Conversation with Chris Pratt: A Whole Lot of Bliss with Chris

Yep, this is the very diverse and talented actor, Chris Pratt, and, judging by his latest TV show The Terminal List, he definitely has an affinity for military personnel and Veterans.

He Almost Joined

Chris had planned on joining the military. That's what everybody did where he grew up in Washington state. When one wanted to go to school, and didn’t have the money to do so, “either football or wrestling was going to get you there. But if football didn’t get you the scholarship, you had got to get a GI bill,” Chris said. Then his brother joined the Army.

“He has that high common denominator in terms of tidiness and orderliness and, you know, a respect for authority and understanding of how to work within the chain of command. That was all stuff that really fit well for him because my dad was a pretty tough guy, and my brother did exactly what my dad said. He always had his room cleaned and was always up in the morning. And was ‘yes sir,’ his whole life. The army was a great fit for him.

“Even though I loved Rambo, wore camo everywhere, and loved to play guns in the woods, he called me after getting out of basic training and said, ‘Chris, I don't think you should join the army. You're too sensitive.’”

Pain and Purpose

Instead, Chris felt he had another mission. Part of his calling has been to, see if he can be of service in other ways. “Having never been in military uniform, I hope to be of service by at least shepherding great stories, and helping storytellers tell the stories that line up with the mission statement of my company: we're better together and we're better off united."

But Chris didn’t always have a purpose. “When you're without a purpose,” Chris said “It's really painful. And you tend to fill your time and your space by numbing yourself or giving yourself immediate pleasure through drugs or through alcohol or through sex. And these are all the things that I did. But it's empty to be without a purpose,” Chris revealed.

At one point, before fame, he was homeless. “I was unhoused,” he corrected me, because he found places that put him up. “I found a place to rest and found a place to party. For me, it was not lacking a home that was the struggle, it was lacking a purpose. I was lucky to find God in that time in my life. I found that giving yourself up to that force that created all of us gives you purpose. That force made us for a reason, and if you're alive, your purpose is not done.

I believe that God did not let us survive to flounder, there's a purpose for each of us. Oftentimes, you look to the people around you who are in pain, and you can find your purpose by helping them out.”

To Those in Uniform

Chris points out that oftentimes, people look at those in uniform, whether it’s military or a police, and don’t think about who’s behind the uniform.

“You just never know what people are carrying behind their eyes and hearts. They are on the fringes of things that we protect ourselves from. We are so busy in life that we forget that life is death. And these are the folks who are dealing with death on a daily basis. A lot of the folks that we see, who are Veterans, have gone through some unshakeable traumatic instances that we could never possibly fathom,” he said.

“We look at police officers as people who come to break up the party or are there to give us tickets. We forget that they are the people who answer the call, and you just don’t know what one of these police officers has just gone through,” Chris said recalling his brother.

Chris remembers a recent conversation about his brother’s career in the army and his 20 years as police officer. Often, his brother was interacting with individuals who were having the worst day of their lives.

Nobody Knows What a Day Brings

“I was just talking to my brother recently, and he told me this awful story. I was really moved by all of the burdens he carried on his shoulders his entire life,” Chris recalled. “During the course of one day, my brother had to deliver a death notification to a father who lost his 16-year-old daughter. And from there, he went to a home where somebody had committed suicide. He described to me in detail the scene, I'll spare you the details.

And, 15 minutes later, he went on a call where a woman, who was having a dispute with her neighbor, decided that she wanted to take it out on my brother, just because he showed up. All of a sudden, it was like ‘you f-- people, you pigs.’ All my brother had on his mind was the look on the father’s face when he had to tell him about his daughter’s death, and the horrifying, gruesome scene that he just walked away from. Not too many people know what men and women in uniforms have to go through. We think most cops are pretty tough. My brother is actually an artist at heart and until recently, I never knew what he’d gone through.

He wasn't the stereotypical army guy that you might see in the movies. He's a painter and a craftsman and a jokester and he loves music. He's very much an individual and I think that's gotta be the case with everybody,” Chris said.

“He didn't see battle until he was a police officer. He was in a really rough part of California where his partner was killed, and he witnessed a lot of violence. He was working in an area that had a high rate of recidivism and gang violence. And, you know, he saw death. I think he does have some trauma from the things he saw.”

The Gift of Grace

“I think it's important to take an example from Jesus and grant grace. If somebody is walking across the street, yelling at themselves, and then yelling at you, and it triggers you to want to yell back, think about grace. Grace is granting forgiveness to somebody who, in the moment, you feel doesn't deserve it. Be graceful when dealing with people who are Veterans and be graceful with yourself. Maybe we've done something that we could never forgive. Or maybe we've witnessed something that we can't shake. Oftentimes, we feel as though we don't deserve forgiveness, but grace is truly a gift that we can give to others and to ourselves.”

Chris believes that grace is truly going to be a huge key in helping to unite this country.

On the Farm

Aside from standing up for people in uniform and our country, Chris stands up for nature as well by managing his farm according to regenerative practices. “We have a variety of animals like cows, chickens, sheep, and goats, which are required to make the soil more fertile. It's a really awesome thing. Regenerative farming is putting everything back into the soil and reducing the carbon footprint of agriculture in a way that is really phenomenal.

I love getting up there to the farm. Getting up and getting out into nature and slowing everything down for me is really necessary in balancing my life,” Chris said.

When asked to describe himself in one word, Chris responded, “Blessed. I feel blessed, because I can use the influence that I've been granted to try to do something positive in the world.”