New.

Well I finally did it. I moved to Los Angeles. Yep.

It's really hard to put how I feel into words. I feel a new sense of freedom. I have a new outlook on life. When I lived in Michigan, I felt trapped there. Now that I'm in LA, I feel as if anything is possible. Everything is new, fresh. It's as if the whole "Wagons West!" mentality has taken over and I'm starting my new life in the wild west, where anything is possible. It's the new frontier. It's the land where you have to play close to the chest in order to progress to where you want to be in 10 or 20 years, yet its also a place of freedom because no one climbs the ladder of success the same way as everyone else out here. I start my internship soon. Who knows what possibilities that will open up. Out here, it's all about who you know. Once I get a car of my own, I plan to start setting up meetings with as many people and connections that I have as possible. It's all about connections in this business, and I plan to have as many as I can get.

Its also great to be back in a place where I feel I know people. I know that's stupid, considering I know only one family out here, but I already feel more connected here than I did in Michigan. Maybe it's because I'm back with my best friend and his family, or maybe it's because I connect more deeply with the west coast view of life. I don't know, but I finally feel that I'm closer to home than I've felt in a year. I feel like I'm getting closer to the life I'm meant to have, the life that God wants me to embrace Him in. And, sure I'm not sure of the details of what that life is. All I know is I'm here and God wouldn't allow me to be here if He didn't want me here. And here I am, getting things done, getting set up, and growing up little by little even everyday. I get to hang out with my best friend, who clearly knows a lot more about little details than I do when it comes to basic living situations, which seems to come from the wisdom of his dad, who knows so much. I truly was guided here to this household to begin my journey in LA. I see the hand of God stretching from this point all the way back to when I walked into Benton's dorm room at the beginning of Ecola to see if he has a printer I could use.

Now, no new life experience story would be complete without a potencial love interest. This is the part you think "John? Likes a girl in LA already? Noooo...", all this thought with a sarcastic inner voice of course. Funny enough, this is the first encounter I've had with feelings of desiring a relationship with a particular person that I've had in about a year and a half. Sure I've had small feelings of "I wonder if...", but not actual feelings of "I really want this to happen... If I can just swing it somehow...". But God, knowing what I need, has decided to make a relationship with this particular girl impossible for at least a year, which astounds me because I am infamous for diving into feelings for girls without actually getting to know them as a friend first. So God has decided to give me these feelings, which don't happen pretty much at all anymore unless she is AMAZING, as God has caused me to build up an incredibly rigid standard for who I should be with. And honestly, I don't know what to do with them. I won't just give up on them. That's stupid. This girl is too cool just to write off just because it "looks" like it would be hard to get started. So maybe I'm just a guy with a crush. But I say ehh what the heck? So I pursue her as a friend and potencial relationship, and will either discover that we are not meant to be but will have great lessons and memories come out of it, or I gain possibly the best friend I've looking for my entire life.

Either way in all these things, whether in jobs, friends, or relationships, I see blessings and lessons. Lots and lots of blessings and lessons.

The cool thing about serving God is He gives you what you need in life. And while that may not be what you want all the time, "...we know that in all things God works together for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

The End of the Beginning.

When I started this blog about 11 months ago, I was just a boy with big dreams. But I was only that: a boy. Today, I'm still a boy, but I have grown up considerably. Looking back on who I was when I first got to Michigan, I barely recognize him. My thinking was so much more juvenile, so much more locked in one way of thinking. This year, through moving to a completely different part of the country and meeting people completely different in thinking from me, I've been able to form my own opinions and views on life. I'm thankful for going to Ecola last year, as without it, it would have made the process incredibly harder.

This week was the last week of film school, the last of the training I'll need for life. In 2 weeks, I'll be in Los Angeles, CA, starting my hopeful career in Hollywood. With the end of school, my roommate and I watched some of our pre-Compass projects, which of course included Preceding Duty, the project I did my senior year. It was supposed to be a prequel to the 007 film 'Casino Royal'. Watching that, plus with the new trailer for 'Skyfall' just out for the 50th year anniversary of 007, it reminded me of how I got here.

Preceding Duty was the project that really awaked me to the idea that I could actually make movies for a living. It's so much fun, and it's one of the most influential forces on earth right now. But that was back when life was simple. Looking back on high school, it was easy. Obviously in the moment, it felt like everything was crazy, but now it seems so trivial. But it's what got me here. That one project launched me into a world where anything is possible. When I got to film school, we quickly learned that it's not that simple. Films are really hard to get right! That's why there are so few really good movies out there.

I'm excited to see where all this will go. I know that God has plans for me, as my life has been much too directed to this point. I hope to make connections, do jobs, make films, and most of all, have a blast doing it! We have plans to make a few films while we do internships, so we will be busy during the next few months for sure. I hope to be able to make something theater worthy within the next 5 to 10 years, which, unless you're a prodigy, is about the normal timeline for becoming big.

I'm ready. Next week begins the next big chapter of my life. It's probably going to be difficult for a while. But I really want to get going with my life! I've made some amazing friends in the last 2 years, and I'm so excited to hang out with them and work with them.

I just want to glorify God in what I say, do, and make. I'm at a place in my life where I'm tired of Christians sitting in their living rooms and judging everyone else on the outside of the Christian faith. We have to get out there! Live and talk in such a way that God's love couldn't be any clearer! What would Jesus do? Cuz that's what I want to do. That's what I've been called to do.