More recently, I received a facebook message from a former coworker about a young man I worked with years ago.

After a week of relaxation on Tybee Island and Savannah, Georgia, I realized the Southern pace of life is the pace for me. 

I recently saw on Facebook that a former employee of mine started her own adventure in photography with some friends. A smile came across my face as she helped a number of kids dive into the world of expression of emotions through art.

THEY ARE CALLED THE BADLANDS.

This isn’t the first time an idea of mine was put into motion by people who believe in me and what I was attempting to accomplish. Ten years ago three people came together in a perfect storm to allow John Paul Derryberry to hatch, and laid the foundation of my message that years later morphed into Share Emotions, Emotions Matter.

The picture above is a little John Paul Derryberry attending his first ever day of school at Colebrook Elementary in the tiny town of Colebrook, Ohio.

We stood up and shook hands, not as white man and black man, but as friends who are trying with our own backgrounds, religions, and beliefs to make the world a better place.

Why do I live in Iowa? A question I get asked all the time, well here is the answer!