Reconciling Saints

Last night I had a meeting with my career advisor... who is also kind of acting as a Life mentor for me. I nearly forgot that I had made my appointment over a month ago! Thinking back, I made it when I first got that feeling of "have to write this book NOW!" Wow, that was over 2 months ago. Meeting with her last night helped reanimate me and helped me find the focus that I've been looking for lately.

So for those that don't know/didn't get the speech, my friend Sean posted this article back in April. It's an article about the stigma of mental health issues and I highly recommend it. What it did for me was help me realize that now is the time to jump in on this conversation, and I want in! I have a lot to add to it and I want to do my part in helping kids especially. They should know they're okay and that there are more of us that feel the same way out there.

I'd say that it's been since declaring my major as creative writing in college that I've wanted to write and publish this book. That was sort of my acceptance that I wanted to write professionally. I had my second round of counseling my sophomore year and I knew that I wanted to help anyone who felt like I did. I hadn't been diagnosed yet, but I knew there was something I was battling, and writing, books, and music went a long way in helping me through things. I figured if creativity & art could help me, maybe what I could do when I am good enough is write a book that others can go to that will help them not feel alone in this.

Notice I said when I am good enough. This book (that doesn't exist yet... well, it's a rough sketch at the moment) was and is important to me. It's the book I wish I had when I was in high school - one about a girl that is bipolar - just like me (so it turned out)! Who is going through the same emotions and changes - just like me! Oh, what I would have given for that character when I was 16! As it's so important, I want it to be perfect - or as perfect as it can be. So I never felt ready because I saw writing as this super important business that I didn't have the keys to yet.

When I first met with my counselor over a year ago, it was about another book. In getting to know me, though, she heard a lot about The Book - this one I have to write. So she wanted to know, why am I not writing this book? Which made me wonder, yeah... why am I not writing this book? Because I'm not a published author with answers as to how to write this?? One thing I have learned is... well, you never have the answers... you just learn some tricks. So, what was I waiting for?

It's taken some prodding, some thinking, and Mark Joyella's article on Medium to get me to where I am now. I'm writing this book. I'm writing it to join the conversation on mental health, I'm writing it to let kids know that it's ok - I feel that way, too, and I'm writing it for me... because I survived. If I can help just one kid survive it, too, then my book will have made all the difference.

I opened up my inbox to find an email from my friend Tim about his and his brother Anthony's latest project.

When it comes to doing what you love, I think these two really embody it. However, it's not without a lot of work and dedication to their art... even if their art is how they have fun anyway. Hey, bonus! All I can think is, "I can't believe my friends get to do stuff like this!" I think that's pretty amazing and noteworthy.

Click here to see the video - Episode 1 of Epic Aerials - Kitesurfing is finally ONLINE

My brother, Anthony and I got the opportunity to shoot 9 episodes for Epic TV. The idea was to capture all of the most extreme sports from a tandem paramotor. Our first project was kitesurfing and since this had never been done before we really didn’t know if it would work.  But we gave it a shot anyways and are very happy with the results. With a tiny 16sq./m paraglider we took off tandem at close to 40mph (60kph)!! Once airborne we could easily keep up with the kitesurfers and truly had an amazing session. 

Timothy Green

Managing Director

To see future episodes you can “Like” Cloudbase Productions on Facebook

When we were in New York last year visiting the lovely Amander, we would meet up with her at the different places she was working around the city. I was truly inspired by my time with Amander, seeing her day to day and meeting her friends/people she works with. I'm incredibly proud of her for going after what she's wanted to do, even when it's a struggle.

Our second night there, we met up with her at Juilliard where she was working on the costumes she designed for a ballet. As we were leaving, Stephen stopped to light his cigarette and Amander looked across the way at Lincoln Center.

"Everyone wants to go from here," she said, pointing at Julliard, "to there."

She stared back across the street at Lincoln Center.

We started walking, Stephen finally looking up from lighting his cigarette.

"Just cross the street," he said, and smiled.

Amander and I looked at him and started laughing. You know what? Yeah, sometimes it is that simple - sometimes you have to look at what you want to do and who you want to be like it's just that simple!

Just cross the street - just do your thing.