Ride the Chattanooga Choo Choo

Tennessee

The past four days were spent in my new favorite city. Those who are close to me know that every city I visit soon becomes my favorite city. I thought I should add that disclaimer. The interns and I traveled to the great city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Specifically we spent our time on Lookout Mountain just across the Georgia Border. We had wonderful hosts.Thus far, I would say this was the best time spent during the internship. They are both deep thinking people. Each celebrates the arts and loves the earth. I understand them because they use metaphors and literal examples to display what they are teaching. They also love soccer! Our hosts have six children and they live up on look out mountain. Their neighborhood consists of their brothers and sisters, cousins and parents.

Our first experience with our hosts was a giant dinner with the family. We opened our mouths to assortments of cheeses, meats, fruits and vegetables. Our main course was a selection of four soups. The discussion was the most delicious entrée. I am starting to realize how important the meal is. Not only for our health, but our minds as well. I can’t see eating a meal by myself. The found is secondary to the knowledge you can gain by sharing a conversation with someone or some people.

Artists surrounded me during the week in the mountains of Chattanooga. I met our host's brother in law. He is a graphic designer in town. I was awe struck by his work. I really think that he is playing a direct role in the revival of Chattanooga. This was very inspiring to me. As you may know I go in all sort of directions. One day I want to design, the next I want to run for congress. Seeing how his design changed the city allowed me to see art in a new perspective. I realized that I might have the gift of creativity. With that gift I can plant a seed in a city. I could possibly do more in design then in congress. Design becomes even more attractive each day I intern. (BTW… This designer designed with Stephan Sagemeister. If you don’t know who his is, he’s possibly one of the best designers in the USA.

I recognized the possibility of connecting the dots. All of my interest and experiences make up the dots. Connecting them creates an image of who I am.

On Friday we left to visit Knoxville for the day. Once again I got to visit an all black school. Once again I felt incredibly far from the students. We met a guy from Nigeria. Knoxville College has population 70 students. Most of the students are international. Dilapidated, broken, and depressing all describe Knoxville College. Our host thought we could go and make some friends at the school. We weren’t sure how or what were going to do. Our friend from Nigeria was incredible. He had such a great head on his shoulders. I know he has so much potential. He could relate with others so well. Never have I met such a great conversationalist. We made a few new friends. I am amazed at how easy it is to talk to random people. I think that as long as you show them you care, they will talk. We actually cared for them and their school. From start to finish we had a 45-minute conversation with 6 KC students. We had no agenda; we just made friends with them. I saw life briefly from their perspective. I walked on to the campus asking myself how anyone would want to go to campus there. I especially appreciated my La Roche Experience after this. The students were content. In asking questions we went into areas I was uncomfortable asking about. We asked if they were trying to rebuild the campus. We asked what they expected from their time. If they cared? What do they do to pass time. The students answered and weren’t upset with us. They asked if we wanted to change the school. We said no, only they could. I think they liked that. I told them I would be inclined to want to fix the school. I realized that wasn’t possible for me to do.

Some other cool moments from Knoxville: We ate at the mellow mushroom twice. For lunch with our friends from Knoxville and for dinner we ate with a local Congressman and his family. I got to visit portions of the University of Tennessee. Wilkes’ Yukon reached its 200,000th mile. At the precious moment we stopped on the freeway and took a photo with the vehicle. We sprayed barbersol on the back window.

The sunrises on the mountain were amazing. I woke up early the last two days to see this beautiful display of colors and landscape. I felt like I was above the world. I felt like I had the world to myself. I spent the time meditating and breathing in the fresh morning air.

We spent Halloween with our host. Being that she is creative, she wanted to have a haunted house. Over the years they’ve hosted one for the neighborhood. All of the interns participated. We were supposed to play a crazy family that wouldn’t leave the house until we could tell our stories to the children. I was the dad. He is a crazy old farmer who lived in the back room of the basement. What made me weird is that I turned children into animals. In my area I had a real pig and duck. (Seriously) Collins wore a cheetah mask. He was supposed to show the progression from human to animal. He really scared the kids. Unfortunately we had to cut our show short. The pig decided to do his business all over the coal cellars wall. The smell was disgusting and unbearable. About 100 kids went through. I think it was super cool. I kept thinking of when we had the ER section of the Reserve haunted house. I enjoyed reminiscing.

Small note: The Monday before this, the guys and I were praying for Issouf and Niger. As you know I care about Niger very much. When we arrived I noticed he had a Taureg bag hanging in his living room. His father traveled to Niger to spend time with the Taureg. The next morning I got to talk to him about his experience. I was taken back by this. It was as if someone was telling me to have patience.

What did I learn from Tennessee?
I think I want to design. I can design for a purpose and make a living. (with a family) I want to work on my portfolio over the next few months. I am learning who I am more and more through each experience. Each experience sheds away another layer of who I am. In DC it’s easy to be something your not. Going to Pittsburgh and Chattanooga refreshed me. When I first got to DC I thought I had to be something other than what I am. When I went to Pittsburgh I was the true DJ. Tyler saw that and I was not judged. When I went to Chattanooga I felt free. They live in the middle of the woods. I didn’t have to impress anyone. Being in nature makes realize how precious life is. A sunrise lasts for a few minutes. A leave changes colors and eventually decomposes. For a period or time there is beauty in all that these things are. If god designed the sunrise and the colors of the fall leaf with beauty, he must have created us the same. Luckily we have longer than a 30-minute sunrise or a week long vibrancy of a leaf. We are beautiful for who we are. I shouldn’t be afraid to design or be artistic. By holding back, that’s like a cloudy day. You can’t see all of the colors so vividly. There is beauty, but not so much light and energy. Please pray for me. I need the courage to pursue design. Fear has been my hindrance. The signs are clearly pointing in that direction. I can change the world through design. Maybe later I can do the political stuff.

I never would have predicted my liking of Chattanooga. This spring I drove through the city to get to Florida. I wasn’t impressed. The view from the freeway wasn’t desirable. As with anything in life you must really examine the city up close. The buildings are all a facade. I judged the city at first because it looked bland. I could never imagine living in the south in the mountains. I have fallen in love now that I have a magnified glimpse of the city. The glimpse includes the eclectic mix of people, architecture, art, decay, revival, nature, spirit, and so much more. They also have a Steelers bar, but that’s beside the point.

Our host had a few wise words that I will end on. They are three important words. Hope, Faith, and Life. Without Hope there would be no reason for faith. Therefore I would have no life. I encourage myself to dream and have hope. I will need faith. This is what life is about.

Life is Good! I thank God for this day and the pleasure of sharing this with you.

PS - Went skateboarding today and had a blast. I’m a bit sore from some falls, but I will survive.