I’ve admitted on this blog before that I have a not-so-secret love of country music. The town I grew up in was next to a town called “Tobaccoville”. There was always going to be a little inherent redneck in me no matter how hard I tried to fight it. Last night was the highlight of the year for country music: the CMAs. In my judgment, the CMAs are the best award show of the year, including the Grammys. It’s always a good time. At the beginning of the show, there was a guy up for an award I’d never heard of: Chris Stapleton. I didn’t know his music but I knew from looking at him for one second that he was country music in its purest form. When he won new artist of the year, I was happy for him. Then he won Album of the Year. Then he performed with…
A letter to the Internet about hope
Dear Internet, We are friends, right? Do you mind if I’m totally honest with you for a minute? This is hard to say publicly but I feel I need to admit it: The past couple weeks have been hard and I’m a little bummed out because of it. I knew starting my own business would have its ups and downs. I knew it wouldn’t be amazing right away. I even knew there would be fights and challenges unlike anything I’d ever faced. And I was right. But the fight this month has been tougher than expected. There have definitely been some positives but I had a goal this month and it didn’t happen. It’s not the end of the world but it’s not the shot-in-the-arm confidence booster I am needing either. As I tie the bow on February, I’m left asking myself a few questions: Did I hear God correctly…
3 simple ways to be a generation no one can forget
Last week I took a risk that was scary: I pitched an article to Relevant Magazine. If you’re reading this blog, there’s a good chance you’ve read Relevant. If you haven’t, Relevant is a Christian magazine that looks to marry the church, the arts, and modern culture. Either way – Relevant is a huge deal to my generation. Getting a spot on their website would be gigantic for me. In researching Relevant to make my pitch, I watched a video from their founder about how and why Relevant was starting. In the video, he had a quote that stuck out to me. He said: When you see something that isn’t how it should be, you can do two things. You can either criticize it or be part of the solution. For years I’ve written about this idea of “changing the world.” For many of you, it’s an idea that is…
Top five posts of 2014
It’s Friday. We’re two days into this whole 2015 thing. You’re still confused and writing 2014 on anything that requires a date. If you’re at work, you likely have no desire to do actual work. If you’re at home, you’re probably pretty bored and semi-ready to go back to work. Since I’m such a giver, and also a very big proponent of procrastination, I put together two lists for your reading pleasure. The first is the top five posts of 2014 on This Isn’t High School according to views. The second is my top five favorite posts of 2014 that didn’t make the top five most read posts. You now have ten posts you can read to kill time and enjoy.
I need your help
One of my goals for 2015 is to take This Isn’t High School to the next level. It’s what led to the design change and some of the other things you’ll see in the coming weeks. To help with that, I’m currently in a writing course taught by Jeff Goins called Tribe Writers. The first section of the course is all about finding your “voice” as a writer. To help me with this, I need your help. You, the reader, can tell me a lot more about my “voice” than I can. I’ve included a short five question survey below that I would love to have your feedback on. It’s completely anonymous so feel free to be as honest as possible. I’m a big boy. I can take it.
The least sexy blog post you’ll ever read
There’s been a cool thing that’s happened over the past couple years: chasing your dreams has become sexy. We’ve become people who aren’t content working 9-5 just to pay the bills. Instead, we want to feel like we’re making an impact. Or we want to actually make an impact. Millenials, for all their shortcomings, are a generation who would rather take less money and do what they believe in than make more by working a job they hate. And that’s awesome. What we tend to forget to talk about is the unsexy side of chasing your dreams. The times we get told no. The ways negative news tends to come all at once. The emotional roller coaster of the process. Last week I had a hard day. The reality of losing half my income in three weeks started to hit home and I got scared.
The biggest risk I’ve ever taken and 3 ways you can help
A crazy thing happens when you write about chasing your dreams: you end up remembering what they are. A few weeks ago I wrote about walking in the middle of the road to create space to dream. On the day I wrote that post, I had a thought pop in my head while walking the dog: What would it look like to be a freelance graphic designer working with churches and people to impact the world? By the time the dog and I got back to my house, I’d pushed the thought to the back of my head as a dream that could one day happen. Over the course of the weeks after that intial thought, the idea kept coming back over and over. For the last 20 months or so, I’ve had an uneasiness within me saying there was something more out there for me. I never could put…
It’s time to stop protecting your comfort and screw up your life
I’m writing this post on my couch with my feet propped up on the table in front of me. It’s cold outside but I’m comfortable because we were able to pay the gas bill. My dog is across the room taking a nap. There’s a Dr. Pepper next to me and music playing around me. My wife and I don’t have everything we want, but we definitely have everything we need. We haven’t gone on lavish vacations but we get to go home to see family this week. An unexpected payment to fix my car hit us last week but it’s not going to cripple us. By every definition I’m comfortable. As I read the Bible, I see dudes who were also comfortable. They had their normal life they’d spent years crafting and learning to love. They woke up, did their routine, hung out with the people they cared about,…
Three simple ways to change the world
Over the weekend I spoke to a group of about 50 twenty-something’s and their leaders. In the opening talk on Friday night, I went on an unplanned rabbit trail about being obsessed with changing the world. It was a Biblical message mixed with motivational speech and a little bit desperate pleading for others to join me. It’s true: I’m obsessed with changing the world. It’s also true that I can’t do it without you. With that said, here are three simple ways for you to begin changing the world.
What if you aren’t supposed to be good enough?
What if we aren’t supposed to be good enough? What if we aren’t supposed to know what we’re doing? What if the entire point of life isn’t to be smart enough or talented enough, but simply willing to try? What if failure is okay? What if failure is even encouraged? What if you couldn’t fail? What if failing only meant not trying? What if it’s not about feeling safe? What if it’s about being scared to death to try but even more scared not to?