It’s been a journey to try and find my peace, and I don’t know if it will ever be finished. However I think I am finally okay with this place I look around and find myself. I feel comfortable to create, and I’m flooded with people loving on me in ways I didn’t even know where possible. I feel in love with motion and the more I move the better life feels. I feel extremely lucky to be surrounded by multiple communities that inspire me, provide me support, and give me opportunities to give, contribute and provide to others. I truly feel in love with the world and everyone in it, and hope to spend the rest of my life leaning into this feeling, this moment, this project.
The highlights:
Movement.
For every Thursday for about 11 years I’ve been running with a running community that has absolutely changed my life in the most positive way I could never have imagined. It kept things steady when things felt unknown, it really gave me a home in community. I want you to move, in any way you feel comfortable, or uncomfortable doing at what ever level you can to challenge yourself. I feel like this is observably a essential skill and it really helps our mental health so much. It’s changed my life, so go run, hike, or paddleboard, or just walk around the neighborhood.
Music.
For every Tuesday for about 2 years I’ve been playing music with friends at my local pub. I’ve gotten a lot better at guitar and singing even though it’s something I’ve been attempting to be good at sense I was a kid in my small town. The difference in playing with others I couldn’t have imagined. I feel like I have a small army of some of the most amazing musicians I’ve ever met on my side and I never recognized this about music but these people will go out of there way to help you start, play and perform music at a level I’ve never felt so heard, understood, and accepted. Musicians are a unique bread, artists make the world exciting. Something about being crazy enough to share the most vulnerable parts of you and people don’t throw rocks, but they grab and lift you up in such a wholesome way. Everywhere I have traveled sense I started being more serious about writing and playing is full of people who feel, know and experienced the same journey at all kinds of levels of influence but the common dominator is they are all being real, vulnerable and writing and showing there heart out there. I want to do this, I am doing this. I want you to do this, it doesn’t need to be music but please create with your heart. I want you to write, share, create and inspire others and I think this is an important part of our continued ability to exist.
Community.
Where do I start, I come from the small town of Chehalis, WA which is really the largest town in the greater area. My childhood was full of times spent living in the woods, cutting firewood during the summer and if you didn’t stoke the fire at 3AM you woke up with frost on the windows. I miss this time of my life, I miss that experience. I wandered the forest with my dog when I was likely only around 6 for miles away from home doing something I now understand was called trespassing. After school as a kid I rode my bike down the street to the nicer paved road and spent my days after school in movement and motion and community. I remember a neighbor in that community working on fixing my bike when the chain came off and I didn’t know how to fix it but felt extremely grateful they were willing to take the time to help. People in my community, family and my friends have always been really good to me. I didn’t know it but those are the types of experiences that shaped me as a person and they make me want to launch this project to inspire others.
Direction.
I always wanted to be a motivational speaker when I was younger but if you don’t do anything with your life what is there to talk about. Well I’m a little older now and I know I’ll never likely be a motivational speaker but apparently maybe I can still be an inspirational artist. Not one that is good at singing or guitar, but maybe the thing I can be known for is unconditionally supporting others through there rise and creation of art and music. Maybe I don’t need to be a main character, but I hope my character and who I am might inspire the best in who you are and who you can be. I am going to practice and get better, but either way, I want people to embrace the suck, embrace the journey, and I want people to see the light even when things feel dark so much with everything that I am.
Peaceful State 