(This is one of a series of posts recounting my experience at Story Chicago. Read Part I here, Part II here and Part III here, Part IV here.)
After lunch (day two), we were serenaded by the beautiful and talented Sarah MacIntosh.
Sarah.
As I listened, I had a flashback. “This voice…I know this voice…” I thought to myself. I Googled Sarah and sure enough, she was in one of my favorite bands from the late ’90s, Chasing Furies. I sheepishly relayed the story to Sarah as we spoke for a moment after the conference and she was gracious and funny. “So you were out there back then!” she said with a laugh. Sarah’s newest album, Current, is incredible. The title track slams into you and The Damaged gets me pounding my steering wheel (the build starts at the 3:17 mark, hehe). Meanwhile, Hiding Place and Joy Comes In are both gorgeous and uplifting in their own right. If you haven’t heard Sarah before, check her out. You’ll be glad you did. (She also just posted this video called “Burned By The Church.” Powerful stuff.)
What’s funny is that after they played I went out of the auditorium to try and find them. They were nowhere to be found and none of the Story staff knew if they had left already. Sadly, I resigned myself to the fact that they had played and gone. But then, later in the day as I walked back into the auditorium, there they were! I grabbed my phone and nervously asked for a picture. They happily obliged. David and Leslie are two of the kindest, most gentle souls around. And you wouldn’t know it from the picture, but David has a fantastic smile! Hilarious. If you haven’t heard them, please go to their site and get their new EP that came out today! Gosh, I’m such a huckster.
At the end of the first day of Story, I got to meet Anne. I brought the note, still poking out of the book, and she asked to see it when I presented the book for her to autograph. I’ll be totally honest here…I have no idea what happened in that couple minutes I was with her. I typically don’t get nervous when I meet people, but Anne set me off. I knew the line behind me was long and I didn’t want to be “that guy” who carried on a conversation with her, but I wanted her to know how much it meant to me to meet her. So, I gave her the book, showed her the email, asked for a picture, gave her my card…and probably said a bunch of stuff that only made sense in my head. It was still awesome, though.
The guy I gave my phone to took this picture by accident. I love it.
It blew me away. Many of you, like me, might be aware of Erwin as “a famous church guy.” I was familiar with his books and that he pastored a church (Mosaic), but I had no idea what the last five years of his life has been about. Essentially, he had a “crisis of faith.” It’s the classic story of doing so much for God that you lose your relationship with God. But, with Erwin it was on such a grand scale due to the influence and impact of his church. Erwin shared that he got to a point where he said, “God, if you’re out there, I need You to show-up, because I’m done.” He was hanging by a thread…and that thread was Jesus. That was all he had. As he was walking along the beach, he felt God say to him, “I want you to absorb the beauty of the Universe and make it known to the world.” With that, Erwin’s life changed. He’s now fully immersed in film-making and fashion, among other artistic endeavors. He’s finally embraced what God has for him and is living-out that call.
I spent the last two days in Chicago with about 1,000 other “creatives” at the Story conference. Story is the brainchild of Ben Arment and exists to “fuel the creative class.” Let me also say right at the top here, Ben is one of the best dudes I’ve ever met. You spend two minutes with him and feel encouraged and empowered to conquer anything. And he’s not hard on the eyes, but I digress…
Over the course of 48 hours we had the privilege of hearing from some of the most creative people on the planet. Musicians, artists, writers, filmakers, a lawyer/crazy person…their stories were all equally unique and inspiring. And challenging. In the next series of blog posts I hope to capture what I experienced and learned at Story. Hopefully you can be inspired as well, even though you didn’t get to eat a sucker served to you by a young woman dressed as a rabbit.
Creatives, am I right?
Ryan O’Neal (doing business as Sleeping At Last) opened the conference with his song January White…and I knew right then this was going to be an emotional couple of days. Ryan, in addition to having a fabulous name, has a voice that soars. A string trio and pianist (when he wasn’t tickling the ivories himself) (I hate when people say “tickling the ivories”) (sorry) rounded out his sound as he ushered us into the conference. This section from Ryan’s song “Needle and Thread” illustrates why I appreciate him so much:
“You were a million years of work,” said God and His angels with needle and thread.
They kissed your head and said, “You’re a good kid. And you make Us proud. So, just give your best and the rest will come and We’ll see you soon.”
Wow.
Then the infamous Bob Goff came to the stage and blew our faces off. If you don’t know Bob, I’m sad for you. Buy his book, Love Does, and then figure out how you can go see/meet him. Bob lives a cannonball life and he encouraged us to do the same. Grab your knees and jump into life. Make a splash. He also told us to “jump the tracks.” The idea is that if you keep doing the same thing and you end-up in a place you don’t want to be every time, you’ve got to do something different. The tracks will take you to that same place every time, so get off ’em. Out of all the things Bob said, this one struck me deepest: “I’m not as creative as you. I’m creative as me. And you’re as creative as you. Stop comparing yourself to others.” It’s so true; we (especially creatives) compare ourselves to everyone else, usually resulting in depression. “I wish I was as talented as so and so…I suck.” We need to stop that crap. As Bob said, “Lean into who you are.” Bring your voice, your talents, your experience to the world. We need you.
Still to come from day 1: Erwin and Aaron McManus, Isaac Rentz, Rachel Held Evans and Anne Lamott!
In less than three weeks I’m going to the Story 2012 conference in Chicago.
But, I need your help.
Story is a conference for Creatives. I’ve been following Ben Arment (the creator of Story) on Twitter for quite some time and have been impressed by his ability to create an environment for people to grow and create together.
“STORY is a two-day conference for the creative class in downtown Chicago, featuring presenters from a variety of creative fields. Our goal is not to invite speakers and artists you’ve heard of… but those you will. We strive for associational learning across disciplines, believing there’s much a filmmaker can learn from, say, an entrepreneur, and so on. Our metric for success is what you are inspired to go out and create.”
I’m confident this experience will empower me to tell my story more clearly and creatively and, in turn, enable me to encourage YOU to tell YOUR story. Everyone has a story. Yours is just as important as anyone else’s. On a personal level, I can’t wait to see my friend Bob who will be presenting and I’ll finally get to meet one of my heroes, Anne Lamott. Can’t wait to update my list!
Here’s where you come in.
The conference is $300, plus lodging and food.
Would you help send me to Story?
Here’s what I’ve come-up with in exchange for your support (I think it’s pretty fun):
First, I have a number of UNIQUE LOH items for sale. I’ll update this list as the items sell. Just email me about what you want and we’ll figure out how you want to pay for it.
Some of the loot.
(2) Men’s Large T-Shirt – $25 each, (1) Women’s Medium T-Shirt – $25 each, (2) Women’s Large T-Shirt – $25 each, Stickers – $5 each (The adult T-Shirts are different than the ones you can get on the CafePress site in that the website is printed on the back!)
Now, here’s what I’m really excited about.
I’m going to make a special video and YOU can be a part of it! If you give one of the following amounts, you’ll receive the corresponding rewards.
$10 – You’ll get an Executive Producer credit in the video!
$15 – You’ll get an Executive Producer credit AND a verbal “thank you” in the video!
$20 – You’ll get an Executive Producer credit AND a verbal “thank you” in the video AND a sticker!
Here’s one of the more popular videos, in case you haven’t seen one yet:
Sound fun? I think so.
But, there’s more!
How would YOU like to choose the video I make?? Within reason. hehe The person/group that bids the highest will get to choose a video for me to make and will get verbal credit in the video for the idea!
Bidding will start at $25. If you want to “Direct” (choose) the video, you’d email me and say, “I’ll bid $30!” and then I’ll update the bid amount in this space. I’ll keep doing that this week and bidding will end at 10pm CST on September 7th. Email your bid to me at ryan (at) livingonehanded (dot) com. Whoever wins will be notified 9/7 and we’ll workout the payment arrangement then.
For any of the merchandise or rewards (or just to donate), click the button below and give securely; please indicate what it is you’re purchasing! (Email first about the merch so I can let you know if it’s still available!)
Of course I’ll write a post (at least one) about my experience and how it’ll affect LOH.
Thank you so much for being a part of the LOH community and for supporting me.
Tony Memmel’s music is always filled with hope. And authenticity.
His new EP, Clenched Hands Brave Demands, is no different.
Themes of movement and growth are pervasive throughout Tony’s new project, whether he’s talking about the world spinning on without him or our desire to be simultaneously speeding up and slowing down in life. Like I said earlier, I love Ton’y authenticity, too. So, while we’re all trying to grow, he recognizes that sometimes it doesn’t feel that way (from Spinning on Without Me):
When you stand, you risk the fall
I put my money down, I play my hand
Another year on track
for two steps forward, two steps back
and I don’t wanna be there anymore
My favorite track is the soaringly beautiful I Could Make You New. I love the lyrics at the beginning of the song:
My blood is grief, but my veins aren’t jaded My heart is light, but it gets so weighted down with everything I hold onto Sometimes that means hanging on for dear life, too
The title track is my next favorite. I think it’s the tightest song on the EP. I could be totally off here, but there’s something Springstein-ish about it. And Lesleigh’s vocals on this track are perfect; a beautiful touch. Listen to it here:
Make sure you’ve subscribed to Tony’s blog, liked his Facebook page and follow him on Twitter so you don’t miss the announcement when the EP is officially released next week!
As of today, I’ve been married to my wife for 11 years.
My wife is beautiful. Always has been. She’s also hilarious. A killer combo. She’s an incredible mother. She loves Jesus with all her heart. And she loves and cares for those around her more than anyone I know.
To say I married above my means is an understatement of magnificent proportions.
The last year or so has been a fun and interesting time for us. As I’ve come to realize my unique position as a limb-different person, Julie has been right by my side. She’s been so supportive and encouraging. There’s nobody I’d rather do all of this with than her!
It’s funny to think back to our wedding day and remember our vows. “I’ll do everything in our marriage with one hand. That one is a fact.” I was light-hearted about my arm even then!
I remember after I proposed my dad saying something like, “I always wondered who would end up with you.” I’m going to have him unpack that for me someday, but I’ll bet every parent of a limb-different child has the same thought. Who will choose my child? Not in a bad way. Just in a “Who’s going to see past the difference and love the whole person?” way. Which is why I also said in my vows, “Thank you for loving me the way that I am, inside and out, and I want to love you the same way…forever.”
Well, parents, I’m living proof that a one-armed guy can end up with a beautiful, funny, talented, compassionate, intelligent, wonderful woman.
That said, I can’t guarantee everyone will be as lucky as me.
Happy anniversary, Jules.
(I thought I’d share our montage that we played at our wedding. It makes it look like we got married 40 years ago! Ahh, technology.)
A while back I started thinking about a logo for LivingOneHanded.com.
I’d come up with a number of ideas and asked you all for some as well, but my mind kept going back to something I had seen on Matt Appling’s blog, The Church of No People. He had a caricature of himself that was made by an awesome cartoonist, Wes Molebash, of WesDraws.com.
I emailed Wes and explained what I was looking for and he responded right away. I wondered what I would look like as a cartoon! Within a week Wes had emailed me the first version. It blew me away. We made a few tweaks and ended-up with something I’m incredibly excited about. So, without further ado, here’s the new logo for LivingOneHanded.com!
I hope you like it!
Working with Wes was fantastic, too. He was so supportive and asked great questions to get the final product. If you’re looking to do something similar or even just want a caricature of your kids or family for fun, I highly recommended contacting Wes!
What To Tell Your Kid When They Realize They Only Have One Hand | Living One-HandedWhat To Tell Your Kid When They Realize They Only Have One Hand - Living One-Handed
