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FAILURE:LAB SOLD OUT!

 

 

WOW! I am absolutely thrilled that tonight's Failure:Lab event has sold out! Also, can't wait to hear the voice of Alex, The Soil and the Sun's lead singer! However, fear not internets! My talk will be recorded and posted to this blog in the near future!

Goodness, I don't know how else to say this, but I truly feel BLESSED by the entire city of Grand Rapids!

I love you all and will see you tonight! Bring your failures and leave with hope!

I have also attached a recent interview I did with 8 West's morning show. Everyone there was so incredible! If you are interested, you can learn more about the Sold Out event here! (Sorry, not too quick with code to fix the video..)

 

UnThink Cancer

Erik Wahl and I have been in cahoots for nearly seven years now. He is an author, astonishing graffiti artist, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and a corporate keynote speaker who travels the world sharing his undying love for the act of creation. 

In the past ten years, he has shared his incredible message with the largest and most influential companies (Google, AT&T, Microsoft, NBC, CNN, Forbes, xPrize) in the world, leaving behind his prized artwork as a reminder of his passion for breakthrough thinking. He truly is the Warhol of Wall Street, the Renoir of ROI, and the Picasso of Productivity.

As his bestselling book, "UnThink" states, his goal is to teach these employees how to "unlearn" their typical corporate creative ruts and inspire them towards new innovations and superior levels of performance. He's got a million stories, but the one I love most is when a Microsoft employee who, in the middle of Erik's talk, was inspired to create an entirely new idea netting the company $20-$30 million dollars! 

Here's a great photo (and video) of when my company, Dot&Cross, filmed Erik using everyday garden mulch to create this incredible reproduction of the Mona Lisa in the middle of a California desert! 

 

Recently, Erik entered the following video to the American Cancer Society as part of his application to become their national spokesperson for 2016. And he was selected! In fact, as part of his deal, he strongly desired to have me present with him at a few of his upcoming events since, as he says, I have served as an inspiration for him! So in early August, I will be in Dallas, on stage with Erik at the 2016 Nationwide Relay For Life Leadership Conference!

 

Erik, you deserve a massive thank you, but in addition I have to declare a GIANT SHOUT OUT to Tasha, his wife! I have never met a woman who works half as hard as she does to promote her husband's message to the world. She is an unbelievable wife to Erik and still outruns her three soccer playing, song writing, world traveling boys! Trust me, these two working side-by-side makes them the power couple of the year... I love you both!

If you are new to this site and are interested in my current KickStarter project or interested in what Erik has offered you for your support, click here!

Get Lucky

I noticed today was July 7 (7/7), which reminded me of a funny story. Apparently, 2 or 3 years ago, I was flying into Las Vegas and realized we were on Flight #777. I was shocked! I started laughing when one of nearby flight attendants politely asked what was so funny. I told her why I was laughing, and she looked at me dumbfounded. I tried to explain, Vegas… Flight 777… then realized she wasn’t going to get it. So I turned to explain this to the person sitting next to me. Again, absolutely no response. Not even an, “I get it, but it’s just not funny”. Maybe this was only funny to me? So when I landed I got into a taxi and what was on the radio? “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk. This was a sign from the gods that it was my weekend to Get Lucky and make some serious cash in Las Vegas! But, go figure, I spent the entire weekend there and failed to gamble once. I may have missed my boat...

But speaking of getting lucky, I just hit another 7-7-7 on my ol' KickStarter slot machine! 

Chris Mann (@IamChrisMann) saw my KickStarter page and is now a passenger on the Thank You Kung-Fu train! Chris came into the spotlight as a fourth place finisher on NBC's The Voice (2012). Since then he’s been growing in popularity, releasing CDs and DVDs over the past few years. But his star is still on the rise as he is currently playing the Phantom in the US Tour of Phantom of the Opera! WOW!

So, in order to help me reach my financial goal, Chris has generously offered me:

- His signed album, "Roads", named #1 on Billboard's Heatseekers Chart (featuring a duet with Christina Aguilera), and a signed Playbill for the "Phantom of the Opera" - $75

- His signed LIVE Concert event on CD/DVD including a duet with Martina McBride and Mindi Abair  - $50

- His signed Christmas CD/DVD (featuring a duet with Martina McBride) - $50

These amazing and personally signed gifts have just been added to my Kickstarter page. I’ve tried to include speakers, authors, artists, but just realized I was missing Broadway! And what better addition than the current Phantom of the Opera! All I Ask Of You is to take advantage of this amazing opportunity and Think Of Me! My campaign is just shy of $12,000, so let's forget this Masquerade and keep spreading the word! If we do, we'll get this campaign Past the Point of No Return!

Every Riven Thing

A friend of mine just sent me an "On Being" interview of poet Christian Wiman, by Krista Tippett. It is quite a fascinating interview of boy who grew up in a strange combination of a violent, yet conservative culture. In time, he became both a poet and agnostic. Christian later faced death as he was diagnosed with a bizarre blood cancer. Later, as he fell in love in his thirties, he remembered God and his place in the world. He just came out with a new book, The Bright Abyss and has published books of poetry over the years including Every Riven Thing, a book published after his diagnoses.

He is wrapping up his time as the editor of Poetry Magazine, and will soon move to Yale Divinty School. This is an amazing, humble interview about faith, doubt, belief, death, life and well... poetry. Enjoy!

This poem, read during the interview, was written after three years of poetic silence after learning of his diagnosis. 

God goes, belonging to every riven thing he's made sing his being simply by being the thing it is: stone and tree and sky, man who sees and sings and wonders why

God goes. Belonging, to every riven thing he's made, means a storm of peace. Think of the atoms inside the stone. Think of the man who sits alone trying to will himself into a stillness where

God goes belonging. To every riven thing he's made there is given one shade shaped exactly to the thing itself: under the tree a darker tree; under the man the only man to see

God goes belonging to every riven thing. He's made the things that bring him near, made the mind that makes him go. A part of what man knows, apart from what man knows,

God goes belonging to every riven thing he's made.

- Christian Wiman, a poem from Every Riven Thing

INPUT!

I have to admit that I love the end of the year because you start to see everyones' "Best Of..." lists. One of my favorite publications, PASTE, always does a great job of this and this morning I've been catching up on their Top 25 Music videos of the year. 

Usually when I'm sensing a lack of creativity, I know the first place to look for the problem. What's my input? If we expect to have good 'output', we need good 'input'. That principle pretty much goes across everything in life. Want to cook a cook meal? Use good ingredients. Want to be a good friend? Hang out with good friends. Want to tell good stories? Read good stories. 

It's a very simple principle that we often forget. So... as you look to whatever endeavors you are planning for next year, check out the best of what happened this year. Then practice the creative art of stealing. That's right, every artist steals. You can either be a 'dirty thief' and plagiarize or you can be a 'proper thief' and follow this pattern.

"Suck. Mimic. Innovate."

Take in good input. Process it. Then make something better. 

This is the process behind the creation of every new idea you and I have ever had. Now that you know the process, you can become better at it.

Here's some good input from 2010. Check out PASTE's top 25 music videos here, or see their complete list here.

Here are a few videos that inspired me in strange ways and made me get out my pen to start writing...

'Blue Like Jazz'... It's ALIVE!!!

Have you heard of Don Miller's latest miracle?

You may remember way back in the day when a little book, Blue Like Jazz, was released. I read the book in 2003 and to be honest, at that point in my life, I was in a downward spiral. I remember sitting on my bed in Santa Monica, California hating my job, broke as a joke, and figuring out if I had enough money to put together so I could purchase a latte to comfort myself. I really don't remember how I heard of the book, but I read it... in a day. I actually think I called in sick to work.

Earth Day 2010! A New Dot&Cross Project!

Thanks to all of you who have been keeping up with my blog. I know it has been pretty heavy lately, but today I have a special treat for you! Instead of boring you to tears with another never-ending post, I have a visual biscuit for you to nibble on!

You may have heard me talking about our new film series with Matthew Sleeth, the author of Serve God, Save the Planet. This project focuses on the relationship between spiritual and environmental sustainability.  It has been nearly 3 years since we began the developing, but I am so glad to finally present you the trailer. I highly encourage you and your church to get involved on Earth Day, April 21, and take part of this simulcast event. I know you will be blessed for getting outside of your comfort zone and starting to ask yourself some hard questions.

This issue is not a political story. This issue is not a 'crisis-induced' story. This issue stems from a very very old love story that we have forgotten about. It is time the church united together, opens their eyes and sees that God has shown us, not how to 'save the planet', but how to care for it in the first place. Somewhere along the way we just decided to ignore what He had to say about tending the garden. Why?

We can't run from this truth any more! I hope this series speaks truth into the your life and is the cause of many changes, both spiritually but also environmentally. Enjoy the trailer! (Click the four arrow icon to see it full-screen)

Grand Rapids Hosts World's Largest Art Prize!

This morning Rick DeVos announced his new project, Art Prize.  It's a unique event that combines public art with the Grand Rapids community.  According to this morning's press release:

ArtPrize invites artists of all kinds from around the world to participate in an unprecedented competition that will award nearly one-half million dollars to prize winners, including $250,000 to the artist who receives the most public votes.

Details of ArtPrize, which will run from Sept. 23 through Oct. 10, were announced today from the competition’s host city of Grand Rapids, Mich. ArtPrize will have no formal jury, curator or judge. The public will decide who wins the prizes by voting, using mobile devices and the web.

This is of course going to be fantastic for local businesses as well as the city of Grand Rapids.  Check out the site and spread the word!

An Ambitious Project...

'An Ambitious Project Collapsing' and other great photographs by David Shrigley really caught my attention last night.  Great site to browse around on.  Check it out.

The Village Pet Store

Once again, Banksy has shown his genius.  He has opened up a Village Pet Store in NYC featuring animals, or  'potential' animals at one point in time.  Featuring Chicken nuggets pecking at ketchup and fish sticks swimming in a bowl, the exhibition opens at the end of the month.  Read more here.