Frank Lloyd Wright and Walt Disney

Two of my heroes are Frank Lloyd Wright and Walt Disney.  I majored in Art at James Madison University and I have always been fascinated with how Wright blends his buildings into the natural landscape surrounding them.  Walt Disney fascinates me with his ability to somehow turn magic into reality.  Both of these men are similar in that they are remembered as extremely successful men who many people aspire to be like.  And there are things about both men that I love. But there is also a very different aspect about these two men that some may not know.

They had very different philosophies regarding children.  Wright believed that children were the biggest hindrance to productivity that could ever exist.  And let's be honest, they kind of are.  If I ever sit down to accomplish something and one of my kids are around, it is inevitable that they will come over and vie for my attention.  At the very least they will distract me, potentially so much so that I will quit what I set out to originally do altogether.  Frank Lloyd Wright had many kids to many different women, and he was not very involved in their lives.  His work was of upmost importance, and nothing else would take it's place.

On the other hand, Walt Disney loved kids.  His heart for kids went deeper than just how he marketed his brand... his priorities were different.  Disney is quoted as saying "a man should never neglect his family for business."  And here is the beautiful thing... even with a philosophy like that, he was still successful.  He's proof that you can put your family before your business and still be very successful.  This brings me great peace knowing that it's possible to invest the necessary amount of time with my kids/family and yet still also work hard and become a successful entrepreneur.  

So here's the bottom line:  as a parent, which philosophy are you adopting?  When you look at how your time is spent, which philosophy does your life mirror more closely... Disney or Wright?

At the end of the day, when I breathe my final breath on this earth, I would rather be remembered as a man who was successful as a father but a failure as a musician.  What a tragic loss it would be for me to be remembered the other way around:  successful in the music industry but absent from my children's lives.  What truly is more important?

Disney got it right... and who knows, with a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work maybe I'll be successful at both. He proved it's possible...

Why I Write Music

I was recently asked to write up a few sentences describing what was the message or the intent behind the music of Unbroken Light.  I have always in the back of my head known why I was writing music, but it was a good exercise for me to actually put pen to paper and write it down.  Here is what I came up with:

The vision for Unbroken Light is to bring a light to the dark places and show that there is always hope found in Christ.  Being a Christian does not take away our pain or challenges in life.  In fact, I believe that being a Christian brings along with it the hardest challenges of all:  dying to self, living an unselfish life, and constantly molding our character after Christ.  But it is also the most fulfilling and rewarding journey one could ever take.  I hope my songs show the entire spectrum of that journey, and ultimately, that Jesus is the only thing in this life worth following after.

The Difficulty Of Success

I recently was looking through a journal I had saved from back when I was in college at James Madison University and thought this passage I wrote in March of 2003 was particularly strong.

"It is not a magnificent thing to merely conjure up dreams or aspirations no matter how monumental they may be.  The difficulty lies in taking action, and in suffering through the failure, which is an inevitable truth to all success."

I find this to be true in all aspects of life.  Even as I have recently started up the Unbroken Light band I find myself repeatedly coming up against roadblocks.  The key, I think, is to enjoy the adventure along the way, with all of it's peaks and valleys, and not to focus too much on the destination.  If you only focus on the final destination of your work then you miss all the good stuff along the way, and an incredible opportunity to grow.

First Blog Post!

I am very excited to begin to share some thoughts I have had recently about life and music.  Looking forward to having some good conversation that will be interesting and hopefully thought provoking.  Stay tuned!

This picture is from when I played Elevation Weekend at Mt. Ararat in 2011 with Rory Tyer.  We had a blast and it is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend.  Photo taken by Alex Stone.