We leave for New York City in five days. The trip is slowly becoming real in my mind. For a long time the idea of trekking across the United States was just that, an idea. It was a mere concept. It has become a lot different now that I am forced to think about the project on a practical level. With the trip this close I have been thinking and anticipating what my life will be like on a day-to-day basis. It’s actually comforting. I don’t think about the burden of walking over 3,000 miles. I only have to walk 20. And to do that I only have to take one step at a time. I am no longer worried about whether I will be able to make it. I believe with confidence that everybody on our trip will make it.

The main concern for our project right now is money. Ooohhh, yes, I’m going to talk about money. I’m not going to ask you for any, so you can relax. The production team has had many, many meetings over the past few weeks and stripped the project down to the bare minimum of what we need to leave and still survive. The trip is still going ahead with full force. However, that’s not to say that we’re not worried. We’re worried about food and shelter and gas for the production vehicle. We’re worried about the added stress of financing a production on top of making the journey itself. I was killing myself with worry for a while – that is until I remembered something my pastor, Dr. Joel Hunter, had said, “If you’re worried about money, read your money.”

“In God we trust.”

I said earlier that I am not going to ask you for money. And I’m not. I am going to ask for your prayers – they’re far more valuable. If you want to give, please do – we could use it. But you don’t have to. Just become a fan on facebook. Or visit our website and check in with us on the road. Or tell your friends about what we’re doing. All of those are huge to us.

I recently came across this video via Jon Acuff, author of, “Stuff Christians Like” (http://stuffchristianslike.net/), about how we view creativity. If you have some time I hope you’ll watch it. It has really helped me think about the way I view my creative work and think about inspiration.

If it were all up to me this project wouldn’t happen. It’s too much responsibility to put on a mere person. I’m glad it’s not it’s not up to me.

If you are anything like me at one point or another you had serious doubts about your talent. It’s hard not to. At this point in history, because of the Internet, we have instant access to a global network of talent. If I’m being honest, sometimes when I see videos of other up and coming filmmakers I get a little nervous. I start to think of my own work as inferior. But I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in feeling this. Whether or not you’re a filmmaker, artist, musician, or whatever, chances are after you’ve decided to step out of the boat and chase your dreams you’ll have moments of serious self-doubt.

Well, the good news is you can stop. You can stop worrying about talent.

When I was in college I had a professor who asked the class what they thought the key to being a success in the film industry was. Hands shot up as students quickly answered with things like “hard work”, or “kindness”, or “faith in yourself”. To my amazement, not one person in the class of over one hundred had mentioned “talent”. The class had it right. Being honest, and vulnerable with your work is far more important than being talented.  C.S. Lewis points this out very clearly in one my favorite quotes:

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”

There is also this terrible habit we have of comparing ourselves to others, like they can define our success for us. I hate to break it to you, but the idea of being the “best” is a complete lie. What I mean by that is this:
I recently competed in a 72 Hour Film Festival. The challenge of the festival is that you have 72 hours to write, shoot, direct and edit a film based on a certain set of criteria given at the start of the festival. It was great because I was able to re-unite with the neighborhood crew I grew up making films with and I came away with a film that I am very proud of.
The night of the festival, we all waited anxiously to see what awards we would be walking away with. After seeing the other films, we were very confident, if not completely certain, that we would sweep the festival. We ended up walking away with the best editing award – and nothing else. Our team was rather upset.
In one night, we went from feeling proud of our work to being completely disappointed. How did that happen? We bought into this idea, this lie that we had to be the best.

Now, I know this I’m crazy because even the people in the top of their fields feel this way. Just watch this clip of Qunetin Tarantino as he tells a story about the great filmmaker Brian De’Palma:

(Warning – language!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClFBKaJIrPo

Friends, don’t worry about being the best. Create and do what makes you happy. If you can walk away at the end of the day with something that you are proud of, what else matters?

This past week I was reading Stuff Christians Like, one of my favorite websites, and came across an article that really rang true to me. The theme of the article is so relevant, and so true, I feel that I have to share it with all of you. Enjoy!

http://stuffchristianslike.net/2010/01/looking-for-goliath/

See, there is this part of me that gets very nervous when talking to people who used to know me. I’m certainly not the same person I used to be. I used to be very shy. I did not like school and I never felt comfortable there. So naturally, people who knew me in that setting have an image of me built up in their mind that doesn’t really reflect who I am. I was nervous that, when I talked to this friend, even though she’s the sweetest girl in the world, she would be filtering everything I say through a prism of who I used to be. But, I quickly found out that was not the case when I overcame my tiny fear and sent her a message.

We talked for hours. We chatted about our Christmas, and all the nice things we got; about her school and work; about her love for her dog and my life in NY. We even talked a little politics. But eventually the conversation turned to dreams. I explained to her this project, about walking across the United States and what we are trying to accomplish. And, needless to say, she got super excited. I even invited her to come and walk with us for a little while — an invitation that stands for everyone reading this.

Then I asked about what her dreams are. I realized she most likely thought I was a crazy because I hadn’t seen her in about ten years, and one day popped up in a little window on Facebook and started asking her deep questions, but she seemed happy to answer. She explained to me that her dreams are simple: she wants a husband, a few kids, a dog, and a house with a white picket fence. She knew it was a bit cliche, but insisted that she was being honest. And those are all great things. But as the conversation unfolded into the late hours of the night, she began to open up more. As she continued talking about her life, she talked about becoming a college English professor. I had wondered why she didn’t lead with that. Maybe itÕs less important to her than a family and a dog and the house with the white picket fence. But maybe not.

She asked about me, about what I really wanted. I told her about my passion for filmmaking and that I want to be wherever I am able to create. This sparked her interest. She talked for a while about how she liked to create and said that she had started writing a book.

Then the conversation really got interesting when she admitted one of her craziest dreams. She wants to be a contestant on the show, Survivor. I already have my tape ready to send in, she said, a little embarrassed. I couldn’t stop smiling. I kept thinking about her on the show. Sitting at the tribal counsel, giving one of those confessionals straight to the camera. I could see it. Immediately, I volunteered to edit her submission tape for her. She turned me down saying it was too embarrassing, and I argued on the grounds that she was applying for a national TV show that would be seen by millions. I lost the argument.

Our conversation kept going until about 4:30 in the morning. The period between responses was growing longer because we were both drifting off to sleep at our computers. It was a great night. I learned a lot.

I think her attitude reflects the way a lot of us think. For many of us, our dreams are buried. They seem unrealistic or embarrassing. Sometimes even admitting our dreams is a risk. It took a while for my friend to really open up to me. She didn’t open with the fact that she was a writer and wanted to publish a book. She didn’t talk about teaching at a college. She certainly did not start by saying, I want to be on Survivor! I think we all have these dreams that are there, just waiting beneath the surface. We don’t admit them because, well, they’re risky. In my opinion, living at all is a risk. It’s never a question of, “am I risking something?” You always are. It’s a question of, “am I living the life that I want?”

As for my friend, I sincerely hope she uses her winnings from Survivor to take time off and finish her book. Then, after a wildly successful book tour and several months on the New York Times Best Sellers list, I hope she settles down and finds a job at a college as an English teacher (where she can constantly annoy her students with shameless references to her award winning book) so she can continue to support her family and pay for her house with the white picket fence. And no, I do not think that is unrealistic at all.

That’s it. I realized I had been living vicariously through these characters, re-experiencing high school but with a better story.

Have you ever thought about your life as a story? I think when we become complacent it’s helpful to ask ourselves, am I living a good story? Would my life, at this moment keep an audience riveted, hanging onto the edge of their seat? My answer would be no. Or at least would have been no.

This past week our team had the awesome opportunity to interview actor/comedian Bobby Slayton. It was interesting to hear Mr. Slayton’s thoughts on comedy and his career. Although Mr. Slayton has been working in comedy for over twenty years, he’ll tell you that his career is not what he would have liked and that he doesn’t consider himself a success. I think he’s just being modest. The sold out comedy club where I saw him perform seemed to agree. He stepped off the stage after his set to a standing ovation. But I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and take him at his word; maybe he’s not just being humble. Maybe he really feels like his career has not been a success  (although, he did say he takes great pride in being well respected in the comedy community, and over the years has earned the nickname The Pitbull of Comedy) but at least he’s doing what he loves. He’s been living an interesting story. After all, that’s why we wanted to talk to him.

Too often we begin to think that we don’t have a story. And with no story we become purposeless.

So, if you are starting to feel purposeless, maybe it’s time you started writing something better for yourself. Maybe it’s time you start chasing your dreams. And yes, you may fail. But conflict and uncertainty are part of what make stories exciting. They’re part of what makes life exciting too.

Josh VanBuskirk

When Blake Wink came to me at a meeting of Rochester Movie Makers meeting with the concept of Walk the Dream, I wasn’t sure what to think. Part of me thought the project was insane, but there was this other part of me that thought the idea was fresh and exciting. I was attracted me to it was partly because it’s a great idea and partly because he was excited about it. He told us  (myself and fellow filmmakers Dan Petracca and Holly Nickeson) the idea – to make a film about walking across America. I say “idea” because that’s all it was, an idea. It was not the polished pitch I am so accustomed to hearing now. Blake had thought of it that morning and could not seem to get it out of his head. From what I could tell, having just recently met him, he always had these sorts of ideas, and I figured he only told us so we could tell him he was crazy and we could all move on with our lives. Only this idea wasn’t so crazy. I instantly thought this was a film I’d love to go see but never considered that I’d be part of making it. As the RMM (Rochester Movie Makers) meeting progressed I don’t think any of us, Blake, Dan, Holly or myself could shake the idea off. It had attached itself to us and was not going to let go. After the meeting we hung out talking about the idea and possible ways to get it started. We stayed and talked so long that we had all the lights turned off on us and were forced to migrate to Spot Coffee where we had our first impromptu production meeting. It was then I realized this was not just an idea, but my next movie. A new adventure.

If I can be honest, I was terrified. I’m not naturally a very outgoing person, certainly not the kind who commits a year of his life to walking across the country with some people he just met. But there is this other part of me that was more terrified about missing out. I realized that Blake was going to make this movie. I thought, “Well, if it’s going to get made I better be sure I’m a part of it.” And here I am four months later, still excited and scared to death. We’ve come a long way in those four months; our team has grown with the addition of several producers (Brett Benson, Tim Schroth and associate producer Aaron Meredith) as well as our amazing photographer Sara Klem (if you haven’t checked our her photography, head over to SK imaging right now. It’s really amazing stuff).

I keep getting asked about why I’m doing this. Why would I want to spend seven months walking across the nation? What’s it all for? My answer is, that this is not just another movie to me. This is not just my next project. It’s something that I really believe in. I’m walking because I think the only life worth living is one that you are really passionate about. So get passionate! And if you’re not sure what to be passionate about yet, come walk with us a while and we’ll figure it out together.

Josh VanBuskirk

I’ve been talking quite a bit about the future, but I want to stop and talk a little about the past year. In the last 365 days my life has changed dramatically. I graduated with a degree in film from Full Sail University, picked up and moved to Rochester, N.Y., where I started looking for work on films. I got my first job on feature film called Hamill, the first foreign language film in American Sign Language. I also had the great privilege of being a director of photography on Linger, a film my good friend, Ryan East, put together. It was such a great piece of work and I am truly honored that I was able to be a part of it (even if only a small part). And of course, I met Blake Wink and the rest of the Walk the Dream team. Not only are they great people to work with, but also they have become some of my best friends.

I want to say thank you to everybody who supported me in this past year. I want to thank my friends and family, without whom I probably would never have made it through school. I am constantly amazed at the caliber of people I find myself surrounded by.

I also owe a big thank you to everyone who is following and supporting this project. It means a lot. Happy New Year, Everyone!