New Year

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy New Year everyone!

It's a Wonderful Life

"Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends." -Clarence the Angel

watch your step

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Aloha!

I touched down on the island of Hawaii today. I'm here for a week of speaking, interviews and good old fashioned fun.

What did I do to deserve this? Not sure, I'm just grateful for the life I get to live.

Hopefully I'll have time, while I'm here, to blog about my adventures on this lovely island.

Crash the Super Bowl

I'm hoping to "Crash the Super Bowl" this year.

A group of friends and I decided to have some fun and make a commercial for the Doritos and their "Crash the Super Bowl" competition.











Here's the link: http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/gallery/?video=2442

Check it out and tell your friends. If we get selected into the top 10. America will get to vote and we will get a shot at winning $1 million.

We need all the help we can get.

Official

After months of rigorous labor and back and forth, my website is officially up and running!

I had a great designer from London working on my site, Lola Adebayo. She was so great to work with and is super talented. She's also looking for more graphic design work, so if you like my site, hit her up.

Check it out: www.johanluis.com

Hint

All I want for Christmas, is you.

Distant Relatives

I'm currently listening to the very smooth sounds that are a result of an amazing musical pairing. Nas and Damian Marley have joined melodic forces to create an album, "Distant Relatives", with a distinctive sound and feel. It couples the reggae vibes of a Marley son with the lyrical prowess of a hip-hop icon.

I highly recommend scooping up this album, you won't regret it.

The Element

Sir Ken Robinson continues to amaze me. His book, "The Element" is currently making me a better person. I love it, and I'm only on the first chapter.

Here's a quick exercpt: "The fact is that given the challenges we face, education doesn't need to be reformed -- it needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is not to standardize education, but to personalize it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions."

Real men wear bow ties: The return

I'm not a Swizz beats fan, but I am a fan of these looks.

California Love

A legend once said, Inglewood was always up to no good.

Today, I'll find out as I make the trek to go speak to the kids over there.

I have a feeling his words will be proven wrong today.

Real men wear bow ties

Every man should rock a bow tie at least once in his life.

Why? Wear one and you'll find out.

Take a fashion risk, wear a bow tie this week.

Cocina Criolla

One of the many reasons why it's hard to live away from home.

There's nothing like a home cooked meal by the master, my momma.

I miss her.

Creative Genius

It seems like I'm a little late to the party, but I just watched two TED talks by Sir Ken Robinson and his thoughts on creativity and education are utterly mind blowing.

Here's a quick quote from his talk: Do Schools Kill Creativity? "If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original."

I just ordered two of his books. It will be Christmas morning when they arrive in the mail.

Meisner

Mr. Sanford Meisner is the genius behind the acting technique I'm studying.

The more I study this technique, the more I realize how much it will help me become a more honest human being.

"Life beats down and crushes our souls and theatre reminds us that we have one. At least the type of theatre that I'm interested in; that is, theatre that moves an audience. You have the opportunity to literally impact the lives of people if they work on material that has integrity. But today, most actors simply want to be famous. Well, being an actor was never supposed to be about fame and money. Being an actor is a religious calling because you've been given the ability, the gift to inspire humanity. Think about that on the way to your soap opera audition."-Sandy Meisner

Past my curfew

I love to text. I'm not sure how I survived without it. I might be addicted to texting. I'd rather text than talk on the phone. It's not right.

Sometimes, I ignore a call and then send that person a text a few minutes later saying, "you rang?" or "what's up?".

Yup, I'm that guy.

Personally, I'm not sure what has happened to cause this social regression. I blame it on Mark Zuckerberg and the Napster guy.

Which is why last night was so amazing, I had a 3 hour real life conversation about faith, life, love and everything that really matters.

No lol's, omg's, or ttyl's. Just raw and unfiltered words, thoughts, and perspectives about the lives that we live and the ideas that shape us. Even in the areas where we didn't agree, we gave each other space to share our thoughts. No judgment, no trying to correct, just open space to say what you believed. I wish we made more space for that type of thing.

Our conversation took us into the wee hours of the night. Past 3am, way beyond this old mans bed time. Something happens to time when rich meaningful conversation happens. It's almost as if time has to speed up to keep up with you.

I wish these types of conversations weren't so rare.

Hold on, someone sent me a text...

Home again

It's good to be back home. My 4 months of madness has come to an abrupt stop. I can breathe easy and get back to the swing of things in LA.

Tomorrow is my first acting class, I can't wait. I'll officially begin to train as an actor. I don't know what to expect, but I'm really excited.

Shoot it

I live in a house. This house is occupied by a gang of misfits. There are 7 of us. We represent the male species. We call our abode, the MAN-sion. We're planning a photoshoot.

One of our looks will be inspired by this shoot. If you think we should try a certain look, send your thoughts my way.

Emerald City

Sometimes I just want to travel for the pure fun of enjoying a city. I found a pair of tickets to Seattle, $45 each way, and I couldn't help myself.

I'll be enjoying this beautiful city for the next few days. If you have any suggestions on places to hit up, shoot 'em my way.

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

!C//Sex

Today is the last day of the !C//Sex, idea camp in Vegas. Yesterday was jam packed with powerful stories from every possible vantage point. I'm grateful to Charles Lee and the people at idea camp for giving me an opportunity to share my story.

What happens in Vegas...

I'm hitting the road again today.

Destination: Sin City.

I'm speaking at an idea camp conference, titled !C//SEX.

https://www.theideacamp.com/

This should be fun.

More news to come, stay tuned...

sick kicks

I want these.

sick kicks

I have these.

fargo fresh

Just Cruisin'

“I hate you,” isn’t something people like to hear. That being said, can you find another response when I tell you about the places I get to visit in my line of work?

I’m predicting you might be tempted to utter those same words as you read what I’m about to write, which is okay as long as you keep reading.

I was invited to give a couple of talks on a cruise ship to the Bahamas a couple of weeks ago. It’s okay, you can hate me, I probably deserve it. I mean…it isn’t fair, just promise me your hate will subside by Christmas or the next time your affection is needed to lavish me with gifts.

Maybe this will help stifle the animosity.

I boarded an American Airlines red eye flight to Miami on Friday at the ungodly hour of 12:10 am (Pacific Standard Time). That flight landed in Dallas, Texas at 5:20 am (Central Time) where I boarded my next flight to Miami. If the fact that I flew American doesn’t stifle your anger than maybe the fact that I landed at 9:30am (Eastern Time) will? Let me translate: I didn’t sleep, not a wink. So I was a dead man walking for the rest of the day and the first half of day one on the cruise ship.

Feel better yet?

Well, let me tell you what type of gig would bring me on a cruise ship to talk. It was a conference for singles. Yes, you read correctly. I was with a gang of my non-ring carrying brethren for a few days. We took our empty ring fingers and set sail to the beautiful white sands and crystal clear waters of the Bahamas, some searching for love while others searched for the karaoke mic.

During our conference time, I was able to share from the Scriptures and enjoy the smooth melodies of a very talented recording artist, Eric Lopez. Every night we would gather, sing songs, and I would give a talk from the Biblical narrative of Joseph. It was my first time speaking on water, I’m working my way to the whole walking on water thing. I’m hoping to have that down by the next cruise.

Our three nights together were truly amazing, not because anyone found romance or “the one,” but, because we found each other. Even though our romantic lives were as dry as the Sahara in the middle of summer, that didn’t stop us from having a blast on this cruise to paradise. I was the speaker who was “working,” but in all honesty, I was also there as a single man, who also longed for love and intimacy.

There was something about being with a group of people who shared in the struggle. Who knew what it felt like to wonder, “will I ever experience true love?” “Is there someone out there for me?” “Should I settle?” “Is it really worth the wait?” “Can someone please hook me up with Rachel McAdams?” You know, some of the more grueling desires of the unmarried heart.

For the next three days, we enjoyed community. We were a group of individuals bonded by common desires, struggles, and passions. It’s amazing what can happen when you lose sight of what isn’t to enjoy the beauty of what is.

Many people get caught up on the places I go, I’m more moved by the people I meet. So thank you, to the gang of great individuals I met on my first gig on the ocean.

Fargo Chronicles

The Fargo Chronicles continue: three speaking gigs today, had so much fun with the kids here. They are energetic, fun and full of life.

Highlight of the day: I met a youngin' named Bubba, tried to fight the urge to call him Bubba-licious, I failed.

Thank you Fargo, for a wonderful welcome.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

Look how Far I Go.

It's official, I'm currently in Fargo, North Dakota. It's my first time in this city/state and I'm looking forward to experiencing all that Fargo has to offer.

I'll be speaking at three High Schools in the area tomorrow. Then, I'll be doing a keynote at a leadership conference on Wednesday and another keynote in Bismarck on Thursday.

Let the adventures begin.

Look of the day

I'm currently on the prowl for a 'fit that reflects the genius represented here. My man Travis Gumbs from Street Etiquette is representing well with this tweed jacket, army green pants (slightly rolled up), classic leather hand bag, and super sick boots.

This is my sartorial selection of the week.

Bahama Mama

My job took me to the beautiful world of the Bahamas this weekend.

I was speaking on a cruise ship, Jesus walked on water, I gave a talk on water.

Now I just need to learn how to swim.

More than KFC

I recently turned 31, which means I'm the new 21. Right?

I decided to do something different on my birthday. Instead of the same ole' same ole' of birthday parties and receiving iTunes gift cards, I wanted to make my birthday an opportunity to give to others. Be a gift, instead of receive the gift.

So, I decided to fly to Manila and work with an organization called, Mahal. A non-profit started by a friend and big bear of a man, Del Augusta. Del has dedicated his life to feeding the hungry and tending to the needs of the underprivileged in the Philippines. He's a big man both in stature and in heart. That king sized heart has led him to give his life to help people in need, in a country very far from the place he calls home.

We stayed at an orphanage in an area known as Pasig, a small city outside of Manila. Our home for the next 5 days was a far cry from the streets of Silver Lake. Our new neighborhood was littered with shoeless kids scampering about and nefarious looking characters holding up the street corners.

One of my favorite moments on this trip was when we ventured off into a small village in the city of Pampanga.

Our group went in to support a program called, "Books for the Barrios", an organization whose goal is to provide books and education where it's needed. We visited the classrooms and read stories, taught them the "word of the day", painted faces, played games and hung out.

Then came time to grub.

Today's special: Chicken and Spaghetti. (Roscoe couldn't come so we left the waffles on the west coast)

As kids lined up with their plates and spoons I couldn't help but notice the way their faces lit up, it was like Christmas morning for them. What they were about to receive wasn't ordinary, it wasn't every day. It was something that they could get excited about, something they might have even dreamt about. Their eyes bulged and their smiles grew as they lined up to the smell of fresh fried chicken that would bring Colonel Sanders to shame.

Each spaghetti and chicken filled plate was received with a very polite, yet enthusiastic, "Thank you sir". We filled plate after plate and the "Thank you's" kept coming. Each child filled with excitement and anticipation for what they were about to indulge in.

It's amazing how something as simple as a piece of chicken can illicit such excitement and joy.

My day in Pampanga was very meaningful to me.

There's the obvious: gratitude for the things I have and opportunity to serve and give to those that are in need.

Then there's the not so obvious.

As I reflected on the faces of the kids, the smiles, their voices, the way they patiently waited in line, the way they stared anxiously and lovingly. I asked myself, when was the last time I felt this way? When was the last time I was filled with wonder and awe? What would it look like to live life like each one of these kids did? Am I living a life in delightful anticipation and excitement over the things that I long to experience? Or am I merely creating a life that doesn't allow for the beauty of hope and fulfilled longings?

It's easy to allow our lives to become predictable and rote. To slip into our routines and patterns, to never be surprised or excited, to create lives that we control instead of lives that require faith and risk. Lives that demand the best of us, at all times. Life can be manageable and unsurprising or it can be all that God intended it to be. Full of wonder and excitement, replete with the moments that we will never forget, packed with laughter and desire. Every day brimming with hope and dreams that we doggedly pursue and yet calmly wait for.

I don't know about you. But, I want to be more like my young friends in Pampanga. Ready to line up, waiting for the moment I've craved and hoped for. Knowing that, it's just a matter of time before my plate is full.

shorties.

One day I'll have lil' shorties of my own. They will look fresh, like these two youngin's.

Let's roll.

Who's coming with me?