Bold Steps For The Convivial

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Eyelashes

When's the last time you thought about eyelashes?

Sometimes when I brush my teeth, I lean close to the mirror and look into my eyes, trying to figure out the color wheel of my iris. While doing so tonight, something different caught my focus. My eyelashes. As I took a glance at these little hairs growing from my eyelid, a thought occurred to me - When was the last time eyelashes even crossed my mind?

Oddly enough, eyelashes, which fall only millimeters away from the eyes we make contact with each and every day, are easily overlooked. They serve a noble purpose, providing protection for our invaluable optics, but they never really grab my attention until a pretty girl bats her eyes or a mascara commercial comes on. Oh, and of course, whenever a rogue lash goes kamikaze and dive bombs into my cornea.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is this - Eyelashes are very important, and we certainly wouldn't know how to act without them. Yet, there are plenty of days that go by where I don't even knowingly appreciate their existence. And if you've figured out that this blog is about more than just the pretty hairs growing from our eyelids, then you're spot on.

This afternoon, email access went down on campus. I had several conversations with stressed out individuals who were struggling to function without the ability to communicate on a day without Gmail. It was chaos. I can't remember the last time I stopped and said "Man, email sure is the cat's pajamas", but I can tell you life (as we know it) sure does turn ugly fast without it.

Likewise, I can tell you I haven't thought about how much I value clean water today, but I would be in complete dismay if I woke up tomorrow without it.

Kinda makes me wonder what other eyelashes we have in our lives. Colors? Bees? Grandparents? Freedom? The list can get pretty long pretty fast.

Life is full of so many elements that don't demand our attention, yet make our existence beautiful. And while life may seem long, it moves by very quickly if we don't stop and smell the flowers (or look at the eyelashes) every once in a while. So today, let's raise our glasses to the eyelashes of the world, those things that deserve our appreciation, yet at times don't seem to fully capture it. Here's to the little things that make us who we are.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Children At Heart

I freakin' love this kid.

"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." - Matthew 19:14

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Marching Toward May

Spring is just around the corner. Time for some goals.

This spring, I will:

Learn how to make French Toast
Road trip to Dallas, TX
Take time out of each day to talk to God and pray for victims of injustice around the globe.
Begin wearing a red thread around my left wrist to start conversations about human trafficking.
Plant a tree. This one could get interesting.
Not eat sweets until after Easter. This one could be tough.
Make good on my blog from September by starting a stop motion project. And yes, I still fully intend for it to be wonderful.

I intend to turn each of these dreams into reality by the beginning of May. In the words of aspiring actor and Blue Man Group enthusiast Tobias Fünke, "Let the great experiment begin!"

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Spring Ignites

If you happened to peruse my blog over the last month, you may have stumbled upon an entry entitled, "28 Shades of Grey." In this literary reflection, I recall my perennial dislike of February, the epitome of bleak. However, in an effort to joyfully pass through the dreary spectrum, I decided to set some goals:

Accompany the Fellowship of the Ring to their journey's end
Learn how to develop 35mm film and prints
See JIMMY EAT WORLD at The Cannery!
Team up with my crew to produce a good green film for the 48 Hour Film Project
Make my first trip to the coastal town of Savannah, GA
Run the Fangtastic 5k to help raise money for Vanderbilt Children's Hospital (Just decided this)

As March began, I revisited this list of goals to discover that I had accomplished each in notable fashion. I now have a 500+ page book under my belt, I can develop 35mm at will, I sang my heart out at Jimmy Eat World then immediately went on to shoot the hell out of a short film with my team (who I'm very proud of), I conquered Georgia's Low Country, and I discovered that I can spontaneously run 5 kilometers (and in under 30 minutes!).

February brought its fair share of surprises too. Over the last month, my eyes have been opened to new sights, my mind has exposed to new possibilities, and my heart has been awoken to feelings I haven't known in a long time. Yes, I can safely say this will go down as one of the best Februaries, if not THE BEST February, of my life.

With such a bold exclamation, I've done some deep contemplation and asked myself "why?" I'm learning more each and every day that life is all about perspective. Maybe this February was destined to be a special month in my life. Or maybe, and more likely, this February was so great simply because I set out to make it so.

As March arrives and Spring Ignites, a great deal of uncertainty lies on the horizon, but even in the face of anxiety, I have a radiant God, a lights-out family, and a cast of fantastic friends to accompany me along the expedition. Can this be the best spring ever? Guess we'll find out!

I'll have a list of goals up within the week. Who knows... maybe dancing could be on the frontier?

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Hard Clay

Dear Friends,

In February 2011, our production team, Sons of Liberty, created a film entitled "Hard Clay" for the 48 Go Green Eco Film Competition. Out of the hundreds of green films entered into this online film festival, only 8 will move on to the finalist round. You may ask yourself, "who decides which 8 films become finalists??" Well, look no further. The answer is YOU!

Yes, that's right! The first round is based solely on online voting. Starting on Thursday, February 24th, we're asking you to cast your 5 star vote for "Hard Clay" by visiting http://www.48gogreen.com/video/640/hard-clay

Here's how to vote:

Step 1: Visit http://www.48gogreen.com/signup_free and register to vote.

Step 2: Go to your email and click the confirmation link sent by 48 Go Green.

Step 3. Return to http://www.48gogreen.com/video/640/hard-clay to cast your 5 star vote for us!

We're representing Nashville film on the international level, so we need your help to take "Hard Clay" to the finals!

IF YOU LOVE US, PLEASE VOTE. AND TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS.

Cheers,

Jake