Love. Hope. Words. Music. Surfing. Community. Airports. Basketball. Comebacks. Metaphors. Microphones. Los Angeles. Paris. Coffee. India. Sincerity. Family. T-Shirts. Sebastian Inlet.
Music
RECENT: Thrice, The Gaslight Anthem, Griffin House, U2, Damion Suomi, The Airborne Toxic Event, The National ALL-TIME: U2, Counting Crows, Ryan Adams, Jeff Buckley, Coldplay, Radiohead, Switchfoot, Jon Foreman, Thrice, Dustin Kensrue, Sleeping at Last, the Honorary Title, Over the Rhine, Patty Griffin, Anberlin, Copeland, Lovedrug, Brand New, Bayside, Interpol, the Jealous Sound, John Mayer, Cat Power, Muse, Youth Group, Pinback, the Killers, the Cure, Embrace, Elbow, Sufjan Stevens, Pedro the Lion, Damien Jurado, Doves, Johnathon Rice, Rocky Votolato, Vedera, Damien Rice, Ben Harper, Mute Math, Bright Eyes, Idlewild, Iron + Wine, Band Marino, Athlete, Kate Earl, Mineral, Phil Wickham, the Fray.
Movies
Brick, Lord of the Rings, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Crash, I am Sam, About a Boy, Shawshank Redemption, Good Will Hunting, Gladiator, Garden State, Lost in Translation, Great Expectations, A Knight's Tale, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Pirates of the Carribean, Tommy Boy, North Shore
Books
Searching for God Knows What, and Through Painted Deserts (especially the intro) by Donald Miller, Dream Brother by David Browne, The Journey of Desire and Wild at Heart by John Eldredge, Traveling Mercies and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Bono In Conversation with Michka Assayas, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers.
Heroes
I am inspired by my parents and sisters, Martin Luther King, Bono, Johnny Cash, Jon Foreman, Donald Miller, Dustin Kensrue, Gord Marriage, Rob Bell, Josh Loveless, Jon Tyson, Byron Cutrer, Jim Hoyle, Eric Brown, Britt Merrick, Elisha Wright, Gordy Strongitharm, Josh Benfield, Bob Hurley, Kelly Slater, Al Merrick, Ian Soto, Denny Springsteen.
About me: Note to Self:
"And God must be a pretty big fan of 'today', because you keep waking up to it. You have made known your request for a hundred different yesterdays, but the sun keeps rising on this thing that has never been known. Yesterday is dead and over. Wrapped in grace. Those days are grace. You are still alive, and today is the most interesting day. Today is the best place to live."
From Ever Get Home: "Rickey is here now, innocent and mature and inspiring in all of his appreciating. He reminds me of all of them. They are the coolest thing happening on the planet. That new baby Murphy will know so much love and laughter. And Joel's constant sharing, inspiring with his honesty. Kory always wrestling, always aware of the tension. Jorge's kind heart, humble and gold and I hope that we're the same. Griffin cool as shit, leading the change and smart and making people laugh. My dear friend Jon, leading all of them, always sneaking off at midnight, to the middle of Broadway, just him and God and the people stuck in moments. He goes to remember, to say his thousand thanks, to know his Father, to love his city. Someone told me once that New York City was like a person, and I suppose I understand that now. It is difficult to lose a person."
From I'm starting to believe the ocean is much like You: "The building has always come easy - the creative, the words on napkins, the wild open doors. It's easy to always look ahead, to equate success with getting the hell away from where you started. If you're faster than whatever's chasing you, then you never have to pay attention to it. You tell yourself it's okay that the bridges burned. You didn't mean for it to happen, but maybe it's better - I mean, you're not going back, they can't go where you're going.
Or maybe those are lies. Maybe the constant motion is simply a man on the run, a man scared to death of standing still, a man scared to death of what he might find, or what might find him. And maybe the hero's dance is not the run across the burning bridge. Maybe the hero's dance is the pause and the turning to say 'This wasn't meant to burn.' Maybe the leader is the one who looks back and sees something worth fighting for."
From This Broken City: "A couple in love is enjoying a picnic, a moment borrowed from some perfect movie. Nearby, a woman sits in heated conversation with herself, stuck in a moment, still reaching for something she lost years ago. My path divides them, and I can't shake either scene. I want to be the couple. I want the woman to be healed. I don't know the way to either place. My own heart is heavy. Head full of songs, I keep walking. "
From To Write Love on Her Arms.:
"She is full of contrast, more alive and closer to death than anyone I've known, like a Johnny Cash song or some theatre star. She owns attitude and humor beyond her 19 years, and when she tells me her story, she is humble and quiet and kind, shaped by the pain of a hundred lifetimes. I sit privileged but breaking as she shares. Her life has been so dark yet there is some soft hope in her words, and on consecutive evenings, I watch the prettiest girls in the room tell her that she's beautiful. I think it's God reminding her."
From To Whisper Against This. (Alive Inside the Astrodome):
"Young men from New Orleans are doing calculus on cots, finding inspiration in strange new skies. Boys are being boys, moving perfectly from tackle football to toy soldiers on a small strip of turf. Old men laugh at this display of youth, while mothers braid hair and keep children close. One boy smiles bright and points to Payton Mannings autograph on his Jimi Hendrix t-shirt. The quarterback was here yesterday. Dr. Phil is here today. Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr. will be here tomorrow. There are reporters and men with cameras, soldiers and police, doctors and nurses. Men in suits move through, pitching religion while hundreds more live theirs quietly.
It is some stange slice of life, so many characters moving through, me among them. I am seeing so many things; poverty and laughter, rescue and pain. Hope is here too. They are a beautiful broken people. I forget that I am in Houston, as every conversation is New Orleans. I am tasting that famous blend of history and fantasy, music and mayhem, bright lights and darker things. Beneath banners of business and victory, inside a dome built for pleasure, I sit among ten thousand stories."
From Zeke Sanders: You Were Loved:
"i didn't know him well but this is what i knew:
Zeke Sanders was hilarious and kind, small and huge in the same moment. He was humility and rock star, fashion and fishing, alive and encouraging and broken and hopeful and a thousand other things i'll never know. He was simple and complex. He was my friend. Something hopeful in me says he knows now how much he was loved. We will miss his smile, his laughter, his kindness, his tiny jeans and enormous shoes, made for wrestling. We will miss him tomorrow night when we set up, Sunday when we tear down, and Monday morning at Ian's, when it's too quiet. i don't know what else to say. i just have to believe that we are all more loved than we'll ever know. And we're all in this together."
hey buddy. my friends and I still want to take you to Universal Studios for a day, or two. It would be awesome. I don't know when. I'd need to talk to my home slices at Universal.
Hi Jamie! :] first of all, I think you're completely amazing for starting TWLOHA, you're one of my heroes (:
I was wondering if you could maybe take a look at this for me? http://www.socialvibe.com/main#/discuss/3/88/93106 I know you're a very busy person, with saving the world and all, but if you could find the time, I'd greatly appreciate it =]
The pain was too much I I was never alive. Jack was my one true friend, as I drank long from the bottle With no hope to be fond the light burned out long ago My hand grasping the blade as the blade sliced my skin the blood dripping to the floor. No hope to be found.
One night GOD answered my prayers, for an angel to watch over me God knew it was time and before it was too late Justin was sent to me.
A friendship so true a bond so strong. Now my life forever filled with LOVE. And when I am afraid, I remember his words, his words of hope through All faith, No fear and I always know that soon I will be okay.
Though it is a hard journey to take never be afraid to reach out asking for help. We all need others to help us through. Unite the world in the spirit of LOVE. Lets unite bringing hope to this world a world filled with so much pain. Have faith And believe, And there can be a change. it is up to us to heal the world.
To stop the abuse, Rape and murders, but we must start with the spirit of LOVE.
are you going to be at the TWLOHA booth at the Boston Warped date?? Because I must say, going to the TWLOHA booth is going to be the highlight of that day, and it would be so amazing if I got the chance to meet the person who inspires me to become a better person.
Hey Jamie :) I recently read this book called "Paper Towns". It is a great book. Well there is a long quote in there that reminded me of something you would say. It goes like this: “Well maybe it’s more like you said before, all of us being cracked open. Like, each of us starts out as a watertight vessel. And these things happen-these people leave us, or don’t love us, or don’t get us, or we don’t get them, and we lose and fail and hurt one another. And the vessel starts to crack open in places. And I mean, yeah, once the vessel starts to crack open, the end becomes inevitable. But there is all this time between when the cracks start to open up and when we finally fall apart. And it’s only in that time that we can see one another, because we see out of ourselves through our cracks and into others through theirs. When did we see each other face-to-face? Not until you saw my cracks and I saw into yours. Before that, we were just looking at the ideas of each other, like looking at your window shade but never seeing inside. But once the vessel cracks, the light can get in. The light can get out.”
have fun in g-ville tonight. i wish i could go, but no vehicle or gas money to come down from my temporary home in tally. hope all goes well and enjoy your time back 'home.' ;)
hey! what's up? just letting you know,you can now buy our brand new Ep off of iTunes for only $4.95! so hit it up and help us out and we will always love you!
Jamie, Today I wore my hot pink TWLOHA shirt. I do this a lot, but today was different. I was late for class, and as I ran down the street I barely looked at the faces around me. …until a woman stopped me in the middle of a crosswalk and asked about my shirt. I just stopped & stood there, overwhelmed & humbled. We walked back to the sidewalk, and she began asking me questions about TWLOHA. As I answered her and told her the story of Renee and TWLOHA, I realized that being late for class didn’t matter. Sharing TWLOHA, sharing my story, sharing love with a complete stranger--those things matter. People have stopped me to ask questions about my shirt before, but it’s never really hit me like it did today. I love the shirt; I love what it stands for; I love talking to people about it. I was once that curious girl with questions about a t-shirt, and when I get the chance to tell others about the message it represents, I never hesitate. It reminds me that we really are all connected, all in this life together. It reminds me that “things do move and shake and change.” I know you probably get tons of messages about how TWLOHA has changed people’s lives, and I know that to some, what happened to me today may seem insignificant. …but in that single moment today, I got a reminder of the important things in life. I got a reminder about our interconnectedness and love. Maybe I couldn’t answer the questions that my Spanish professor asked me today, but I could answer a stranger’s questions about TWLOHA, about love, about community. …and I think that’s what matters. Thank you for sharing TWLOHA with the world. You'll never know how many lives God's used you (& everyone at TWLOHA) to change. :) Be well, and keep doing good.
dear jamie, i was just introduced to a song called Skinny Love by Bon Iver. and was told it changes lives. have you heard of it? if not, i highly recommend that you go have a listen. it just changed my life--it's distracting me from my petty temper and worries. i just know you'll love this song as much as i do. love always, steph
whats up jamie? so i know you get a whole lot of emails and whatnot from people telling you how god has used you to change them, and how you have helped people through all kinds of suicide and depression.
well i'm writing to remind you that you have influenced even more people than you realize. besides all of those people who were directly hurting, you have influenced people like me.
We all know people who are hiding their pain and brokenness, and you have shown that just by being honest with them it can save their life. You led by example, and not only have I, but countless others across the world followed your lead. You started a ripple effect, where people are speaking truth and love into the lives of those around them.
Because you had the courage to stand when God wanted you to, he has used you to help many.. but also to inspire people to help a lot more
I was just, you know, listening to some music. And a song I was listening to really stuck out to me and I found so many things about it to be beautiful, in the same respects that I feel you would too. After reading a lot of things you've written and such, I think you'd love this song :)
"But there's no pain you feel that I know love can't heal"
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