time for each attendee

words for each conversation

freedom to move about

capacity to create

flexibility

ability to take risks

weekends to spend with your family

resources to invest in what’s actually important

The problem with more, outwardly, is that it almost always ends up resulting in less, inwardly. And the inside–what happens behind the scenes, behind closed doors, within the heart–is what truly matters. The secret to influencing (helping) more people is to not do it on your own. A singular point leaves a minimal impact. An underlying shift of multiple points moving together can revolutionize a community. Likewise, to gain more by having, using, spending less allows time for your idea to mature and spread. Individual, small cores eventually spread passion and insight to other small cores. The hard path would be to attempt to do it all on your own. The simple path is to work tirelessly at developing your core, equipping those directly around you to go and do likewise.

Persist. Be patient. Be flexible. Be willing to be wrong. Be willing to let others see you be wrong. Stay small. Stay close to your core.

A personal compilation of early morning, cascading, sliding, juxtaposing skyline entries from here in Indianapolis.

I rarely recommend books. I do like to talk about the books I’m reading, but it’s not very often that I actually speak of them in a manner that relays true movement in my life. However, I am about to recommend a book to you that I cannot find words to adequately praise or give approval to. To say the least, What Is The What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng by Dave Eggers is a beautiful piece of art that has forever changed my life. My world view pertaining to war, survival, love, determination, faith, and humanity has been eternally and deeply reconstructed. Never before have I read such a powerful story as that of Valentino Achak Deng’s. His life, as transcribed by Eggers, is absolutely stunning, captivating, breath taking, saddening and overwhelmingly inspiring. Deng’s story is an invaluable treasure, and I am so happy that he chose to share it with the rest of the world. Eggers recounts Deng’s early childhood growing up in southern Sudan and follows his journey of survival, heartache, devastation and hope from his home village of Marial Bai to the desert sands of Ethiopia to the refugee camps of Kenya to the concrete chaos of Atlanta, Georgia. Deng’s story is universally courageous.

Eggers does an immaculate job of bringing to life a story which a portion of the world’s leadership and humanitarian opponents would have been satisfied to forget about forever. They would have been happy to forget about the innocent killings, the corrupt Sudanese government, the oil fields, the Lost Boys, and the thousands who lost their lives, senselessly. There are men in this world who regard human life as expendable and valueless based on skin color and region of birth. There are men in this world who assign status based on monetary means and religious practice. There are men and women who would have been happy if Deng’s story and countless others like it had never been told. But Deng’s story, thankfully, is being told, and What Is The What stands in direct opposition to those men and women and their blood thirsty greediness bent on destroying innocence and humanity. Reading this book will make you laugh, and it will make you cry. There are no boundaries left untouched. Deng’s story will take you to the edge of what you thought was humanly possible.

Please buy this book. All the proceeds from What Is The What go to Deng’s organization, The Valentino Achak Deng Foundation, dedicated to “increasing access to educational opportunities for those affected by the conflicts in Sudan.” For more information on Deng and what he is accomplishing in Sudan, read these additional articles by Nicholas Kristoff of the New York Times here and here.

I love creative graffiti. When done well, artistic graffiti can tell a story just as well as or better than any other traditional art medium. Asheville embraces artists from all walks of life, especially those whose canvases are the brick walls and sidewalks surrounding us.

Another intriguing Asheville tag on the back wall of an Asheville alley. Architecture in Asheville is a beautiful blend of old and new, juxtaposed upon one another, blended with mountain terrain and modern day highways.

I believe this underpass is located on Broadway Street. It’s a spectacular community graffiti mural, and it’s a wonderful way to beautify an underpass.

Another angle of the underpass mural.

Found this piece in a back alley (can’t remember the street). The vibrant coloring and attention to detail made it one of my favorites.

Jesus loves Asheville.

I’m not sure why, but Asheville is the one town I know of that still has multiple, working, public telephones.

Smashed flowers from the previous night (presumably) on a sidewalk in Asheville.

A Giant iron.

Soul.

Church in Asheville.

My brother Michael came to Asheville for a few days. We were highly anticipating the cookies, to say the least.

Michael, Quinn and I visited DuPont State Forest and swam in this water fall, High Falls, and another, Triple Falls, all located within the park.

The Mumbles at Boone Saloon absolutely rocked it. Energy? Check. Avant soul, quality sound? Check. The Mumbles are worth checking out. They’re from Brooklyn. We waited till 12am to hear them. It was well worth it.

Do It To Julia. After The Mumbles, we finally (start time of 1am!) got to enjoy Do It To Julia, a local, Boone original, now based out of Asheville. They were spectacular. I’ve never witnessed a show where the entire band jumps onto the drum set and pulls it to pieces as their set ends. It was a crazy show. And, by the way, Do It To Julia is stellar.

Do It To Julia.

Do It To Julia having fun on stage.

For my birthday we went to Damascus, Virginia, to bike up and down the famous Creeper Trail. It was a great day.

Stuck frisbee envy.

Music = Joy.

Private party with The Enemy Lovers at The Lab (Great Lexington Ave microbrewery) in Asheville. Asheville has 9 unique microbreweries making it a favorite destination for beer lovers, everywhere.

A beautiful Asheville alley, of course.

Purple star outside of downtown shop.

Brews with Shea & Liz at the Blue Ridge Brewing Co. in Greenville, SC.

Quinn shooting down The Sliding Rock off the Blue Ridge Parkway, outside of Brevard, NC. Hot weather calls for cold waters.

My turn.

Quinn and I with her parents at Sunny Point Cafe (thank you Deb for the product placement) in West Asheville.