I want to be epic. Let's be epic

This past weekend was wonderful because I did close to nothing but meet with remarkable people and play music.

As school is wrapping up, the Raikes School had their corporate board meeting. I serve as a student representative on the board, so somehow that justified inviting me to a lot of the proceedings and I have to say I had a wonderful time. In my mind, it is really cool to see fascinating, intelligent, and successful people take interest in the progress of a small school in Lincoln, NE. In the back of my mind, I hear the voices of most Lincoln residents who would label us as elitist or something comparable. However, I am proud to say I was counted among people committed to ensuring the success of a generation emerging from higher education and into the workforce.

Most of the meeting was focused around various goals we have achieved over the last year and goals we should have for the future. Without spilling too much of the details, I am proud to see the leaders of the school pushing the group of students in the right direction.

Friday evening, my senior class was invited to the home of Jeff Raikes. First off: what a beautiful home he had. Often I discount Nebraska or the Midwest for having nothing other than flat and uninspiring landscapes. I was blown away by that spot outside of Ashland, NE. Superficial beauty aside, I was so impressed with the conversations I got to have with some of the more noteworthy guests there. I came away from the dinner inspired to do big things like what these people were doing with their lives. Jeff's involvement with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the comments of others at my table for dinner reminded me that success means more than making a lot of money. I saw so much passion for each person's work at the table. I saw a passion for using one's talents and gifts to make the world a better place. I was somewhat starstruck, but perhaps it was the wine.

We also had a benefit concert on Saturday put on by various people within the worship team at church. That was pretty awesome as well, and I actually had a good time playing and singing for a crowd. I actually hadn't done that before. I have the recordings and I still maintain my overly self-critical positions, but I'm happy regardless. We surpassed all goals we had set for the semester and the event pushed us past $6,000 raised by a college group. I am thrilled.

If you'd like to read more about the causes we supported, you should check them out here.

Church on Sunday was beyond amazing. I haven't felt that honored to be a part of something in a long time, and I had an absolute blast playing guitar with the worship team. It was a bittersweet feeling knowing it would be the last time I would play there as a regular member of our team. However, seeing how God was glorified with our service that morning subdued any feelings of sadness I could have had. How can one be sad when such amazing things are happening in that group?

So, if there was one way I could sum up the last few days, I'd just have to say it was "epic." It was a weekend full of experiences that just blew me away with how much we are capable of doing with honorable work, passion and commitment.

This post originally started with me wanting to share a song. I've been listening to this about nonstop since last week. There's just something about the way Manchester Orchestra writes raw emotion into a song. I'm still picking through the lyrics and trying to glean some kind of meaning or significance from the song. Yet, I still just feel blown away every time I put a decent pair of headphones on and let the music envelop me for 6 minutes.


I've embedded the song, and hopefully Grooveshark cooperates, but the combination of all these experiences lately really makes me want be epic. I want to do something significant with my life. I want my life and my work to be used for something greater. I want the music I write to move people and to mean something.

Perhaps these are lofty goals. Yet, I'm at a major turning point in my life. I spent most of today working with the various moving companies to put dates to my final days in Nebraska. My desire is that I'd hit Seattle running at full steam and that I'd do something epic with my life. We'll see.