My friend Angela Todd is an interior designer who read A Million Miles a few weeks ago. The book caused her to reflect on her story, and because she has something of an entrepreneurial spirit, she decided to start telling a better story with her life. Specifically, she decided to start creating more memorable scenes. Some other friends were at the house and we were working on a video and Angela told us of her weekend visit to a local fountain with her nieces. They were all playing in the fountain, and Angela was sitting on a chair, wearing a sundress and a large hat, reading a book. Then she decided to do something a little crazy. My friend asked Angela to sit down in front of the camera and recall the story. I thought the story was pretty great. I hope you’re creating some memorable scenes in your life, too. Here you go: Angela from Donald Miller on Vimeo. A friend reflects on creating a memorable scene. On September 26th and 27th, about 400 folks who’ve read A Million Miles are descending on Portland for the Living a Better Story Seminar. We are pretty excited about the event, and [...]
Today I get to drive north to Canada and join some friends as we travel up to Bob Goff’s lodge. I tell the story of Bob in A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Actually, I only tell part of Bob’s story. Most of Bob’s story is too unbelievable to relay in a book and have anybody actually believe any of it. I met Bob while kayaking about 50 miles from the nearest road. He’d built a beautiful lodge near a Young Life camp where he could practice hospitality with the staff at Young Life and also entertain world leaders. It was an accidental meeting, but it was one of those accidents that explodes blessings into your life. I think Bob is probably the most influential person in my adult life. His faith knows no bounds. I want to tell you a little about him because the more Bob stories I hear, the more it makes me want to live an exceptional life. Without Bob, I doubt Million Miles would have ever been written, because I doubt I would have ever realized how remarkable life can actually be. Here are just some tip of the iceberg “facts” about Bob. He [...]
In movies, the bad guy has to display he is the bad guy through actions. It won’t do to have a subtitle come on the screen that says “this is the bad guy.” A cliche, yet effective methodology is to have the bad guy belittle somebody who is weaker, poorer of less fortunate. A bad guy will belittle a servant, a waiter, a spouse or child. The reason screenwriters write these scenes is because, eventually, the bad guy is going to get killed, and they can’t let anybody in the audience feel sorry for them when this happens. They have to establish how bad the bad guy really is. In real life, the bad guy doesn’t always get killed off, but that doesn’t change the fact we don’t like him. And ultimately, bad guys get what they deserve. They end up alone, or worse, surrounded and yet lonely. They may take advantage of people but the world doesn’t run on money or fame, it runs on love, and when you take advantage of people, you end up without love. The other problem with real life is it’s hard to tell whether or not you are the bad guy. We all [...]
For years I’ve been listening to a kid from Nashville named Andrew Peterson. You’re likely to have been listening to him too. He’s the one with the voice as smooth as a cello, and the story-telling intuition of Garrison Keillor (Andrew is also an accomplished novelist). These days, musicians are releasing what should be a record of b-sides with one or two decent songs. I don’t blame them. There’s not much of a commercial reason to stick a bunch of hits on one album. But Counting Stars is not such a release. From the first track, I stopped working and turned it up and leaned back in my chair. It felt like a record I’d heard before, something immediately familiar. It’s the record you are searching for for a long night-drive in the country. It will make you want to cut the roof off your car so you can see the stars. And if you’re driving with friends, forget talking. You’ll just feel together. Tracks to pay attention to: Many Roads, World Traveler, You Came So Close and Dancing in the Minefields Many Roads is a sly smile against cynicism. It’s Andrews way of saying some things are miraculous, mysterious, [...]
My dog Lucy has been covering the blog for me lately, as I’ve been preoccupied trying to get some lint out of my belly button. It tickles so much but I can’t get it all out. Anyway, here’s her blog today. I’ll be back tomorrow reviewing Andrew Peterson’s new record, Counting Stars. It’s a lovely record that makes you want to cut the top off your car and go driving at night through the hills. But for now, here’s some thoughts from Goose: So Don and I have a good thing going. It’s just us up here in the condo, though it seems like we have somebody in the guest room every night. I like when we have guests but I wanted to say something about why I bark so loud when they first come to the door. I wanted to say why I run to the door and shout when I hear their suitcases rolling down the decking toward our door. I want to say why I keep barking even when Don pulls on my collar and tells me their name. I even growl sometimes but that’s not a bad thing in my opinion. I don’t bark for long [...]
