Mike reflects on his past 3 years of relying upon the financial and emotional support of others. He emphasizes the power of gratitude, particularly in the form of handwritten thank-you notes, as a way to recognize individuals for their financial, emotional and logistical support, and reflects on others who had worked for him in various efforts and activities throughout his experiences in producing community events and bringing people together.

Hello friends, welcome to a riveting episode of “Open Mike LIVE.” I'm Mike George, and I'm coming at you from the Columbus College of Art and Design acampus green on this beautiful Monday afternoon, the 29th of September 2025.

I had some shit on my mind recently, based on comments and feedback I’ve received on some posts where I’ve been making vain attempts to highlight some of the work I’ve achieved during my little two—oh God, almost ongoing three-year sabbatical.

One routine I’ve developed, especially during these last several years of unhousedness and sort of pennilessness and my overall reliance on other people —including many of you guys — is writing “thank you” notes every week. This habit was introduced to me years ago, perhaps through an HR program in AEP, espousing the power of gratitude. It showed me the power that something as simple as a handwritten “thank you” note can have on keeping somebody motivated and dedicated to the mission.

As someone who has managed people, both those who worked for money and those who worked for not, I reflect a lot on what kept them coming back. Looking back to my undergraduate days at Wright State University, when I was president of the campus activities board (UAB), that was one of my highest profile leadership positions. I look back at my time organizing big high-profile concerts and starting events like the homecoming dance and Metro Nights—an international dance club event—that are still going today.

When I see things that I either wittingly or unwittingly established that other people felt were a good idea to keep around, those are the things I really cherish and truly honor. While I’m proud of my academic achievements — earning a bachelor's from Wright State and a master's from McGill, one of the top schools in the world — a college degree is just a piece of paper, right? What really makes me teary-eyed now is the events I got to produce and the impact those events had on bringing people together. I’m talking about people who met at some of my parties and events, some of whom even went on to be married; I unwittingly matchmade a couple that got married. I cherish that.

You’d be amazed at what a simple “thank you” does, whether it's saying it verbally, sending a handwritten card, or even giving out a trophy at one of those big swanky end-of-year awards banquets.

Sometimes it’s easy to look at those types of rituals as just a circle jerk of self-congratulations. I really try myself to distinguish between compliments that are genuinely earned and merited versus just bullshit empty compliments designed just to kiss your ass.

When I remember those moments when some of you guys said “thank you” to me, they mean a lot, especially during times like now when I question everything I’ve done and wonder whether it was all just a big giant fucking waste of time, which is often the way feel about this whole so-called sabbatical.

I will admit that I know I should be working by now. I remember one particular comment made in response to a promotion I was doing about my project WANDA: “So, Mike, what’s your work situation?”. First, I was annoyed because it was completely unrelated to the subject matter of the video. But this person is someone I respect a lot, someone from my hometown. I decided to assume positive intention. That positive intention was rooted in me having a fucking job and escaping this endless cycle of asking y’all for money.

I’ve gotten more and more apprehensive about doing that, and I recognize there is a limit to people’s generosity. I realize it’s annoying as fuck to have people come to you out of the woodwork begging you for money. I get that; I’ve been on the other end of that stick myself. I have to justify to myself whether my achievements deserve $20 more from somebody the eighth or ninth or tenth time I’ve hit them up on Facebook. As tacky as it is, I appreciate those individuals who have been a sort of lifeline for me.

I know this is not the ideal scenario, even for somebody living on the streets and going through this long-winded period of financial duress. I know I should know better, and I tell myself that every time I ask one of you guys for money. I am extremely grateful to each individual who has helped me out. I have a whole page on my website dedicated to honoring each of you guys individually — it’s how you acknowledge your sugar daddies, right?

I hope you feel that the money wasn't just thrown out the window. I’ve always thought of it as an investment in me. What makes it special is that you guys are doing so believing in me and believing in the shit I’m trying to do.

There are so many days when I struggle and get really fucking depressed at myself because I tell myself: "Fuck Michael, you should be working by now". It's a very valid, rational thought—what position I might have achieved by now at 39 if I had just gotten another job right after moving up from Louisiana. I know this. I really do need to get my shit together. I need to put a renewed focus on the next step in my career, and if I’m honest, I have not done Jack's plot with that in a really unsettlingly long time.

The positive intention behind the feedback is rooted in the fact that you guys believe in me and believe there’s a lot more I can achieve right now than just doing these stupid Facebook live posts and begging for money. That’s the truth of the matter.

Looking back, I know I could have done so many things better about my methods. Instead of begging you guys for money, I should have really been begging the government for money in the form of grants. There’s so much money out there in government programs designed to go to things like Crimson Rouge Studios and the initiatives we were trying to do. I look at projects like WANDA, and I realize I even had a kind individual steer me toward funding opportunities available through, say, the Greater Columbus Arts Council. God damn it, I fucked up. I really fucked up on these; I left money on the table that I should have been snatching. I went back to my old routine of asking you guys for money, which is not the rational approach.

As much as I love you guys and genuinely appreciate you helping to keep me on my feet and keep me from starving, I know that’s not a sustainable way of doing anything. I know there’s a selfishness to this, and I know it undermines the intention of Crimson Rouge, which was helping other people, not just becoming a front for getting money for myself. This is the constant, nagging voice in the back of my head.

I want you guys to know that I am aware of the elephant in the room that maybe some of you guys have been too polite to say to me. I know that you’re probably thinking it, even as you’re going on Cash App and sending me another $20 to survive. I know you still send me that $20 anyway, and I genuinely appreciate that from the bottom of my heart. You might ask yourself, what makes me different from any other vagrant on the street who begs for money? I think about that too. I convince myself that along with the genuine charity, there is some level of investment you feel you are making in me or in the projects I’ve been trying to work on, like Street Smart and Wanda.

If I'm looking at this through the lens of an investment, it’s time to start putting out what we call the return on investment. I need to get my ass up and start delivering on that investment. I hold myself to this. I want this time—this bullshit I put myself through—to not be just wasted on being homeless, on being a beggar on a fucking street. I want the things I’ve been doing for the past three years to mean something. I don’t want to just repeat the loop of being a young professional again and living in that swanky little bubble without this having mattered for something.

It’s been frustrating trying to get real material support for Street Smart and Wanda from the organizations I feel should be giving me money for the app. I feel I’ve wasted so much time making an app that, for me personally as a homeless person, is super useful—that’s why I fucking made it. It’s frustrating begging you guys for money like this and knowing there are organizations out there that ought to be cutting me a check because I’m serving part of their mission. I’m accomplishing some of the things they should be doing.

This feeling of thanklessness has put me through agonizing frustration. I want this experience to help others get through their struggle, and it’s frustrating trying to build something like that and getting zero support from people and organizations that have the money and the mission to spend that money on things like this, and they just ignore it. What the fuck am I even wasting all my time doing this for at the end of the day?

That question continues to linger. So, I’m putting it on myself as a homework assignment to start asking some of these bitches for money. And I guess I'll keep asking you guys for money too, why not?

But seriously, I want you to know my gratitude for you guys who have helped me monetarily and even non-monetarily. Just saying things like, “Hey, I see you out there.” In some ways, those non-monetary expressions of gratitude mean a lot more to me than just the check, even though I obviously still really appreciate that check.

On that note, I’m going to get going. Speaking of government handouts, things I begged for and don’t want to say I feel entitled to, I’m going to go use my EBT money to buy some lunch. Thank you to the government for that EBT card.

For the millionth time, thank you all. I’ll let you guys go; I’m going to enjoy this beautiful day in Columbus, Ohio. Make sure to do what you can to help, and to paraphrase my own little tagline: Take care of yourself and take care of somebody else. This is Mike George. Take care of yourself and take care of somebody else.(Mike George, broadcasting live from the CCAD campus green in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday, September 29, 2025.)

I think this thing is on now. We're on. Hello friends, welcome to a riveting episode of Open Mic Live. I'm Mike George, and I'm coming at you from the Columbus College of Art and Design campus green on this beautiful Monday afternoon.

I had some shit on my mind recently, based on comments and feedback I’ve received on some posts where I’ve been making vain attempts to highlight some of the work I’ve achieved during my little two—oh God, almost ongoing three-year sabbatical.

One routine I’ve developed, especially during these last several years of unhousedness and sort of pennilessness and my overall reliance on other people—including many of you guys—is writing thank you notes every week. This habit was introduced to me years ago, perhaps through an HR program, espousing the power of gratitude. It showed me the power that something as simple as a handwritten thank you note can have on keeping somebody motivated and dedicated to the mission.

As someone who has managed people, both those who worked for money and those who worked for not, I reflect a lot on what kept them coming back. Looking back to my undergraduate days at Wright State University, when I was president of the campus activities board (UAB), that was one of my highest profile leadership positions. I look back at my time organizing big high-profile concerts and starting events like the homecoming dance and Metro Nights—an international dance club event—that are still going today.

When I see things that I either wittingly or unwittingly established that other people felt were a good idea to keep around, those are the things I really cherish and truly honor. While I’m proud of my academic achievements—earning a bachelor's from Wright State and a master's from McGill, one of the top schools in the world—a college degree is just a piece of paper, right? What really makes me teareyed now is the events I got to produce and the impact those events had on bringing people together. I’m talking about people who met at some of my parties and events, some of whom even went on to be married; I unwittingly matchmade a couple that got married. I cherish that.

You’d be amazed at what a simple thank you does, whether it's saying it verbally, sending a handwritten card, or even giving out a trophy at one of those big swanky end-of-year awards banquets. Sometimes it’s easy to look at those types of rituals as just a circle jerk of self-congratulations. I really try myself to distinguish between compliments that are genuinely earned and merited versus just bullshit empty compliments designed just to kiss your ass. When I remember those moments when some of you guys said thank you to me, they mean a lot, especially during times like now when I question everything I’ve done and wonder whether it was all just a big giant fucking waste of time. I often feel this way about this whole so-called sabbatical.

I will admit that I know I should be working by now. I remember one particular comment made in response to a promotion I was doing about my project, Wanda: “So, Mike, what’s your work situation?”. First, I was annoyed because it was completely unrelated to the subject matter of the video. But this person is someone I respect a lot, someone from my hometown. I decided to assume positive intention. That positive intention was rooted in me having a fucking job and escaping this endless cycle of asking y’all for money.

I’ve gotten more and more apprehensive about doing that, and I recognize there is a limit to people’s generosity. I realize it’s annoying as fuck to have people come to you out of the woodwork begging you for money. I get that; I’ve been on the other end of that stick myself. I have to justify to myself whether my achievements deserve $20 more from somebody the eighth or ninth or tenth time I’ve hit them up on Facebook. As tacky as it is, I appreciate those individuals who have been a sort of lifeline for me.

I know this is not the ideal scenario, even for somebody living on the streets and going through this long-winded period of financial duress. I know I should know better, and I tell myself that every time I ask one of you guys for money. I am extremely grateful to each individual who has helped me out. I have a whole page on my website dedicated to honoring each of you guys individually—it’s how you acknowledge your sugar daddies, right?

I hope you feel that the money wasn't just thrown out the window. I’ve always thought of it as an investment in me. What makes it special is that you guys are doing so believing in me and believing in the shit I’m trying to do. There are so many days when I struggle and get really fucking depressed at myself because I tell myself: "Fuck Michael, you should be working by now". It's a very valid, rational thought—what position I might have achieved by now at 39 if I had just gotten another job right after moving up from Louisiana. I know this. I really do need to get my shit together. I need to put a renewed focus on the next step in my career, and if I’m honest, I have not done Jack's plot with that in a really unsettlingly long time.

The positive intention behind the feedback is rooted in the fact that you guys believe in me and believe there’s a lot more I can achieve right now than just doing these stupid Facebook live posts and begging for money. That’s the truth of the matter.

Looking back, I know I could have done so many things better about my methods. Instead of begging you guys for money, I should have really been begging the government for money in the form of grants. There’s so much money out there in government programs designed to go to things like Crimson R Studios and the initiatives we were trying to do. I look at projects like Wanda, and I realize I even had a kind individual steer me toward funding opportunities available through, say, the Greater Columbus Arts Council. God damn it, I fucked up. I really fucked up on these; I left money on the table that I should have been snatching. I went back to my old routine of asking you guys for money, which is not the rational approach.