Kelsey Timmerman's Blog, page 27

If I won the Mega Millions…

I’ve never played the lottery nor do I intend to start doing so, but it’s hard not to hear the amount of the jackpot of the Mega Millions lottery – $636 million – and not ask: “If I won two-thirds of a billion dollars, how would it impact my life?”

We would move into a new home, about the size of our current home, but with more land. I want the kids to be able to hit a baseball as far as they are able in our yard. But we’re going to do that anyhow. Our house went on the market yesterday. So I guess that really doesn’t count other than we’d pay cash for the house.

We’d probably keep our G6 with 106K miles on it and add a brand new car of some type for convenience. We’re currently a single car family, which suits us 92% of the time. The remaining 8% of the time we have to mooch rides or rent cars. But this doesn’t really get me too excited. We’re not car people.

We’d be debt free. See you later student loan! But we’re not too far from this already.

I’d write more books. My book ideas tend to be: “I’m going to go on this big journey and come back and write a book about it.” To which publishers ask: “So who will you meet and what will happen and what will be your takeaway?” To which I respond: “Who knows, but I imagine it will go something like this…”

Thankfully after the success of WEARING, Wiley was kind enough to offer an advance for EATING. The way advances work is that you get the first half of the advance when you sign the contract and the rest when you turn the manuscript in. To be the responsible single-income earner of my family that I strive to be, the first half needs to at least cover the expenses of the trip and then some of my time. But if I had Mega Millions, I would just go on the trips and come back with a book that would blow their minds. At least that’s the idea.

Or would I?

Maybe I’d pursue unpublishable ideas to the ends of the Earth and write fewer books. Maybe the fact I need a publisher to give my book ideas a stamp of approval is a good check on the Walter Mitty-esque idea machine that sits atop my shoulders.

I’d go trekking. By camel. By horse. In Mongolia. In some desert in the Mid-East. I would totally get my Hobbit / Lawrence of Arabia on. I’d consider taking my family, but I doubt they’d want to go.

Oh speaking of my family… We’d take a vacation like somewhere people take vacations. Michigan doesn’t count. Not just a three day jaunt, but at least a week long.

I’d hire a full-time BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst – Autism therapist) and language therapist to work with my son Griffin. Thanks to insurance, he’s about to start at a ABA clinic anyhow and will be overseen by a BCBA, but won’t work with one daily.

I’d hire an assistant to do the business upkeep (contracts, taxes, expenses, booking tickets) that I distract me from the things I enjoy doing

I think I would keep doing what I do. I’d keep connecting people through stories I collect around the world. I’d keep working with J.R. on the Facing Project to encourage other writers and communities to tell their own stories.

I’d consider funding my own college speaking tour, but I’ve found the more an organization pays for a speaker, the bigger the audience they turn out.  So I could end up reaching less people. 

That amount of money comes with a lot of responsibility and demands. Maybe those demands would pull me away from my current mission.

$636 million could also come with the need not to do anything. I like to think that I currently want to work just as much as I need to work, but this would truly be put to the test.

Overall, I’m okay not winning.

Life is pretty good as a thousandairre.

If you won Mega Millions, how would your life change?

Building Community Story by Story

I wrote this post for and it first appeared at FacingProject.com. I’m the co-founder of the Facing Project which seeks to connect people through stories to strengthen communities.  

A participant of Facing Homelessness in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, decided she wanted to do something to help homeless individuals sleep better at night. Now she makes and gives sleeping bags to Ft. Wayne’s homeless.

A students writer who participated in Facing Hope in Rome, Georgia, got a job at the magazine that published the books for the project.

Books from Ft. Wayne’s Facing Homelessness are being used in sociology classes in Florida.

TEAMwork for Quality Living, the community partner on the very first Facing Project, organized 15+ local nonprofits to share stories of those in Muncie Facing Poverty. Less than 6 months after their Facing event, which was the culminating event of the Poverty Awareness week, they received the largest grant in the organization’s history–more than $75,000! (Note: The Facing Project isn’t the sole reason for this, but Molly Flodder the director of TEAMwork told us the project played a key part.)

These are the kinds of things that happen when you step out your front door and meet your neighbors face-to-face. When you meet people you don’t normally interact with. When an organization connects with other organizations to lead a community-wide effort.

These are the kinds of things that strengthen a community.

But…

Community is Eroding

Unfortunately, community and civic engagement have been eroding for decades. Think about a community organization, any community organization. Imagine walking into the room where they meet and shaking the members’ hands. Now….what’s the average age of those in the room?

I talked with a local Rotary Club a few months ago in Muncie. I’m 34, and the average age of those in attendance was at least 35 years older than me.

One of the best books I’ve read about this erosion is Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam. Putnam writes about the decline of memberships at community organizations and churches, voter turnout, newspaper subscriptions, and a whole host of other areas. He documents that more people are bowling, but less people are bowling in groups–hence, the title of the book.

We are isolating ourselves from those who live in our community, vote in our community, breathe the same air and drink the same water as us, pay taxes that support our community’s schools.

Do you know your neighbor? Do you know one person facing autism, poverty, homelessness, hunger, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, sex trafficking?

The Facing Project is a storytelling project, yes. In fact, we want to become the largest repository of first person stories on the Internet for all sorts of subjects. But stories are simply the engine that drive our mission:

Connecting people through stories to strengthen community

Connecting with people helps us find our purpose, build social capital, and use both to positively impact our communities and one another.

The project connects writers, storytellers (person facing the subject), nonprofits, businesses, municipalities, artists, actors, photographers, and media to shine a light on an issue the community faces. Currently there are more than 10,000 copies of Facing Project books sitting on book shelves, waiting room tables, and in schools. But these aren’t the final products.

A story that doesn’t make an impact is like a heart that doesn’t beat.

We don’t want Facing stories just to be read and forgotten. We want the stories to heal and inspire and lead writers, storytellers, and communities to action.

We want people to make sleeping bags.

Join us to launch 50 projects by 2015

Eight projects are underway or completed. Our goal is to have 50 Facing Projects completed or underway by the end of 2014.  You can help us meet this goal by starting your own Facing Project or sharing our stories.

Travelers witness garment worker protest in Cambodia

Dalene and Paul Heck of Hecktic Travels we’re traveling in Phnom Penh when they witnessed a protest by garment workers. Police met the protestors with riot shields, rubber bullets, and then actual bullets. Dalene wrote about the protest and how she now vows to change as a consumer.

Here’s her powerful post-protest reflection:

Their plight is one common to this part of the world – one of being overworked in deplorable and unsafe garment factories while earning less than the minimum wage. The workers from this particular factory serve H&M, the Gap, and other global brands. They have already been protesting for months to no avail.

“We are embarrassed that you have seen this,” said those Cambodians we talked to about it later.

They were embarrassed? I was embarrassed – sitting there in my cheap H&M pants, supporting the discount retailer that these protestors were actually rallying against. I was a part of the problem. I was part of the reason why an innocent woman lost her life via a stray bullet.

It’s easy for us to forget, while on the other side of the world, that a simple decision of where we buy our cheap clothes causes ripples somewhere else. Or in this case, brutal, terrifying waves. Not only of crippling poverty, but of a desperate voice met by tyrannical violence.

This protest, which resulted in devastating injuries and death, barely made the news around the world. And had I not seen it for my own eyes, I might have never given this issue a second thought.

But now I must.”

Australian woman uses her vagina to knit

This is the actual first sentence of a piece on TIME Magazine’s site:

There’s one kind of knitted good that you probably won’t find on Etsy: the kind that comes out a human vagina.

I’ve looked for the origins of clothing around the world, but, I have to admit, I never imagined clothes would originate THERE. And by there I mean vagina.

I’m not sure this is art that I get.  Because I don’t get this at all.  She just stuffs the yarn up there regardless of the time of month and pulls the strands out to knit.  She still knits with her hands.  She just uses her vagina for yarn spool storage.  I don’t see the art, beauty, or vaginal respect that this is intended to inspire.

If you’re still curious, you can watch the video below. It’s pretty much NSF-Anywhere unless you are comfortable answering the question, “What are you watching?” with “A woman knitting out of her vagina.”

On the faculty at Ermapalooza! Registration opens tomorrow!

When humor goes, there goes civilization. –Erma Bombeck

I’m excited to announce that I’m on the faculty at the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop (April 10-12). I’ve been to the conference twice as an attendee, and it is definitely one of my favorite conferences. The conference made me better as a writer, led to some major assignments, a book blurb from Senator Sherrod Brown, and, the best part, I made some real life friends, who are hilarious. That’s the great thing about a humor conference, the people who attend it are typically pretty darn funny.

I’m teaching one section…

Writing Nonfiction: Connecting People Through Stories

Kelsey Timmerman

Writers of creative nonfiction explore truths through verifiable facts, shaping the narrative using the same tools as writers of fiction: scene, pacing, setting, characterization, etc. Students will be introduced to these elements and given the opportunity to use them in their own writing and share them in the class.

The rest of the time I’ll be hanging out eating food (hands down the best conference food I’ve ever had), attending sessions, and packing in as many laughs as possible into three days.

The conference sells out fast–like a matter of two days or so fast. Since registration opens tomorrow, you better jump on it. I’d love to see you there.

You register HERE tomorrow

The official conference pitch from the organizers:

Hello, writers!

Want to laugh for three solid days? Soak in advice and encouragement from other writers? Maybe hang out with a few celebrities in the hotel bar?

Online registration opens at noon on Wednesday, Dec. 4, for the 2014 Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop at the University of Dayton. We will post a registration link on the workshop’s website that day, plus on our Facebook page and via Twitter @ebww.

Is the workshop worth it? Here’s what writers told us after the last one:

* “When I came to EBWW in 2010, I had a blog and some dreams. I came to EBWW in 2012 having had several essays published and with a book contract. Did EBWW get me published? No. But did it make me believe I could do it? Absolutely.”

* “Truly, this was the best conference I’ve ever been to for writers. Not only were the classes very informative, but my smile muscles hurt each night. …And a unique thing at this conference was the overall feeling of warmth and unity I felt throughout with kindred souls who were out to support each other and not compete.”

* “The desserts rocked.” (Everyone agreed on that point.)

We hope you’ll join us April 10-12 for what’s shaping up to be an outstanding workshop. Check out the keynoters, faculty and workshop sessions here.

Erma Bombeck will be in the national spotlight when C-SPAN2 airs stories about Dayton’s literary life and history this month.The segment featuring Erma’s legacy will air at noon on Saturday, Dec. 21. Tune in!

Are the stars laughing behind your back? Chuckle at Beth Bartlett’s recent horoscope for Scorpio: “It is better to have loved and lost than to keep checking up on your exes via Facebook. If you drop the obsession, you’ll quickly find a new one, thanks to those ever-present Candy Crush invites.” She’s our Humor Writer of the Month for her “Wisecrack Zodiac” column. It’s so fun and irreverent that the National Society of Newspaper Columnists awarded Beth’s column second place for humor in its 2013 competition.

We wish you a holiday season filled with joy and laughter.

Keep writing!

Teri Rizvi

Founder, Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop

erma@udayton.edu 

http://www.humorwriters.org

P.S. You could drop a hint. A registration to the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop would make an excellent gift.

My Boy Griffin: Autism, Affection, & Thanksgiving

It was Thanksgiving.

The more than 30 members and friends of my wife’s family bowed their heads to pray. They prayed for the food and for the gift of each other, and some others stuff. I have to admit I wasn’t paying that much attention.

I was looking up at my son Griffin who was sitting at a table playing by himself. Griffin is two so I worried that at any moment he would burp or fart or look at me and say, “you’re stinky!” Griffin is on the autism spectrum, and few things distract him from playing by himself. Griffin Land is his favorite place to be.

Griffin saw me looking at him. I gave him a little wave, and he gave me a big smile. And then he did something unexpected, something that answered my prayers. As his smile grew into a giggle, he got down from his chair, ran around the table and his praying relatives, jumped from Griffin Land into my arms, and hugged me.

All of the pumpkin pie in the world wasn’t as sweet as that little boy in that moment.

Before I had a son who was on the spectrum, I thought of individuals who were on the spectrum as robotic and without emotion. I thought they lacked a true connection with their fellow human beings. I was wrong. Griffin does spend a lot of time in Griffin Land, but when he comes out, he comes out smiling and with all of the love and affection that a dad could hope for.

Moments like this might happen less than with kids who aren’t on the spectrum, but that just makes them that much more special.

I’m thankful that these moments are happening more each day. Each one of them is their very own Thanksgiving.

Autographed copies of my books for Christmas

I’ve signed thousands of copies of my books over the past few years.  I’ve also signed a few arms, shirts, posters, and even a Kindle once.  I don’t think I’ll ever get used to folks wanting my scrawled signature in their books.

But since I love having autographed copies of books myself, and I’ve had a few recent requests for books for the holidays….

How to get an autographed copy of EATING or WEARING for Christmas!

Send me a copy of the book you want signed. Please include what you’d like me to write in the book and to whom I should address it. Also include the address where I should mail it. If you have the book sent directly from the book buyer, leave the address info in the comments section.

Mail the books to:

Kelsey Timmerman

Innovation Connector

1208 W. White River Blvd Suite 127

Muncie, IN 47303

Don’t worry about covering the shipping costs back to you.  That will be my gift to you unless you wait until the last second and want it next day delivery or something.  This offer expires on December 18, 2013.

 

Behind the scenes of a 10-minute talk

If you could address high school you, what would you say?

I had the opportunity to address students at Mississinawa Valley High School (from which I graduated in 1997) at their National Honor Society ceremony. I was never in NHS, but I’ve talked at two of their ceremonies. I think I’m a few decades away from wisdom, I much prefer to tell stories that teach students to see the world in a different light. But all I had was 10 minutes to talk, so there wasn’t a lot of room for stories, so I took a swing at a few life lessons.

I though it might be interesting to talk about my process of preparing a talk.

Step 1: Rough draft / outline

I free write what I want to say, writing my main points out in complete sentences and using bullet points for stories that I’ve already delivered. I think of these tried and true stories as arrows in my quiver ready to be pulled at a moments notice. Since this talk was a lot of new material, you’ll see a lot of sentences.

Here’s what the rough draft looks like…

Congrats to all of the new NHS members. It’s great to be back at MV.

I’ve traveled to 70-some countries. I freed a slave in West Africa. I was nearly killed by a snake in Honduras. Spent the night in Castle Dracula. Played PlayStation in Kosovo. I’ve farmed on four continents. Met the people who made my Jingle These Christmas boxers, grow my Starbucks coffee. Have written two books. And all of my adventures started right here at this school in the middle of fields of corn.

In many ways this school was my field of dreams. I dreamned of getting the heck out! But the values and lessons I learned here and the education I received, gave me the independence, empathy, and curiosity to embark on these global adventures that have changed the way I live my life, the way I see the world and what I do for a living.

Yes, I do this for a living. Everyone always so concerned about that. I support my family by traveling, writing, and telling stories. It’s a pretty good living. Thanks for your concern.

This morning I want to share of the lessons I’ve learned from living a life of travel and a life of writing since I graduated.

Lesson #1 You don’t have to wait for permission to work.

I graduated with a degree in anthropology, which I quickly put to use working as a SCUBA instructor in Key West Florida.

- Started to get published.

- Pitched a travel column to every newspaper in the country with a circulation above a few thousand.

- Rejected a lot: Like hundreds of times.

- Gatekeeper: told me that you have to write about traffic report before you can have a column.

Lesson #1: You don’t have to wait for permission to work

You’ll have a lot of people tell you what you should do or what you shouldn’t do. Some will tell you that you have to wait for permission to do that thing you want to do. You don’t. But what you do have to do is work.

- I bet there are 0 fighter pilots or videogame designers who can’t do Calculus.

- I bet there are 0 writers who didn’t pay attention in some English class at some point.

- Grad school rejection

You know, I’ve never gotten a job with my college degree. If you look at a degree as something to leverage to a better job, it’s worthless. But the curiosity that college inspired in me has been priceless.

Lesson #2: Follow your curiosity.

There’s the age old adage… follow your heart or follow your passion. I’d like to edit this advice to… follow your curiosity.

I love to write. There’s nothing that I’m more passionate about than sitting at a computer and writing a good sentence. But I know a lot of writers who are more passionate about writing than me and who are better writers, but who haven’t reached as many people with their stories as I have. They are more talented and more passionate than I am, but I have more curiosity.

My curiosity has taken me around the world many times. It has led to books and an amazing career in which I get to educate people through stories.

Passion without curiosity fades. What do you want to know more about? Is it a diesel engine or biochemistry? Computer games or meteorology? Maybe you have that one thing already. Maybe you don’t. Your job right now is to experience arts, sciences, sports, volunteer opportunities, soak them up and decide what makes you NEVER STOP ASKING QUESTIONS.

That’s the key to finding that thing…

You NEVER STOP ASKING QUESTIONS.

Lesson #3: You get to write your own story.

I write nonfiction, which means that I can’t make stuff up. Everything has to happen every quote has to have actually been said. But the process is full of creativity. I have to decide what the story is. Where is the narrative thread lies? But even before that the creative process starts with the living.

I’m the main character in all of my books. I’m the common thread that links together the search for who made my stuff. I decide where to go, who to meet, how to act, what questions to ask, what to do next.

Our lives are stories. And each of us are our stories’ main characters. We control all of these things. If we don’t like the way our story is going, we can change it, by the way we act, feel, the goals we set, what we do next.

It might not be easy. But let me tell you this… As a professional storyteller I know that the longer the odds, and the more a character changes, the better the story will be.

My story started here at MVHS and so does your.

I’ll leave you with one question: What story are you living?

Step 2: Practice

I read through the rough draft several times and continue to tweak it. Then I try to deliver it a few times.

Step 3: Make the outline

Every time I speak in front of a group of people, I want to speak from the heart, not the page. I was talking at a library the other day and relating a story I’ve related 100+ times and I got goose bumps. I felt it that much. If I had to read all of my speeches that would probably never happen.

I usually don’t make an outline, but put together a powerpoint and the slides act as my outline. But for this speech, I didn’t have access to a projector, so I put together a few bullet points I could reference if I needed to.

Here’s the outline:

Intro:

- Congrats

- Great to be back at MVHS

- SOLO Story I was so lucky to go here although I didn’t realize it…SOLO STORY

My background

- I’ve traveled to 70 some countries: snake, slave, Castle Dracula, PlayStation Kosovo, Jingle These, Starbucks

- 2 books

- Adventures started right here at MVHS in the middle of these fields of corn.

-

- Laid groundwork for college education, which gave me empathy, curiosity, to travel, to write, to think,

- Gave me tools to do what I do for a living

o Yes, it’s a living

→ Today will share a few lessons I’ve learned from life of travel and writing

Lesson #1: You don’t have to have permission to work

- publishing journey

- pitching papers and rejections

- Gatekeeper told me….

- Many will tell you what you can’t do. Tell you they have to give you permission. You don’t. But you do have to work.

Lesson #2: Follow your curiosity.

- old adage: follow passions, suggest edit…

- Passion without curiousity fades.

- College degree

- More passionate writers, more talented, but not as curious

- My curiosity led to career

- What do you want to know more about?

- Job now is to experience things to discover thing you can never stop asking questions about

- NEVER STOP ASKING QUESTIONS

Lesson #3 You get to write your own story

- as nonfiction writer I deal with truth

- creative…in finding narrative in living

- I’m main character

- Our lives are stories, each of us main characters…

- Longer odds, more lead character changes, the better the story

- Your story begins here at MV

I’ll leave you with one question: What story are you living?

Step 4: Practice until you don’t need the outline

I typically practice a talk a few times in my office, run through the outline in my mind in the shower, practice the whole thing in the car on the way to an event, or the night before in my hotel room. I get a lot of compliments on my talks and continually get invited and re-invited to more and more places each year.

I don’t think it’s because I’m the most polished speaker, I think it’s because I’m genuine, and that I try to feel every word that leaves my mouth.

Always be genuine. Always be me. These are my mantras. Still, I have to work at it.

–

Conor Grenan, author of Little Princes and an in-demand speaker, posted the video of Ira Glass below, and prefaced it with this…

Here’s the thing about writing and speaking: it takes practice.

I wrote in a journal every night for 11 years starting in high school.

I wrote a blog regularly for 5 years.

It took me 22 drafts to get Little Princes right.

I practice every speech I give about 70-80 times in the mirror first.

I say this to encourage you: I have basically zero natural talent, believe me. I just work a lot at it – that’s the best way to fool people into thinking you’re a decent writer or speaker.

That’s why I love this short video. Take heart!

Where Am I Speaking in November?

 

Want me to visit your high school, university, or group? Let’s make it happen. 

Falls really zip by for me. November wraps up a busy few months of speaking at high schools, universities, culinary schools, and libraries.

Here’s where I’ll be speaking in November:

11/7: Lock Haven University / International Education Week: 7PM at Price Hall (free and open to the public)

11/8 5:30 PM – South Bend, Indiana: Facing Project event: Voices of Teenage Girls

11/9 7:30 Michigan City Public Library – Writing Out Loud (free and open to the public)

11/11 Private High School

11/11 Purdue N. Central Westville, Indiana

11/16 Writers Center of Indiana: 2013 Gathering of Writers / Teaching a nonfiction workshop at 12:45

Truth, Justice, and the Creative Nonfiction Way

Works of creative nonfiction don’t just have to do the truth justice; they have to be the truth. Writers of creative nonfiction explore truths through verifiable facts, shaping the narrative using the same tools as writers of fiction: scene, pacing, setting, characterization, etc.. Students will be introduced to these elements and given the opportunity to use them in their own writing and share them in the class.

11/18 (time TBD) Cornerstone University Grand Rapids, Michigan

11/20 6:30 PM Indian Hill High School Cincinnati, OH

COMMON THREADS…

COME LEARN ABOUT THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF YOUR PURCHASES

Indian Hill High School and St. Ursula Academy are bringing nationally renowned speaker, Kelsey Timmerman Where Am I Wearing? and Where Am I Eating? to Cincinnati to share his stories and motivate students to think about the impact of how and what they purchase – from clothing to food.

After his talk, there will opportunities to purchase fair trade goods: clothing, chocolate, coffee, and more…and learn more about how to shop justly. You can also meet Kelsey and purchase his books.

WHEN? November 20th – 6:30-8:00 pm

WHERE? Indian Hill High School Auditorium

6865 Drake Road,

Cincinnati, OH 45243

I also have a super secret visit pending…

 

I voted for my self-interest and the common good

I understand when people vote for their self-interest over the common good. However, it really makes me sad when people vote against both.

Today I believe I voted for both my self-interest and the common good. It’s nice when they line up like that.

There was only one item on the ballot. Muncie City schools are struggling and have to pass a referendum to increase property taxes to keep the buses running next year. I voted YES for the raise.

My self-interest

My taxes will go up somewhere between $70-$150/year at the most if it passes. If it doesn’t, I figure living in a school district that doesn’t offer busing will cause my home value to drop significantly more than that. Also, I’ll have a daughter in school next year, and where is she supposed to learn to fight and cuss if she doesn’t ride the bus?

The Common Good

The Indiana State government passed a property tax cap in 2010. Homeowners’ property taxes can’t exceed 1% of their home’s value. This significantly cut funding to the schools. The city schools are facing consolidation. Open enrollment and vouchers have led to students fleeing to other schools in the city and county. I expect this exodus would only increase if their are no buses. If you have to drive your kid to school, why not just drive them to a better performing school?

Three-fourths of students in Muncie City Schools are on free lunches. How is a working parent, in poverty or not, able to find the time, let alone the extra money, to pick up their kids from school? Most jobs don’t end at 3 in the afternoon.

I have a friend (retired, without kids) who is going to vote NO. He’s not a bad person. He believes that if it doesn’t pass the school will trim the fat from the bus budget and still find some way to keep them going. I haven’t read a single reported story in the local paper that foresees this, but if he’s right, we’d still live in a school district with buses and our taxes wouldn’t go up. At that point, I would thank him for his NO vote, take him out for a $45 steak and still be money ahead.

However, I’d rather not risk it. It’s a documented fact that the schools are strapped for money. So, I voted “YES, please raise my taxes to protect my home value and our kids.”

Did you vote?