Who I Am

I've been making some decent progress on my bucket list lately. The book I've been working on for the past year and half, Nerdvotional, is finally published, so I'm officially an Author... always wanted to say that. I kind of imagined there'd be more cardigan wearing and prolonged moments of contemplation with a steaming coffee in my hand, but it still feels AMAZING.

Side note: we're doing a Nerdvotional release party, and you're invited!

Turns out, there's a few steps involved in publishing a book. I think I read the thing over a dozen times, cover to cover. The good news is, I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. And I'm even more excited to see where it goes from here. I wrote it out of a mix of inspiration and pain from the loss of my good friend so it's always a little vulnerable to just put something out there that you poured your heart into for the general public to scrutinize. My hope and prayer is that it goes places other books couldn't, meets people right where they're at, and then gives them a big awkward bear hug.

Another bucket list item I made progress on recently is Glory Labs. This one is a little less tangible than a book but it's something I've been dreaming about for a long time. I've always wanted a means to share and collaborate on all of the creative ideas that churn around in my noggin, and I think there are other creatives out there in the world with the same predicament. It bugs me that there are artists stuck in business casual with no easy outlet for their passions and the things that give them energy so that's where Glory Labs came from. And it wasn't just me thinking of it. Glory Labs is the co-brainchild of myself and my amazing wife, Ellen, and we've been so blessed to have our close friends, Zack and Christina Smith, join us to launch it off this year. Each of our team members are creative engines, capable of world-shaping ideas in and of themselves.

One of the things we've started doing at Glory Labs is monthly Challenges, where we present a theme to the community and see what creative works people can come up with by the end of the month. This month's theme is "Who I Am", and this blog is actually my submission for the challenge. This is one of the ways I share "Who I Am" with the world.

There's something about the creative process that I find addicting. Whether I'm inventing new sounds for a Dr4gon Dr0p track, coming up with new analogies to convey my points, or even messing around in PowerPoint to tell a story with slides, I just love it. Few other activities connect me to my Maker stronger than that process. I think that's just how He wired me.

These projects and creative outlets are representations of who I am. I'm not sure where they'll take me next, but that's half the fun.