July 12, 2010
As long-winded as it was, the rundown of my plan to move to Chicago did leave a few questions unanswered. An oversight that I would like to take this opportunity to rectify.
Why Chicago?
Why not Chicago?
I didn’t have any specific city in mind; I just wanted one with a solid urban infrastructure. New York came to mind first, but it’s is just too big. I wanted a city that I could actually digest. Seattle, Boston, and Chicago came to mind next. For some reason Chicago just stuck out. It seems like a charming town, and I’d heard good things about it. Ok, sure! Let’s do Chicago!
Since then, I’ve heard phenomenal things about it, only solidifying my decision. But initially, it was a pretty arbitrary choice. I’ve never been to Chicago, but I’ve never been to any of the other candidates either.
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Posted in Personal | Chicago | Follow-up | Lincoln Park | New York | Planning | Questions
July 11, 2010
One month from now, I’ll be writing a blog post from a coffee shop in Chicago about life in the Windy City. Seven months from now, I’ll be right here writing a blog post about moving back.
Lord willing, of course.
A few weeks ago, I pulled the proverbial trigger on something I probably should have done years ago: Taking a risk. Doing something reckless. “Giving it a shot.”
Having been birthed and raised in the suburbs north of Dallas, I’ve never lived outside of a circle 20 miles in diameter. I went to a local college, living with my wonderful parents (and sisters) until six months before graduation. I took jobs always where close friends worked. It’s been great, and I wouldn’t change the past decade even if I could. But nowhere in all of that have I ever really done anything a little crazy or risky. Nothing that put me outside of the comfortable world I’ve always known. And having no reason to move or branch out, I’m on track to stay here for my entire life.
And don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with that. But as I get a bit older and I look back on my adult life, those little “what ifs” start to rear their heads, and I can’t help but wonder how things would have ended up if I had branched out a bit. Normally I would internalize all of that and use it as fodder for future self-loathing. But not this time.
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Posted in Personal | Chicago | Comfort Zones | Flexibility | Freelance | Moving | Prayer | Regret | Risks | The Unknown | Transition
June 28, 2010
Today marks the 22nd consecutive day that I’ve written 750 (or more) words at 750words.com. And I would like to officially encourage you to try the site out as well.
What is it? Basically, 750words.com presents a blank canvas for you to do a daily mind dump. It it a journal? A blog? A free-association experiment? Yes.
Everybody uses it differently, and their use often varies day to day. Some people sit down, start typing, and don’t stop until they have 750 words with no plan or structure whatsoever. Some people use it as more of a personal journal.
My entries tend to be a cross between a journal and a mind dump. I usually type out what’s at the forefront of my mind that day, and in so doing, I usually get a better grasp on it myself, and it becomes easier to articulate should I talk or write about it later. I don’t worry about making sure everything makes sense or ties together. I’m just trying to get it out of my head and onto (digital) paper.
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Posted in Websinal | Applications | Blogging | Journaling | Statistics | Writing
February 28, 2010
This is a quasi-followup to my previous post, Meet Richard Ssempijja.
This past summer when I started supporting Richard was a time when my concept of charity, generosity, philanthropy, social justice, and a personal responsibility for the well-being of the world as a whole began to shift. Though Richard was a part of it, there were countless relationships, conversations, articles and books that contributed (plus a little boy named Christian).
Whatever the reasons, my view of philanthropy is staggeringly different than it was a year ago. And that shift has affected how I think of nearly every facet of life in one way or another.
To put it simply, I started caring.
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Posted in Personal | Charity | Compassion | Compassion International | Giving | Love | Philanthropy | Politik | Responsibility | Richard Ssempijja
February 22, 2010
I would like for you to get acquainted Richard Ssempijja. Richard lives in eastern Africa, and he just turned 6 last month. He lives in a hut with his parents and siblings, and just started going to school. He likes playing soccer with his friends, and is fascinated by cars.
And, though I have never met him, he’s completely changed my world.
I became Richard’s sponsor through Compassion International in July 2009, thanks to encouragement from Daniel Bryant. And though the monthly cost to support Richard is less than almost every other “bill” I have, it’s more than three times as much as his parents are collectively able to make in a month doing occasional farming jobs.
What my support of Richard represents is the first major contribution that I’ve made that I have a true personal connection with. I’ve given to various charities before for various reasons, but none of them have had nearly the satisfaction or impact within me as Richard has. I’m specifically helping Richard; not Compassion as an organization. My support isn’t being spread out over all of the countless children that Compassion supports. No, I am helping Richard Ssempijja grow into the man he is going to be.
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Posted in Personal | Charity | Compassion | Compassion International | Dan Bryant | Philanthropy | Poverty
January 20, 2010
I write about music a lot; and for good reason. Like so many people, I adore music, and no matter what I’m doing, music is either coloring or being colored by my circumstance. And like so many people, after a hitherto existence’s worth of hearing, loving, learning, and exploring hundreds of thousands of songs, trying to narrow it down to a single favorite song is impossible. The question hardly even makes sense. When asked, my weight shifts back onto my heels ever so slightly as I cock my head slightly and stare back blankly. It’s like being asked your favorite letter of the alphabet or the best breath you’ve ever taken.
With that in mind, I decided to narrow it down to five instead of one, which somehow seems slightly less absurd. Though being asked your five favorite letters or your twenty best breaths would seem even more foolish than narrowing it down to one, so that analogy just crumbled before my eyes. Moving on.
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Posted in Personal | Coldplay | Favorites | Feedback | Five For Fighting | John Mayer | Last.fm | Lists | Music | Sondre Lerche | The Killers
