Have you ever had that feeling? Have you ever had that felling of despair? The feeling that no one is there? The feeling that you are all alone and no one wants to talk to you or if they actually care about you at all? The feeling of overwhelming depression and despair that consumes one to a point of insanity. Do you know that feeling? That point where you ask, “If I wasn’t here tomorrow would anybody care?... would anyone lose sleep?” (Would It Matter- Skillet). Leo Buscagila once said “too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of Caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around” I am sure many of us in this room have felt this way at one time or another, and I’m sure almost everyone in the world has or will at some point in life. But does it have to be this way? Isn’t their something that we can do? In all of the hustle and bustle of an urbanized environment I think those critical “Human Moments” make us who we are, the moments where two people who don’t know each other can stop, look at one another, and can show, even in passing, their love and caring for one another.
This is where my dream comes from, it comes from the depths of human emotions, the sorrow of human beings, the lost, the lonely, the depressed, the potential for human interaction, the longing for that human touch, that listening ear, those honest compliments. It comes from the heart, it comes from the soul, it comes from the spirit, it comes from the body, it comes from love.
It started on July 13, 2007 in Downers Grove my family and I were going out to Giordano’s pizza for my brothers 12th birthday. On our way to go see the 5th Harry Potter movie we saw a group of teenagers holding up a big poster board with duct tape lettering that said “FREE HUGS” At first, I was a little scared. I thought it was cool—but – I didn’t know—yes its true… I turned down that initial hug. But from then on, I decided that I should give away free hugs. It seemed like a perfect thing to do. I could spread love, peace and happiness to others just as those teenagers had spread it to me… even though I did not hug them. It provided the basis for my dreams of the future.
As I was hugging, people asked me if I was part of the Free Hugs Campaign. At the time, I had no idea what they were talking about. It turns out that there is a Free Hugs Campaign that was started in Sydney Australia. As soon as I got home that night, I watched the video. It was amazing. Now when people ask me about the free hugs campaign, I know all about it. I continued to give away free hugs and inform people about the free hugs campaign.
Around the same time that I started free hugging, I got into a bizarre but ever so common item… Duct Tape. I had a vague idea that I wanted to do something with duct tape in my life. I also knew that I wanted to give away free hugs. So now after over 3 years of thinking about how I can create a job out of making stuff out of duct tape, and giving away free hugs, I think I have come up with the answer.
My dream car has always been a Subaru Outback. So I was thinking, maybe I could live in a Subaru Outback. I could… I would get an air mattress in order to sleep on in the back of the car, I would get a really good sleeping bag, toiletries in order to stay clean and presentable, (who would want to hug a smelly guy?), a bike carrier for my 2 bikes, a power converter in order to charge my laptop and iPod, a top carrier in order to store all of the stuff and my merchandise. In order to get Internet I would have mobile Internet with the same company as my phone. I believe I would also need car and life insurance, just in case, but that’s the boring logistical stuff. Oh and the most important thing… A Microwave. Wouldn’t that be the life?
I would live in a car traveling around the country giving away free hugs to people who need them, making a living selling items that I make out of duct tape as well as humorous t-shirts. I would spread love peace and happiness. I would be trading my luxury for a different kind of luxury, The Human Life.
I would be there for those who needed that human touch, that smallest smile, that kind word, or honest compliment. I would be spreading joy around the country, not only around the country but to individuals, living in a car will allow me to have freedom where I settle for short amounts of time. It will allow me to be there for people who need me. Ones who are struggling with depression, and feelings of sorrow so deep, that they don’t know what to do with the feelings. I will be the one to deliver that one small act of caring that can not only “turn around a life” but can also save a life.
I was giving away free hugs one time and I allowed people to sign my shirt. And one person signed it “keep it up, your saving lives,” Think about it. How often we take for granted the small acts of kindness. The small things that we do every day. The smile, the wave, the touch, the kind word, the listening ear, the honest compliment, the smallest… the smallest act of kindness. The smallest act of kindness, which have the potential to turn a life around. Think about it. A life. You might not know it, but that smallest smile, that touch of love, that honest compliment, it does matter, it matters enough to save someone’s life so I challenge you. I challenge you to go out today and make an effort to show someone that you care. Show them that they are not alone. Not only will it always brighten their day, but it could save their life. You could save a life.
Monday, September 13, 2010
The Idea.
It all began with an idea. An idea that wasn’t too out of the ordinary. If you call trying to make a pair of duct tape shorts not out of the ordinary. After all, it was only the beginning.
I was in 8th grade at the time. It was 5 days until graduation. I had an urge to do something crazy. I wanted to be different. I though making a pair of shorts out of duct tape would meet that goal and get me some attention, something to be remembered for after my long and mundane 9-year educational career at Andrew Jackson Language Academy. I was a very quiet and overlooked in elementary and middle school, so in order to stand out and be remembered, I needed to do something crazy. It worked.
With July 13 came my brother’s birthday. On our way to Giordano’s we came across some teenagers with a sign that read “FREE HUGS!” I was caught off guard. I didn’t give them hugs. Later on that day, I wish I had. It seemed like a good way to spread love, peace and happiness and I wanted to be part of that. Not all was lost that day though. It got me thinking. The rest of the summer I used duct tape to make free hugs t-shirts and gave away free hugs in downtown Chicago. I even created a sign with poster board and sharpies.
One rainy day, the urge to give away free hugs came to me. I didn’t have a waterproof sign, so the logical conclusion was to create a pink and purple free hugs sign out of duct tape so that it would not get ruined in the rain and I could advertise free hugs even when it was raining! It’s a great way to meet new people as well as spread joy and happiness, and show people that they are loved. While I was giving away free hugs one day, someone came up to me and asked if I could make them a duct tape “Free Hugs” sign. I agreed and whipped out my pink and purple duct tape and in ten minutes I had their mini free hugs sign finished and received four dollars for my work. The idea of selling my creations out of duct tape grew and I determined that I could create other items out of duct tape to sell. Some other items that I have tried to sell are: wallets, card wallets, baseball hats, signs, belts, roses, ties, and mini Frisbees/ Coasters.
Because I was planning to make and sell items crafted from duct tape, the next step was to buy some duct tape so I invested 125 dollars in 24 rolls of duct tape. 125 divided by 24 rolls of duct tape equals out to about $5.20 per roll, which for duct tape is a great deal for 60 yards worth of duct tape. (Especially because it was good quality duct tape, easy to work with, and thick enough to make good quality items.) If I had gotten less than a case (24 rolls) of duct tape, each roll would have cost be between 8 and 9 dollars. Most of the duct tape did not go towards items that I sold to people. I sold about 2 hats for 15 dollars each and that’s about all that went towards my business. A lot of it was used for personal things that did not allow me to aquire the cash flow to start my business. So I decided I would have to go back to the drawing board, do some more research and come up with a business plan.
Durring my time at Walter Payton College Prep, I have strived to achieve the goal of creating a duct tape business. I learned all that I could about starting my own business. I learned about net profits and gross profits. I learned about business plans and mission statements. I learned about sole proprietorships, limited liability companies, partnerships, joint stock companies, corporations, “s” corporations, and much more. I learned about cash flow and accounting. I took business courses online in order to allow me to better understand the business world and to compete in it with my business idea. I learned that I should come up with a name for my business so that it would be easier to tell people about my business. The name I chose was Duck Duct Dave.
I started to give away free hugs downtown in order to get people’s positive attention and hand out my duct tape business cards in order to publicize my business. I did not get as much attention as I had hoped. I needed to come up with an official plan for my business. On October 24, 2008 I had a prepared a preliminary final copy of my business plan for Duck Duct Dave. A couple months after my business plan was made, I checked out a book from the library called “Start Your Own Business, The Only Start Up Book You’ll Ever Need” by Rieva Lesonsky by Entrepreneur Magazine. I learned a lot from this book and created a business mission statement anyone would be proud of.
“Duck Duct Dave creates unique custom duct tape merchandise such as wallets, roses, etc. as well as humorous apparel. Through our dedication to Free Hugs we strive to create an atmosphere where customers become friends and discover hobbies that deliver relaxation and stimulate creativity. We aim to convey an image of friendship, love, happiness, comfort, and uniqueness. Through Duck Duct Dave we aim to befriend our customers and live the example of duct tape- an unassuming object that can be transformed into something fantastical. Overcome the odds… “When In Doubt, Duck It Out!” Even with all of this effort, my business is still a hatching chick struggling to break through the shell, the first major test of life.
My status as a student has lead me to encounter many setbacks and inconveniencies along the long and difficult road of starting a business. Being a student, one tends to get a copious amount of homework. With all of this homework, there is not much time for anything else. That is, if you do the homework. Through my freshman and sophomore years, I would sometimes spend time working on my business rather than finishing my homework. I became less focused on school and more obsessed with making money through my business. Naturally, my grades suffered and I started to become depressed. I struggled to balance both my business and school at the same time but while I put so much effort into my business, I was not seeing much in terms of results. At the same time my grades were getting worse and worse because of me falling behind in my school workload, spinning me down into a horrible whirlwind of feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, failure, thoughts of suicide and stupidity, mingled with hope for my future and the future of my business. On top of all of this, hormones and girl problems both added to all of the emotional strife and drama included in a teenage life. All of this added up together and you have, let’s just say, an emotional wreck.
All of this experience has shaped and influenced my idea of what I want my life to be like. My dream job is to be a Professional Free Hugger. Going around the country, living in a car, Volkswagon Bus or Subaru Outback, giving away free hugs in order to spread love peace and happiness, selling my items that I make out of duct tape in order to make a living. This way I Can be there for those people, who are depressed and are in need of someone to love them, and I can be that person to love them. I can be there for that person in there emotional wreck. And love them, and help them and be there for them.
I was in 8th grade at the time. It was 5 days until graduation. I had an urge to do something crazy. I wanted to be different. I though making a pair of shorts out of duct tape would meet that goal and get me some attention, something to be remembered for after my long and mundane 9-year educational career at Andrew Jackson Language Academy. I was a very quiet and overlooked in elementary and middle school, so in order to stand out and be remembered, I needed to do something crazy. It worked.
With July 13 came my brother’s birthday. On our way to Giordano’s we came across some teenagers with a sign that read “FREE HUGS!” I was caught off guard. I didn’t give them hugs. Later on that day, I wish I had. It seemed like a good way to spread love, peace and happiness and I wanted to be part of that. Not all was lost that day though. It got me thinking. The rest of the summer I used duct tape to make free hugs t-shirts and gave away free hugs in downtown Chicago. I even created a sign with poster board and sharpies.
One rainy day, the urge to give away free hugs came to me. I didn’t have a waterproof sign, so the logical conclusion was to create a pink and purple free hugs sign out of duct tape so that it would not get ruined in the rain and I could advertise free hugs even when it was raining! It’s a great way to meet new people as well as spread joy and happiness, and show people that they are loved. While I was giving away free hugs one day, someone came up to me and asked if I could make them a duct tape “Free Hugs” sign. I agreed and whipped out my pink and purple duct tape and in ten minutes I had their mini free hugs sign finished and received four dollars for my work. The idea of selling my creations out of duct tape grew and I determined that I could create other items out of duct tape to sell. Some other items that I have tried to sell are: wallets, card wallets, baseball hats, signs, belts, roses, ties, and mini Frisbees/ Coasters.
Because I was planning to make and sell items crafted from duct tape, the next step was to buy some duct tape so I invested 125 dollars in 24 rolls of duct tape. 125 divided by 24 rolls of duct tape equals out to about $5.20 per roll, which for duct tape is a great deal for 60 yards worth of duct tape. (Especially because it was good quality duct tape, easy to work with, and thick enough to make good quality items.) If I had gotten less than a case (24 rolls) of duct tape, each roll would have cost be between 8 and 9 dollars. Most of the duct tape did not go towards items that I sold to people. I sold about 2 hats for 15 dollars each and that’s about all that went towards my business. A lot of it was used for personal things that did not allow me to aquire the cash flow to start my business. So I decided I would have to go back to the drawing board, do some more research and come up with a business plan.
Durring my time at Walter Payton College Prep, I have strived to achieve the goal of creating a duct tape business. I learned all that I could about starting my own business. I learned about net profits and gross profits. I learned about business plans and mission statements. I learned about sole proprietorships, limited liability companies, partnerships, joint stock companies, corporations, “s” corporations, and much more. I learned about cash flow and accounting. I took business courses online in order to allow me to better understand the business world and to compete in it with my business idea. I learned that I should come up with a name for my business so that it would be easier to tell people about my business. The name I chose was Duck Duct Dave.
I started to give away free hugs downtown in order to get people’s positive attention and hand out my duct tape business cards in order to publicize my business. I did not get as much attention as I had hoped. I needed to come up with an official plan for my business. On October 24, 2008 I had a prepared a preliminary final copy of my business plan for Duck Duct Dave. A couple months after my business plan was made, I checked out a book from the library called “Start Your Own Business, The Only Start Up Book You’ll Ever Need” by Rieva Lesonsky by Entrepreneur Magazine. I learned a lot from this book and created a business mission statement anyone would be proud of.
“Duck Duct Dave creates unique custom duct tape merchandise such as wallets, roses, etc. as well as humorous apparel. Through our dedication to Free Hugs we strive to create an atmosphere where customers become friends and discover hobbies that deliver relaxation and stimulate creativity. We aim to convey an image of friendship, love, happiness, comfort, and uniqueness. Through Duck Duct Dave we aim to befriend our customers and live the example of duct tape- an unassuming object that can be transformed into something fantastical. Overcome the odds… “When In Doubt, Duck It Out!” Even with all of this effort, my business is still a hatching chick struggling to break through the shell, the first major test of life.
My status as a student has lead me to encounter many setbacks and inconveniencies along the long and difficult road of starting a business. Being a student, one tends to get a copious amount of homework. With all of this homework, there is not much time for anything else. That is, if you do the homework. Through my freshman and sophomore years, I would sometimes spend time working on my business rather than finishing my homework. I became less focused on school and more obsessed with making money through my business. Naturally, my grades suffered and I started to become depressed. I struggled to balance both my business and school at the same time but while I put so much effort into my business, I was not seeing much in terms of results. At the same time my grades were getting worse and worse because of me falling behind in my school workload, spinning me down into a horrible whirlwind of feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, failure, thoughts of suicide and stupidity, mingled with hope for my future and the future of my business. On top of all of this, hormones and girl problems both added to all of the emotional strife and drama included in a teenage life. All of this added up together and you have, let’s just say, an emotional wreck.
All of this experience has shaped and influenced my idea of what I want my life to be like. My dream job is to be a Professional Free Hugger. Going around the country, living in a car, Volkswagon Bus or Subaru Outback, giving away free hugs in order to spread love peace and happiness, selling my items that I make out of duct tape in order to make a living. This way I Can be there for those people, who are depressed and are in need of someone to love them, and I can be that person to love them. I can be there for that person in there emotional wreck. And love them, and help them and be there for them.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Why Write?
The process starts by thinking, Lots of thinking. What do you want to write? Why do you want to write it? What point do you want to get across? What combination of words will get your point across? What will get a reaction from the audience that you are looking for?
In all of those questions, comes a sense of going deep into the language to grasp what you want to get across, not only are you thinking about the words, but how the words sound, what people associate with the words, every word either adds or subtracts from the piece. One must go into the depths of language and create their own masterpiece. Effort and frustration, editing and revisions, dedication and solitude, ideas and searching, love and time. All of these things are involved in creating your own piece, a work of art, that is fully yours, that your giving to the world, putting your ideas out into the world, allowing your innermost secrets and thoughts, to be put on a sheet of paper, for another to read. It’s a way to connect with others, on a level that we don’t get to on an every day basis.
This is why I like to write. What writing means for me. It’s a way to connect with those around you that you may not know, you may never meet, but in a sense, you have met, because they read what you wrote, and know who you are, what you think, how you write. It’s a way to make an impact, influence society, and in some cases, change the world.
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