It's 'Elon Musk Day' today, how has he inspired you?

This week, on April 22nd, we celebrate Earth Day. It's not surprising that a precursor, a few days earlier, is the second annual 'Elon Musk Day' — a day to post a message on social media showcasing how Elon Musk may have inspired you. After all, the Ironman stepped up with a bold commitment to a clean, green future offering solar, battery storage, and electric cars at Tesla. 

Above: Elon Musk (Flickr: Steve Jurvetson)

And that's just here on Planet Earth. Meanwhile, his grand vision for intergalactic adventures will (very likely) soon be realized via SpaceX. Putting an end to soul-crushing traffic is another goal at The Boring Company. In addition, he's trying to advance a safe, symbiotic future with AI via Neuralink.

So how did a celebration of 'Elon Musk Day' come together? Last year, the idea began to take root through a number of influential folks within the Tesla community including a pair of so-called Tesla Geeks.

Anuarbek Imanbaev is a reformed oil and gas exec who’s now the Vice President of the Austin Tesla Owners’ Club. He also played an key role in bringing Tesla Superchargers to the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan.

Eli Burton has been known to be able to contact Starman, the superhero of sustainability, who shows up at Tesla events and wherever his help is needed. He's also President and Founder of the My Tesla Adventure Tesla Owner Club. Together with Anuarbek, Eli produces a weekly podcast about all things Tesla called the Tesla Geeks Show.

"Some of us in the Tesla community thought why wait to show our appreciation for Elon and his amazing companies? In these turbulent and uncertain times we thought it wouldn’t hurt to shed some positivity and appreciation in the world," says Imanbaev. "Let’s show him how he’s inspired us and how much we appreciate his efforts." 

Above: Celebrating 'Elon Musk Day' (YouTube: EVANNEX)

“Elon Musk Day is a celebration of the future. We admire Elon Musk for making all of these incredible products and leading the way in a tech revolution. He's showing what can be done when you have the perseverance and will to make it happen," explains Burton.

And let's not forget Musk's efforts at SpaceX. "Elon putting a Tesla Roadster and Starman into space proves that anything is possible and that it’s worth taking the shot no matter how difficult the odds," Burton says.

So why celebrate today on 4/20? Since Musk announced that he wanted to take Tesla private at a price of $420 per share, the number 420 has become somewhat of “a thing” in the Tesla community, so it seemed the logical date to designate as Elon Musk Day. Granted, it's a bit of a tongue-in-cheek, but many community members believe Musk would appreciate it.

One such member is Kristen Netten. A Model 3 owner, she's provided some lively Tesla commentary on the Third Row podcast and via her Twitter handle, K10. Netton told me, "Elon Musk Day is an amazing tribute to a very beautiful human.  I know we all get a kick out of the strange irony of the number '420' following Elon around... but it puts a smile on our face and reminds us to encourage one of the greatest humans to walk the earth with us while he makes history. Only seems fitting."

So there you have it. If you happen to be inspired by Elon, simply share on social media with the hashtag (#ElonMuskDay) today and explain how Elon may have influenced you. For some, it might help to explain how Elon's products (and companies) have helped improve their lives.

For me, Elon's been personally instrumental in something very close to my heart. He's actually helped bring my whole family back together. So, that definitely deserves a shout-out! Thank you so much Mr. Musk.