In his dad's junk yard shop in East L.A., a nine-year-old boy spends his hours fashioning a kind of penny arcade out of cardboard boxes. Like any artist, he throws himself into his work...loving the journey...one dream expanding on another. People don't come to play, but that doesn't matter to Caine. He's building an arcade because it's the right thing to do. He loves it. He's lost in the creative process.
 




But a passerby stops, and plays the arcade. He's a film-maker, and he makes a film about Caine's Arcade that is--at this moment-- going viral. It's viral, in part, because the videographer surprised the boy by recruiting hundreds to come and play the arcade. But it is viral--too--because it reveals a universal truth: when our work is our passion, we don't need external rewards (like grades.) Caine just wanted to build an arcade, and the fact that it has become nationally known, and that a scholarship fund has been created to support his future dreams had to happen. It was too good to go unnoticed. It is his art.

 




The innocent optimism of a nine-year-old kid in a tough neighborhood makes for an emotional video, but this story is multi-layered, and serves to remind those of us who are older than nine that pursuing a dream for the right reasons, and--therefore--with complete commitment, yields our finest work. 

 

"I thought they were cheering for me; and they were. And I was proud."  
-Caine Monroy.

Again, here's the link to Caine's Arcade. Spread the word.