dance.

living in the "Live Music Capital of the World" has provided me with lots of opportunities to hear some amazing music. not the least of these was austin city limits. it's a legendary event, and i was completely blessed with the opportunity to go and be involved with it. there were at least ten thousand moments that weekend that were pure beauty. at each concert, whether i knew who was playing or not, there were so many pieces of beauty. the music was all breathtaking, the sight of each of the bands there completely surrendered to what they were doing and completely enjoying it, the thousands of people unified by a simple tune. it all added up to an unforgettable experience. and the culmination of it was sunday, which included two of the most memorable experiences i've had in austin so far. one was being blessed by an old man after the eagles show, which is an experience i'll definitely be writing about later. but the one i want to describe here was at the edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros show on sunday afternoon. at the end of the set, they played their song om nashi me, which means "oh infinite nakedness," "no meaning," or what i think best describes the experience of the song, "no boundaries." as the song built and built and built, we threw our bags down, discarded all hindrances, and danced. we freed ourselves from the constrictions society places on us, what's right, what's proper. it's one of those perfect moments of complete disregard for what anyone else is thinking of you. if you've never expereinced this, i'm sorry. i'm so sorry. everyone needs to do this at some point. just dance. i like the way david crowder says it in his book praise habit: "dance. dance until we can see your soul." that's the complete surrender we need to live out all the time. and because we can't be dancing around constantly, although that would be the best world ever, it's good to be reminded of this every once in a while. whether it's at an outdoor festival, sweating, singing, loving, screaming, dancing with 65,000 people or alone in your dorm with the music turned up loud, DANCE. forget what everyone else is thinking about you for a few minutes and let go. let go of the stress and the restraints that hold you down. dance so that you can look back and remember that moment and live in that freedom. cause that's the freedom that christ calls us to live in all the time. i don't know about you, but i find that incredibly exciting.



"Om nashi me
I love you
And I love you forever
And I'm loving you now "

Fireflies

Yesterday I went on a bike ride. It was a crazy day on campus as many of you know and I just needed to get out and do something. So I took off on my bike just before sunset with Jon Foreman in my ears and a half-formed idea of where I might go. Rounding corners, speeding up hills, smiling all the while. (sidenote: I find it hard to compare anything to the feeling of pure release that comes in flying down a hill on your bike). But, after a chance meeting with some friends at a stop light, I headed back to campus as it was starting to get dark. While riding through some neighborhood with overgrown lawn and trees blocking out the little bit of light that was left in the sky, I saw some flickering lights in the distance. In the lawns. As I hit the brakes to see what exactly they were, I noticed they were fireflies. Fireflies. Little beautiful flashing dancing fireflies. It's rare that things make me stop what I'm doing, hold off on where I'm going, take out my headphones, and just look and enjoy. Sometimes it's as if God puts things in nature purely for our enjoyment and to make us stop. Stop and smell the flowers. Stop and be overwhelmed by the fireflies. In the midst of the Chaos, He continues to provide small scenes of beauty in our lives. God-winks. Little things. A rainbow over the tower after a crazy rainstorm. A song that comes on just at the right time. The contrast of a fiery sunset against a purple sky. Conversations with a new friend about the beauty that surrounds us. Cool breezes in late September. Fireflies. But we can only enjoy them if we're paying attention. So this week, I'm gonna keep my eyes open for signs of peace in the midst of chaos. For little moments of beauty. And I'd like to leave you with a few lines from Anis Mojgani's poem Direct Orders as a poetic reminder of this:

"Rock out like the streets are empty except for you, your bicycle and your headphones.
Rock out like music is all that you got.
Rock out like you’re standing on a rooftop and the city’s as loud and glowing as a river below you.
Rock out like you got an empty appointment book, and a full tank of gas.
Rock out like Jimi has returned carrying brand new guitar strings.
Rock out like the mangos are in season.
Rock out like the record player won’t skip.
Rock out like this was the last weekend,
like these were the last words,
like you don’t ever want to forget how."

back to the future

i realize it's been a year since i've posted anything...sorry. more for myself than for anyone else. as anis mojgani puts it, "i dream too much and i don't write enough." i'm just starting my first semester as a full time legit college student. it's amazing. in the whole 8 days that i've been here, it's already started to feel more comfortable and i'm more in awe of what's happening around me everyday. everything about this city is beautifully imperfect. i love the fact that after a ten minute drive, you might never know you were anywhere near a city of any kind. much less a city with nearly 800,000 people. just ten minutes (without traffic that is!) and you're surrounded by the natural beauty of water and trees and wildlife. wild life. that's it exactly. and that's merely the surroundings. the people are a whole other story. and the campus is another story on top of that. there are so many people that i feel instantly connected to. it's something i've honestly never felt before. it's that moment when you mention something you are passionate about and that resonates completely with the person you're talking to. sometimes i find myself just standing on a streetcorner, smiling. because this is where i am and i am so content with that. yes...content (definition: in a state of peaceful happiness). i hope to continue posting up here as often as i have a story. which could be every day. i'd like to end with another quote from anis mojgani's poem called For Those Who Can Still Ride An Airplane For The First Time as a commission for both you and me this week:

"Slow down and hold what you see
Just a little while longer
For in a world of fast faces,
I'm looking for God everywhere
Trying to figure a little better
This little thing he made called a man."