the broader conversation this issue touches on. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Learn

The headline “Time is going to win” from Oliver Burkeman’s recent appearance on the Rich Roll podcast is what started me down this path. There was one line that stopped me, made me think twice, and nudged me into contemplating where Oliver’s work and mine intersect and where they part ways. I wrote a short piece about that distinction: how a single phrase can reveal the gap between acceptance and alignment – and why the language we use to talk about time shapes the relationship we build with it. Read it here.​

The Final Flicker

When you feel yourself slipping into “it is what it is,” try swapping it for “This is this.”

It sounds small, but it shifts everything. You move from drifting to deciding — from resignation to recognition.

And recognition is where devotion begins.

See you later,
Mike

P.S. If you’re looking for a clearer way to meet the moment — not with resignation, but with intention — join me and Garland Coulson on Tuesday, December 9th for a free Grand Productivity Group session. We’ll share six of our favourite zero-cost tools to help you cut through the noise and move into 2026 with a little more ease and steadiness. Click here for the time in your part of the world... and to sign up.​

Thanks for reading. Your time is valuable, and I don’t take it for granted. In a world pulling us in all directions, thanks for choosing The Lantern.

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