It's already happening.
We're only at our second festival and I already have no idea what city and/or festival name to reference when talking with the locals. I keep thinking we're in Kentucky (where we were last week). It's not until I get surprised faces from my, "we're from Nashville" comment, as though we'd travelled from Alaska to Florida, that I realize we're already a bit farther from home than I've kept in mind. I'm a visual learner, so unless I really see today's date or the name of a place written down, it's almost an absolute certainty I will forget it.
Tonight is our second night in Mineral City, OH. And this blog entry could very well be a paid endorsement for Verizon.
No one at this festival has ANY cell phone service...
...except people with Verizon.
Only one of us in our group has Verizon either, so there's a fair amount of antsy-ness and subtle freak-out overtones to most of our conversations. We feel anxious about the normal things: staying connected to family members who are going through unexpected hard times, being able to find each other if we get lost in a crowd, trying to find your RV (home) if it's not where you left it. (Real life examples.) It would be one thing if we were here just one day, but we're here almost an entire week.
And if we're really honest, we're probably just as anxious that we don't get to nurse our Twitter habit. (@gyb_groundforce)
We see and say funny things all the time. #andwereallywantyoutoknowaboutit.
Oddly enough, we attended a church service in Cincinnati on Father's Day and they spoke about how Jesus didn't play to the crowd. I think it is safe to say we all took something away from that service. It was so good to be there.
There are too many thoughts and not enough time to write them. We're living in an RV as though we always have. The only downfall is when we don't have a real shower (or the only real showers available you have to pay for.) We DO have a shower on our RV- I think we've all just been a little skittish to try it out. Clausto-shower-phobia. We'll let you know how it goes.
Aside from the lack of wifi, cell phone connection, and outside reinforcement of how interesting and witty we are (Twitter!), we're having a pretty good time here at the Alive Festival. Personally, there are a handful of bands that I'm actually looking forward to seeing. The City Harmonic were great lads. Hoping to catch some Switchfoot and Tenth Avenue North in the coming days as well!
As far as shirt selling goes, even though you'd think it would get redundant, I find the challenge to draw people in oddly energizing. Not always, but enough to keep it interesting. My brief stint as a theatre major (and my even briefer stint as a psychology major) lend me to a curiosity about human behavior. I like to know what makes people tick, what makes them feel safe, what inspires them to action, what opens them. Every person has a compete history I know nothing about, and each of them responds in a different way. Some people respond if I make them laugh; some you have to treat like a shy deer. I enjoy the challenge of reading people to guess which way they may respond best- to help connect their story with our story.
I can't tell you what a joy it is to be working on behalf of a company that not only does great things but also does so in a way that is both creative and excellent. We have had so many compliments about our display (have you seen the photos yet?). People are genuinely impressed by us and the way we operate. I'm proud to represent the founders of Got Your Back, Austin and Will, whose creativity and drive is rivaled only by their passion to create change. Change this world needs.
We believe that a small group of passionate individuals really can affect change in this world. And we're starting with kids. Kids to buy t-shirts, kids to wear uniforms. Kids to grow up believing that they can achieve something greater than their inherited story says they should.
So that's why we're in Mineral City this week. Without wifi... and real showers. Because somewhere else in this world, there's a child who can't read yet or write her own name. But there might be someone here in Ohio who could help change that.
-Andrea
