Handcrafted

Today I write to share with you the accomplishment of one of my long time goals. Since graduating college in 2007 I've wanted to create my own thank you cards. Over the years I've created simple stationary printed from an ink jet. Usually, I run out pretty quickly. If I don't have stationary on hand, letters won't be sent. I probably owe at least thirty people thank you cards from the last three years. Sorry, if you're one of those people.

Two important events occurred in the completion process of my very own stationary.

1. Hearing Denver Moore, co-author of Same Kind of Different as Me , speak in Atlanta. Rather than describing his story, you should just buy and read the book. Anyways, humble as he is, all he said when he spoke, in front of the largest crowd to support the homeless in Atlanta's history, was "In this life we only keep what we give". I immediately knew that that quote must appear on my stationary.

2. Accomplishing a completely separate goal, learning how to letterpress. The letterpress is an amazing machine that creates a handcrafted design. I actually did not use a computer for any part of the process of completing my stationary! Hard to believe in 2009, right? I set all of the lead type (Stymie) by hand. I wanted to use Archer, but Stymie was the only organized and complete alphabet that we have at the studio. I used some French paper left over from old projects at the widgets & stone studio. All told, my stationary cost me zero dollars. I spent under seven hours setting the type and printing the cards and envelopes. Hopefully, when received, my stationary will make someone smile.

Another goal of mine is to hand write letters more often. Hopefully having 100 cards on hand will encourage letter writing. It's important to note that most of history is taken from letters. I started reading Team of Rivals about Abraham Lincoln's unique/diverse cabinet by Doris Kearns Goodwin. She found most of her information from reading letters that the men sent home to their wives.

I'm not writing for a historian 100 years from now to read. But history has inspired me to handcraft personal letters of gratitude to those who have given to me in some way. When I receive a letter amongst all my junk mail, I smile. It's a letter not asking anything of me, like the rest. In so many ways it's a celebration of a memory had. In this world of constant fear of the future, never recognizing the present, and forgetting the past, I believe it to be good practice to reflect and share what we are thankful for.

I'll be in Pittsburgh for the next week to run a half marathon with my sis and to spend time with the family. Talk to you next week!

D.J.

Mile 6: Plagued with Ideas

I've dedicated this post to the big three ideas or visions that I don't know how to implement. Recently, a friend challenged me to start by picking one. To me that's like picking one child over another. I confess, if any of these are to see the light of day, I'm going to need some help. Or, I need you to tell me that none of them are worth the dip. 

As you read, think about the wisdom coming from the 99% conference. 

"It's not not about ideas, it's about making ideas happen". 

"Reduce everything you want to do into a series of steps that you can do right now". 

- Jason Randal 

And away we go... 

I Am The Wall: A Holy Land Project

This idea was inspired by my trip with a close friend to Israel. Simply put, I have a dream of creating a diverse network of people, who are open to understanding each other and reconciliation, on both sides of the wall that divides Israel. Typically, the wall has negative implications on both sides. What if the wall stood as an example? What if it was transformed into a beautiful metaphor? The wall stands because of there are many parts that hold it together. Using the number of networking tools, provided by the web, a group of people can form a "metaphorical" wall that stands against oppression of any kind and deadly traditions of hate that exist. Oppression, in my opinion, includes extremism and hate of another culture or religion. Not only is it important that Israelis and Palestinians connect. The world also needs to connect with the people living in the land of Israel. I envision people allowing themselves to form an opinion, not based on what the news and media depicts, but through actually interacting with a Jew or an Arab, etc... 

Steps:

- Revise written vision statement

- Show vision statement to Palestinians and Israelis

Culture Within Your Own Country

Here's another social network project that I thought of last week. I thought of this because I miss the amount of diversity I encountered during my days at La Roche College. A day didn't go by where I did not interact with someone not native to US soil. I actively participated in cultures different than mine and I miss that. 

So here's my idea... A social network where people of different cultures can connect specifically for the reason of learning and trying to understand each other through a cultural experience. Picture this: I want to go to a synagogue, but I'd rather know a member of the synagogue and go with them and then discuss the experience afterwards over coffee or tea. Or, I'd like to eat Ethiopian with an Ethiopian and converse about growing up in Addis Ababa. Do you catch my vision? In the end the experience awards both sides. As an American I have the pleasure of immersing myself in learning, experiencing, smelling, tasting, or listening to a new culture, and the person of the culture has a pleasure of sharing their story with pride. (I admit that the genius's at OOOOBY  inspired this on as well)

Steps:

- Start visiting places in Chattanooga by myself or with friends and build relationships

- Blog about the experiences

Chattanooga, "Sprout Fund" to build interest in neighborhood specific public art. 

First, you should visit The Sprout Fund website or Mural Farm.

Essentially, I love the effect that murals have had on communities in Pittsburgh and Philly. I'd love to see that same process duplicated in Chattanooga (with a Chattanoogan touch of course). I'm not entirely interest in designing a mural. However, I'm extremely interested in helping artists like Sean LaRose create beautiful work that the community can appreciate. Currently, w&s art director, Joseph Shipp, and I have a dream of a painting a mural on the back side of the studio. 

Steps:

- Examine the Pittsburgh Model (and other cities like Philly) 

- Write to other cities for advice

- Brainstorm with Joseph and Sean

- Pull in other advocates

- Find funding

Please feel free to criticize or volunteer to help with any of these visions. Comment below or email me. 

Mile 5: Name

Lately, I've realized that I coin people with preemptive judgments. In my world, specifically, it's been the obscure lady next door and the street preacher on the corner of Market Street and MLK. When I was first showing friends my new residence, I'd never fail to point out the strange lady next door. Or, when I'd drive down Market I'd always think in my mind, "why does the street preacher do that, is he crazy"?

Why do I place people into boxes so easily? My neighbor is much more than my initial perceptions present and the street preacher is much more than the man beating a bible in what appears to be a futile fashion. They both have stories and experiences that formed who they are. And They both have names...

Today, I went to the street preacher and asked him to tell me his story and his name. Now he's no longer the crazy street preacher, he's Sammy.

Last week I said hello to my neighbor and introduced myself. She's no longer the weird lady next door, she's my neighbor. Her name is Angie.

I challenged you, me and everyone in between to not preemptively judge others, and instead learn about others. My uncle once said, "I don't read many books but I do have a library. My books are all of the stories I've encountered from the people I've met". We must become historians of each other to understand each other. Certainly the least we can do is know one's name.

Mile 4: Go take a hike!

This weekend my Brothers from Chattanooga and I hiked Mt. Laconte in the Smoky Mountain National Park. The photo above was taken 6.2 miles into the hike at 6,000 + ft. on top of Mt. Laconte.

Recently, I've made it a priority to get outside and into the woods for camping and hiking. Though, I must admit I'm not very comfortable out there, for I was raised in the city.

I feel rather vulnerable outside the city in the wilderness. Yet, for some reason I believe that it is important to make this a priority in my life.

Perhaps its breaking my routine — escaping the overwhelming bombardment of advertising and the media? Or the fresh air? Maybe it's the depth of the conversations around the fire and along the trail? Or maybe it's being reminded, as I sit at work in slight pain, of being on the trail in the wild? I wonder if its the awe I experience as I witness the majestic views? Perhaps it's because I left my comfort zone, and I grow in ways that I other wise could not in the city? Or maybe, just maybe it's that I truly feel alive in nature?

Mile 3: Gandhi Followed Jesus

As I read one of Topher's latest posts, "Christians are hypocrites", I couldn't help but think of good ole Gandhi. His thoughts also come during a season where I myself think I could follow Jesus' teachings a bit better in my own life. I don't want to be a hypocrite, but often I find that I am.

The following quote comes from John Mark Ministries.

"Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most respected leaders of modern history. A Hindu, Ghandi nevertheless admired Jesus and often quoted from the Sermon on the Mount. Once when the missionary E. Stanley Jones met with Ghandi he asked him, "Mr. Ghandi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?"

Ghandi replied, "Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ.

Pause and think about that...

During my senior year, friends and I would discuss and study the worlds greatest leaders through "bull sessions". Naturally, Gandhi came up. On the occasion, a friend from Calcutta, India shared his thoughts. Afterward, another friend asked if that we discuss Jesus the following week. My Hindu friend from Calcutta listened as I responded. I asked, "don't you think we may offend or drive people away"? The friend from Calcutta asked to borrow a pen and paper. He proceeded to draw a similar diagram to the one above.

My friend explained, "the world celebrates Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, and Gandhi". He then asked, "where do you believe that they found their inspiration"? He showed me the diagram and I was struck by the wisdom just shared with me.

Each of these great people followed Jesus and each of them changed the world. It's also interesting to note that each of them participated in different religions or denominations. Martin Luther King Jr. was a baptist, Mother Teresa was a Catholic, no body really knows what Lincoln practiced but in the book Team of Rivals the Author writes that Lincoln frequently memorized verses in the gospel, and lastly Gandhi was Hindu.

A trend appears. Jesus transcended each revolutionaries religion or denomination. To me, that is very powerful and I ask myself who or what am I focused on? My doctrine and religion? Or Jesus? 

Mile 2: The Strange 'Part': Barber shop wisdom.

Yesterday I went over to the local barber shop for my bimonthly trim. One of the hardest questions posed to me is "how would you like your hair cut"? Throughout the year I've gone through many different styles. You can get a picture of how diverse my hair has been by looking through my Facebook photos. Here are a few pictures: (too bad I don't have photos of when I was young with a rat tail or steelers logo carved into the back of my head!)



Ever since I've had hair on my head, I've also had a killer calick (spelling). No matter how strong the hair gel is, my calick is always stronger. After 24 years of losing battles to the calick, I've finally found the winning strategy! Let the calick be a calick. After all these years of hiding my calick with a free buzz cut or super mega hold hair gel, I found the answer to be so simple. All I need to do is part my hair towards the left side of my head with just a tad of gel or spray.

Yesterday when I sat in the barbers chair and was asked the dreadful question once again, "How would you like your hair cut"? I told Janus, my barber, "after all these years I've figured out how my hair works". She then shared an amazing peice of wisdom with me that's applicable to life. (You know I'm always trying to slip some deep meaningful thought into each entry, here it is.) She said, "Well that's a sign of maturity, you've accepted your hair with it's calick for what it is and you can't fight it". What an amazing thought!

So today's metaphor is the calick. We all have them! Well, for sure I do. They're our natural gifts that we've had from birth (or have developed) that we constantly hide or fight. I encourage you to embrace your calick!

Mile 1

My great friend Christopher Taylor recently inspired me to join him in a marathon of blog posts. That's right, 26 + blog posts in a row. Joining us in the marathon is Joseph Shipp. Over the next 26 days check out our blogs: Joseph's - Topher's - D.J.'s

Topher hasn't been the only person in my life to encourage me to tackle a marathon. My sister, Sarah, inspired me to run the Pittsburgh Half Marathon in May. I'll start my blogathon with some marathon metaphors I'm finding in my life.

I started my training determined to finish 13.1 miles on May 3rd of 2009. That was and is still my destination. I'm training all of this time for the moment of glory when I pass through the finish line.

Pause - Let's think about thoughts from two friends of separate experiences in the wilderness hiking.

Thought 1. "Why is it that Americans hike as if they're trying to reach the top of the mountain? They never pause and enjoy their surroundings along the way. I was on a hike today for six hours that should of taken me two hours. I paused frequently to bask in the beauty that lay under the canopy of forest"
Thought 2. "Every time I hike I press forward fast with my head looking at the ground to be sure I don't trip. I always end up the first one finished and never seem to enjoy the hike as much as everyone else."
Thought 3. (me) I was on a hike last weekend. I went to Lookout Mountain to get away for a few hours. I found myself fast walking to my destination. I paused and it dawned on me, "the journey is full of many destinations that often times don't lie at the end".

Back to the Marathon Training - Yes, I am training for that day in May when I will put my body through 13.1 miles of pain. However, I've reach many destinations along the journey that I have enjoyed.

Here are a few:
•Spending time on the phone with my sister every Monday night to encourage each other.
•Joining a group of guys in my neighborhood in forming a running club.
•Eating much more healthier than ever and feeling great because of it.
•Finishing my first 5K.
•Early morning run with my friend from Birmingham while he was in town for business.
•Seeing Chattanooga from new perspectives.

•Purchasing neon green Nikes. (above)

I think my life is like training for a marathon. Often times I'm focused on the end game, when there's so much to enjoy in the moment.