You're alive and you matter and this pink holiday doesn't get to name you.

Comments (10) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Hey Guys, 

Last week was one we'll never forget. Thanks to your support, TWLOHA finished 3rd in Chase Community Giving and we are $100,000 closer to launching IMAlive, an online crisis network that will bring hope and help to thousands of people.

Over the last few years, we've been able to talk about issues that millions live with but few talk about - we've also learned that the first step to getting help is the one that most people never take. Thanks to Chase Bank and Facebook, more people are talking today and we're $100k closer to launching a network that will save lives. 

Comments (36) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys,

Welcome to the biggest moment in the history of TWLOHA.

For the last couple years, we've been talking and dreaming about a better way to bring hope and help to the people we hear from online. Since 2006, we've responded to more than 150,000 emails and messages from people asking for help. We've learned that the first step toward getting help is the one that most people never take. This is why, along with Kristin Brooks Hope Center (founders of 1-800-SUICIDE), we're launching IMAlive, the first live online crisis network with 100% of its staff certified & trained in crisis intervention.  Since 1998, 1-800-SUICIDE has responded to more than 3 million crisis calls, which is why we feel they are the perfect partner for this.

Chase Bank is giving away $5 million to charity and you get to decide where it goes. The organization that receives the most votes will win $1 million. With 75 hours to go, TWLOHA is in the lead. Every penny of the $1M will go toward the launch of IMAlive, which we believe will translate to hope and help for thousands of people online.

We need your help. Here's how...

1. VOTE. If you haven't already voted, please vote: http://bit.ly/7si7Be

2. Change your profile pic to match ours and then tag 50 friends. This way, the image will show up on their page. Include the voting link in the caption so that people know exactly what to do. Here's a suggested caption: "Please vote for TWLOHA to win $1 million for suicide prevention: http://bit.ly/7si7Be

3. If you have a twitter or myspace, please do the same there. Post blogs, tweets and bulletins and send emails. (That's what I've been doing all day)

4. Some of you like to write the word "love" on your arms. It sparks conversations and reminds you what's good and true. We hope you might consider writing the words "vote love" on your arm tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. Voting ends this Friday (1/22) 11:59PM EST. With your help, we might have something pretty incredible to celebrate.

5. Did we mention VOTE? http://bit.ly/7si7Be

We believe this is truly a chance to make history. It's not about winning. It's not about money. It's about bringing hope and help to thousands of people.

Peace to you. And as always, thank you for your support.

jamie and Team TWLOHA

PS: We also want to mention and remember the people of Haiti. Our hearts are heavy and our thoughts and prayers are for and with them. Please do what you can to help.

Comments (18) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hey guys,

As you know we are very excited about our opportunity to win $1 million in the Chase Community Giving contest to aid the start-up of IMAlive, the first ever live online crisis network. We’ve invited our partner at Kristin Brooks Hope Center (1-800-SUICIDE) to share a bit of the ideas behind IMAlive and why we see this as such a valuable new program.

Thanks for caring. Don’t forget that you have until January 22nd to vote, so log onto Facebook and help us today!

With Hope,
Team TWLOHA

Read more

Comments (19) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys,

The PostSecret project is one that means a lot to a lot of people, and it's a project that we believe in. Beyond sharing creative and compelling content, PostSecret founder Frank Warren has also been a huge supporter of Kristin Brooks Hope Center, the founders of 1-800-SUICIDE and TWLOHA's partner in the launch of IMAlive. We are grateful for the support of Frank and the PostSecret community.

Essentially, PostSecret is a platform - for people to share their secrets and for many more to realize that they are not alone. The PostSecret blog is something we at TWLOHA love to follow, because we've learned that many people live alone with their secrets, and that these things too often become sources of pain and shame. In addition to the PostSecret blog and PostSecret books, you can also experience PostSecret in person, at events across the U.S. over the next few weeks and months.

Peace to you.
jamie

APAP, New York, NY (SOLD OUT) - 01-10-10
Facebook Event Page.

Seattle University, Seattle, WA - 01-14-10
Facebook Event Page.

Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS - 01-20-10
Facebook Event Page.

Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY - 01-21-10
Facebook Event Page.

The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH - 01-27-10
Facebook Event Page.

McKendree University, Lebanon, IL - 02-02-10
Facebook Event Page.

Knox College, Galesburg, IL - 02-03-10
Facebook Event Page.

Canisius College, Buffalo, NY - 02-04-10
contact school for details

Auburn University, Auburn, AL - 02-08-10
Facebook Event Page.

University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA - 02-10-10
Facebook Event Page.

Pinkerton Academy, Derry, NH - 02-12-10
Facebook Event Page.

Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA - 02-16-10
Facebook Event Page.

Slippery Rock Universiy, Slippery Rock, PA - 02-18-10
Facebook Event Page.

University of South Florida – Tampa, Tampa, FL - 02-23-10
Facebook Event Page.

University of New Hampshire - Durham, Durham, NH - 02-24-10
Facebook Event Page.

Millikin University, Decatur, IL - 02-26-10
Facebook Event Page.

East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN - 03-04-10
Facebook Event Page.

Maryville University, St. Louis, MO - 03-22-10
Facebook Event Page.

Illinois State University, Normal, IL - 04-07-10
Facebook Event Page.

University of North Texas, Denton, TX - 04-08-10
Facebook Event Page.

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT - 04-14-10
Facebook Event Page.

Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA - 04-16-10
Facebook Event Page.

Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS - 04-22-10
Facebook Event Page.

SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY - 04-29-10
Facebook Event Page.

Comments (11) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Once again, HEAVY AND LIGHT was something special. People came from across the U.S. and as far away as Canada for this evening of songs, conversation and hope at House of Blues Orlando. The night began with spoken word poet Anis Mojgani (he basically stole the show) and it ended with all of the musicians coming back to the stage to do two songs together. Here's the first of those - meant to make you smile. Feel free to sing along...

Comments (3) | Posted in Music by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys,

Thanks to everyone who voted for TWLOHA in Round 1 of Chase Community Giving. Thanks to your support, we won a $25,000 grant from Chase and we now have a chance to win $1 million for suicide prevention in Round 2. The top 100 "Big Ideas" have been announced and ours involves the launch of IMAlive, a live online crisis network. We're partnering with KBHC to get this service launched and we need your help. Voting opens this Friday, January 15th and closes on the 22nd (next Friday). You can learn more about the need, the plan and why we believe that IMAlive will help thousands of people by clicking here. There's also a video in which James Earl Jones lends his familiar powerful voice... 

Thanks for your amazing support.

Peace to you.
jamie

Comments (6) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Comments (19) | Posted in General, Journal, Merch, Music by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

My heart is light tonight. And it feels almost strange to type that. Because i remember so much wrestling and the weight of so many different Decembers. i don't know if it's the holidays or the year's coming to a close but this time of year has a way of reminding us what's missing, reminding us what hurts... i feel like i've been there a lot in recent years.

If you can relate to any of that tonight - to things missing or things changed or lost or broken - we just want to take a moment to say that it matters. Your story and your pain, your hopes and fears and dreams. It matters. You matter. Tonight and tomorrow and ten years from now. We're sorry for your hurts, for empty seats and elephants in rooms and dreams that feel impossible.

John Mayer said it well in a tweet earlier tonight: "Sending a heartfelt Merry Christmas to those who feel loneliness this time of year. You're not alone. Hang in there."

We'll add to that: Keep going. Keep fighting. Talk to someone. Get the help you need. Your life is worth fighting for. Your dreams, your story, the things that make you come alive - those things deserve to shine. You deserve a friend. You deserve to be loved, to be known. Whatever you're carrying - whatever aches or haunts or steals - you were never meant to carry it alone. Bono sings "We get to carry each other." He suggests that it's a privilege, that it's the best way to live. You were meant to walk with other people, to invite other characters to play parts in your story.

Wherever you're at tonight, however heavy or light the night is, whatever scene it finds you living - please know that you matter very much. Please know that you are something priceless, something beautiful and entirely unique. There is hope for you. There is hope for all of us. 2010 has never happened before and the same is true about tomorrow.

A prayer for you, or perhaps a wish if you prefer it said that way: We hope these things feel true. We hope you know you matter. We hope you find your smile. You deserve it -you absolutely do.

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays / Happy 2010.

Peace to you tonight.

jamie

Comments (57) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

We're excited to give you yet another reason to come to FL next month:

Comments (8) | Posted in General, Music by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys,

Shortly after we annouced the NYC Photo Shoot (for Rolling Stone) a few weeks back, we got an email from a guy named John Canfield. John is a Film student at NYU and was writing to ask if he could film the event for a project for one of his classes.

Well, after several hours of filming and roughly 150 hours of editing, we're excited for you to see John's film. His professor and classmates loved it and we hope you will too. John shot most of the NYC footage and Dustin Miller was generous in providing additional footage (Fall '08 tour, Heavy and Light '09, etc.) In the end, it's a great summary of TWLOHA as well as another look at a special day in Washington Square Park - strangers coming together for something that was very much "more than a photo shoot". John's film captures the heart of the matter and we're grateful that he would share his time and talent with us.

John would like to dedicate this film to his friend Marc Alden Strizzi (6/20/90 - 12/13/07)

Peace to you.
jamie

Part 1:


Part 2:

Comments (21) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

If you find yourself on page 63 of the new Rolling Stone Magazine (Taylor Lautner of Twilight is on the cover), you will find the first of five pages dedicated to TWLOHA. It's an honor and exciting to say the least. That said, i must confess that i found the title a little awkward. (i am a surfer, i'm not a savior.) The story is not perfect but hopefully it's good.

When they said they wanted to photograph me in New York City, i asked if it might be okay to invite some friends. TWLOHA supporters came to Washington Square Park in NYC from as far away as Toronto, Virginia and Delaware. My hope was a photo that expressed the community and "we" spirit of TWLOHA. They went with something different but the video below captures the true spirit of the day - stories colliding and hope shared, people coming together... Thank you once again to our talented friend Dustin Miller for making this video and thank you to Rolling Stone for liking it enough to post it on their website.

Peace to you tonight.

jamie

PS: We've been working hard this week, adding to twloha.com.  We've added FINANCES and STAFF sections, and updated NEWS and MOVE.

PS2: We would love to know your thoughts.

Comments (27) | Posted in General, Journal by jamie tworkowski

I guess some would say that I have been through a tragedy.  I say that I've been through a life-changing experience and that it has made me a better person.  I don’t like that T word - it's pretty harsh.  When Zeke died, I thought my life had ended.  In some ways it had.  I went through a whirlwind of emotions, some that I can’t even remember.  I had so many questions;  What did I do wrong?  What was he thinking?  why did he leave me?  Someone once told me that people that complete suicide are selfish - I’m not sure I agree.  Once someone is gone, it is easy to contemplate what they were thinking, and only think about the mess they left you with, and the struggles ahead.  But isn’t that selfish?  I mean this person just took their own life - I can’t imagine how they came to that conclusion, but I can only believe and hope it was not an easy one.  I quickly learned that I was the selfish one......I was so obsessed with why he chose to do this to me, but soon realized that he did this to himself; it was not about me.  That is hard to accept.  

When I talked to friends or family, they always told me “I know how you feel.”  Those words used to make me so angry. How did they know? They weren’t in my head, they didn’t find him in this horrible state, they didn’t lose the love of their life. They were able to go home at night. I had to go anywhere but home.  I began to get so bummed about that answer to my thoughts, I realized I needed help understanding the emotions I was going through.  I started seeing a therapist that helped me learn that everything I was experiencing was “normal.”  She told me that only I would know how to push through the sadness and learn how to grow.  Sometimes when I went to see her we never even talked about Zeke.  We would talk about the most random things - shopping, wine, going to the gym, work and sometimes the news.  At one of our meetings she said “I’m not going to let you avoid the subject, we need to talk about him.”  It was the first time that I broke down crying in front of anyone.  I’m not one that usually feels comfortable crying.  I don’t like people to see me that way.  I was surprised by my reaction, but I felt so much better.  I guess that sometimes when you keep things bottled up, those feelings can come out even stronger than ever.  I’m glad that it happened with her; she helped me open up and finally speak about what was going on in my head.

It is coming up on the anniversary of Zeke’s death, and I’m not sure what I will do.  I used to hang with friends and take way too many shots of tequila.  Probably over the past month, I have realized that I am drinking way too much.  I think I drink to hide my pain; I still miss him.  Wow, that is the first time I have admitted that.  At first I used to sleep with one of his dirty tee shirts so that I could have his scent with me; it helped me a bunch.  Then the smell went away.  After that I would drink to sleep.  The only way I could fall asleep was if I just passed out drunk.  It really wasn’t until lately that I thought I had a purpose without him.  It has taken me awhile to realize that.  Zeke inspired me to be creative.  We used to bounce off of each other's artistic abilities.  It was so funny when we would be getting ready to go out for an evening and we would be “that couple,” the ones that were dressed alike.  I used to tell him he had to back and change.  I used to paint, write, build, and design.  After his death, I had a hard time even picking up a paint brush, I didn’t know how to hold it in my hand.  Now I am slowly learning to keep his spirit in my heart, and create again.  I started writing down plans, sketching furniture, and painting pictures.  I used to be so on-the-go and not have time for anything, but now I am slowing down and doing things that are more fulfilling in my life.  So, I think that this January 5th, I am going to finish my projects I have started.  I am building a window seat box out of what used to be our bed, Zeke had built us a platform bed.  I will have it filled with his stuff and have a special place for me to sit and think about him, and be inspired.  I think I finally have been able to re-focus my energy into how to be happy, how to be me, without him.  I probably will stick to one of my rituals, visiting him at 1st street; bringing him a sunflower, and telling him I love him.   Then I will go back home and pick up my paint brush......I think I know how again.

- Nicole Orsargos

Comments (61) | Posted in General, Journal by jamie tworkowski

i was in Virginia Thursday to speak at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. i got in early and had the chance to spend a few hours with my friend Nicole. Well, she feels like a friend now but the truth is i'd never met her before Thursday. Some of you have heard me talk or write about my friend Zeke, who died by suicide in January 2006. Zeke and i worked together at Hurley. Well, Zeke lived in Virginia Beach and Nicole was his girlfriend of more than three years when he died. She was the one who found him.

i'd traded emails with Nicole in recent weeks but never met her in person. We met for lunch on Thursday. i told her i wanted to eat where the locals eat and so she suggested a place by the Inlet. i pulled up a few minutes before her and the first thing i noticed was the word "Zeke" spray-painted on a wall near the restaurant's entrance. Zeke died over three and a half years ago and yet it was clear in that first moment that he has not been forgotten. 

As we ate, i asked Nicole a lot of questions about Zeke. He was good at everything. We smiled at the stories. She spoke of his quiet pain, unknown to most. i asked about the days since he died, how has she recovered, how has she survived... She spoke with strength and grace.  She said she's different now, doesn't buy "busy" as a way of life, says she's learned to slow down, to pause for the things that matter, for people and moments and conversations. She talked about her incredible friends and about going to counseling.

After lunch, i asked if she might show me around town - show me the places that were Zeke's, help me know his story. She said she would be happy to. We stood on the boardwalk at First Street, watching the cold waves break - Zeke was a great surfer and this was his. She pointed to the plaque on the end of the jetty, placed in the silence of the night, Zeke's friends saying his memory would stay with them always. 

She explained Virginia Beach, the surf shops and the bars and the characters that make it. She showed me the house that they shared. "We built a home together," she told me. 

That night, Nicole joined me on stage at Old Dominion, and for the first time ever, she spoke her story into a microphone. It was incredibly brave. Afterwards, people lined up to meet her, to thank her, to share what they found in her words. 

As we stood in the parking lot at the end of the night, she told me she was blown away, by the confessions that she heard, so many young people sharing their stories. i thanked her, said her words had been a gift for all of us in the room, encouraged her to keep sharing them.  She said she would like that.

i wish i could bring him back, this man she loved, this friend to so many... But the weight of suicide is it's permanence. Each of us, we are thousands of moments and choices and days. Zeke walked away from all of it that night in January.

We are left with the questions, with the weight of all the memories. The only sense that i can make of it is that Nicole now has a story to tell, that her words will serve as a gift to other people, her scars suggesting that they are not alone in their wounds, not alone in their questions and their remembering...  

Today is National Survivors of Suicide Day. If you've lost someone that you love, then we stand with you today. We say it matters, their story and yours, and we join you to remember. Please know that you are not alone.

To learn more about National Survivors of Suicide Day, please CLICK HERE.

Peace to you today.

jamie

PS: i wrote this a couple days after Zeke died, in January 2006...

Zeke Sanders: You Were Loved.

Comments (35) | Posted in General, Journal by jamie tworkowski

Comments (21) | Posted in General, Journal, Music by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

Each week, Lindsay from our team sends an email to the entire TWLOHA team. When we open this email, it's a time to reflect on some of the messages and emails that have come in over the last few days. Some of the messages are heavy and hard to read. Others are full of hope and encouragement. Life is both and everything in between. 

Lindsay sends these messages to remind us of our mission, the heart of the matter. Each week, as we read the messages she includes, we're reminded where this started and we're reminded why we do what we do.

Today,  "TWLOHA Day", is one that our team didn't come up with. We don't know a lot about it, to be honest - not sure where it came from or how it spread to so many people. But perhaps that's been true for much of our story - we've seen the best of passion and communication. We've seen people share and build something beautiful together. 

With today in mind, i want to share one of the messages that Lindsay sent to us yesterday:

"My name is Taylor and I am 22 years old. I have been an addict for the past six years of my life and have been looking at getting into rehab for awhile now. I should be checking in sometime this week I am just waiting for my federal aid to come in. I wanted to thank you guys for doing what you do and being there. I haven't personally ever talked to anyone with your organization but my sister heard about it somehow. My sister is 18 years old and has never used a day in her life. Ever since I started using I haven't been there for her and we kind of live two completely seperate lives. We haven't gotten along. Today my sister picked me up from my house and said she had a surprise for me. We went and got love tattooed on our arms. She  has never had a tattoo so this was a big step for her. She started crying, I haven't seen real emotion from my sister in a long long time. She told me what you guys were about and expressed what she has felt about my use and the way I have made her feel. I made a promise to her to stay clean, something I have never said to anyone. Every time I look down at my arm it will remind me of what a commitment my sister has made to me and to helping me stay clean. I just wanted to thank you guys for helping her understand and helping her accept me and not frown upon me. Your organization has really made an impact on both of our lives and I really wanted to express my gratitude." 

Thank you so much for what you guys do everyday and what your organization will continue to do for so many people, you guys really do save lifes. 

Thank you so much. 

All the love and respect in the world."

If you decide to write the word "love" on your arm today, please remember the heart of the matter. The goals were never "cute" or "fashion". Our title, "to write love on her arms", was born as a goal and it remains a goal. We're inviting people to fight for their lives and for the lives of their friends. We're inviting people to believe better things. 

If you want to help us spread the word about hope and help, we would be honored. If you want to tell people that they need other people, that every story matters - again, we would be honored. We say these things because we believe them to be true, and because too many people live alone under other lies.  

Let's continue to fight to figure out what this word "love" means. Let's aim for how it looks and how it sounds - maybe something like humility and confidence and kindness, maybe honesty and compassion... 

We're in all these things together. It's bigger than cute and louder than fashion. 

Thanks always for your support.

You matter very much.

jamie and the entire TWLOHA team

PS: Switchfoot is performing on Jimmy Kimmel tonight.

PS2: If you're anywhere near NYC, then we would love to see you at 1:30pm tomorrow (Friday) at Washington Square Park in Manhattan, for a very special photo shoot. Feel free to email nyc@twloha.com if you have any questions.

Comments (119) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

We believe in stories. TWLOHA is perhaps a lot of things but among those, it's the story of a story that grew to be something more. Along the way, we've been given the opportunity to talk about things that millions struggle with but few talk about. It's a story of secrets shared and conversations over coffee and why songs matter. We've seen surprising doors open and most importantly, we've seen people find hope and help.

Another surprising door has opened... We can't reveal all the details but we would like to invite you into it:

A well-known photographer is taking some pictures next Saturday in New York City. The pictures are for a story that a magazine is doing on TWLOHA. The magazine is a pretty special magazine and it's safe to say that the story is a big one.

They want to take a picture of me and i asked if i could invite you and they said okay. It's going to happen in Manhattan. We don't know exactly where or what time just yet but we will know those details soon. There's a form you need to fill out if you want to participate in the shoot. If you send an email to nyc@twloha.com, we'll send you the form and we'll send you the info (when/where) as well. 

Here's the fine print: You don't get paid and your name won't appear in the magazine. But there's a chance you will get to be part of a group photograph that will appear in the magazine.

Also, we will hang out and we will drink hot chocolate.

Hope to see you Saturday in NYC. More info soon. Again, nyc@twloha.com is the address to write to if you're interested in being part of the photo shoot.

Peace to you.

jamie

PS / Update: The shoot will take place this Saturday at 12 NOON in Washington Square Park. 

Comments (15) | Posted in General, Journal by jamie tworkowski

Today, while reading the liner notes for The Avett Brothers new album, i came across a mission statement.  Non-profits are supposed to have mission statements but i'd never seen one from a band.  The words are meant to explain some other words, the album's brave title, "I and Love and You". i found it all brilliant and wanted to share it with you.

Peace to you.

jamie

"The words "I" and "Love" and "You" are the watermark of humanity. Strung together, they convey our deepest sense of humility, of power, of truth. It is our most common sentiment, even as the feeling of it is so infinitely uncommon: each to proclaim these three words with his or her very own heart and mindset of reason (or lack thereof); a proclamation completely and perfectly new each time it is offered. Uttered daily and nightly by millions, the words are said in an unending array of circumstances : whispered to a newborn in a mothers arms; shared between best friends on the playground; in the form of sympathy - said by a girl to a boy, as the respect continues but the relationship does not. It is said too loudly by parents to embarassed children in the company of their friends, and by grown children - to their fading parents in hospital beds. The words are thought in the company of the photograph and said in the company of the gravestone. It is how we end our phone calls and our letters... the words at the bottom of the page that trump all those above it, a way to gracefully finish a message, however important or trivial, with the most meaningful gifl of all : the communication of love. And yet the words themselves have been the victims of triviality, a ready replacement for lesser salutations among near strangers, burst forth casually as "love ya." Truly? To what degree? Why, how much, and for how long? These are questions befitting of the stature of love, though not the everyday banter of vague acquaintance. The words have also been twisted by the dark nature of deceit : To say "I love you" with a dramatic measure of synthetic emotion; a snare set by those who prey uponn fellow humanity, driven to whatever selfish end, to gain access to another's body, or their money, or their opportunity. In this realm, the proclamation is disgraced by one seeking to gain rather than to give. In any case, and by whatever inspiration, these words are woven deeply in to the fibers of our existence. Our longing to hear them from the right place is maddeningly and simultaneously our finest strength and our most gentle weakness.The album "I and Love and You" is inashamedly defined by such a dynamic of duality. As living people, we are bound by this unavoidable parallel. We are powerful yet weak, capable yet temporary. Inevitably, an attempt to place honesty within an artistic avenue will follow suit. This is a piece which shows us as we are : products of love surrounded by struggle. The music herein is, in many ways, readable as both a milestone and an arrival. A chapter in the story of young men, it bridges the space between the uncertainty of youth and the reality of it's release. The record is full with the quality of the question and response. As far as questions go, there are plenty-normally residing within the tone and delivery of the lyrics themselves, which, ironically, are sung with so much confidence. Among songs and thoughts so driven and purposeful, the most basic relatable doubt comes through with a resounding clarity. Outside of the eternal theme of romantic love, the album speaks thankfully upon a landscape of light-filled rooms, word-filled pages, time machines, forgiveness, singing birds, ocean waves, art, change, confessions of shortcomings, and reasons to continue on. Hope and a cause for smiling follow naturally. In the midst of all this, there are allusions to the less-than-ideal conditions of life : the loss of memory, the inability to control temper, insecurity, indecision, jaded indifference, and the general plague of former and current weakness. "I and Love and You" is an album of obvious human creation, chracterized by it's best and it's worst. Emotional imperfection is a reality for those who recorded the piece, just as it is for those who will hear it. The conclusion of the song from which the title is taken admits that the words "I love you" have become "hard to say". And perhaps that difficulty is as common as it's counterpart. Perhaps the inability to say these heaviest of words is as much a part of life as the lighthearted candor of those who say them without any difficulty at all. And so it ends with the phrase whispered to and by those of us most defeated and most elated... I and love and you."

 - The Avett Brothers

 PS: You can hear "I and Love and You" (the song) along with new songs from Paramore, Switchfoot, Paper Route, Athlete, Ryan Adams and Noah Gundersen on our MySpace playlist. We just added these today...

Comments (18) | Posted in General, Music by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

A few months back, i got the chance to spend a couple hours with Mike Shea in New York City. Mike is the founder of Alternative Press Magazine and we had a good time getting to know each other over lunch in Union Square and a long city stroll. Mike and i swapped stories about AP and TWLOHA and music and mutual friends and all sorts of stuff. Somewhere in there, we talked about ways to work together and he asked if i had any ideas. i told him that i would love to write... He asked what i'd want to write about and i told him i wasn't sure but that i'd love to be honest and that i'd do my best to challenge people and encourage people. i told him that basically, TWLOHA is an attempt to get to the heart of things, to remind people that they're alive and that life is worth living and perhaps that there are things that need to be said and things we're supposed to fight for.

Well... My first article for AltPress went up today and i'd love for you to check it out. (i must warn you that it's a little bit spicy...) Our hope is that if the response to the online article is good, then they may invite me to write for the (print) magazine.  If you dig the article, feel free to comment, let AP know, etc.  Thanks for walking with me as the journey continues.

Click here to check out the article on AltPress.com

Peace to you from NYC, where Fall is starting to happen.
: )
jamie

Comments (7) | Posted in General, Music by jamie tworkowski

The world changed on September 11, 2001 and with that, we are the 9/11 generation. We will tell our kids and our grandkids where we were and what we saw and what we felt. For most of us, it was something that we watched on television but for others, it was the day they lost more than peace and comfort. The reality is that a lot of people lost fathers and sisters and sons. We can build back the buildings but we can't replace the lives that were lost on 9/11. 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost loved ones eight years ago today. We're sorry beyond words for the people that you lost.

Today, we join you in remembering.

Peace to you.

jamie

Comments (40) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

What comes to mind when you hear the words "Suicide Prevention"?

Is it really possible to prevent suicide?

We know it isn't simple. We know it isn't easy. But we do believe in hope and we do believe in help, and we believe that people need other people. And if those ideas are real and true, then we believe that it is possible to prevent suicide.

And we don't think it's a work only for the experts. We believe there's a part for all of us to play, that perhaps suicide prevention begins in countless simple miracles every single day. Perhaps it starts with two friends sitting down for coffee... And one of them asks "How are you doing". Perhaps it starts when we choose to live less alone, when we choose to let people in - to know us, to love us, to walk alongside us. Call it "community" or call it the way things are supposed to be. We're willing to say that suicide prevention starts there - it starts when we're willing to talk, willing to ask the hard question, willing to say the honest thing. Maybe the bravest move we'll ever make it to ask for help. Or ask how we can help someone we love.

Maybe it starts when we push back at the stereotype and the lies that fuel the stigma that says pain is something we're not allowed to talk about, or that pain is for people a certain age who dress a certain way and like a certain song. Those are lies. The truth is that pain is part of being human. The questions will continue to come. We all get stuck in moments. The good news is that there is also hope and love and change. The good news is that we were meant for friends. The good news is counseling and treatment. The good news is that we don't have to go alone.

 "Suicide Prevention."

 What's your part to play? We're all invited. Smile at someone, know someone, say something, ask the question, make the call, take the drive.  Every life is priceless and fragile. We get to guard and fight and care, for the people around us.  There are plenty of things to fight about and for over the course of our lives - let's remember that people are the most important thing, the brightest surprises on the planet. Let's remember that every single person has a story entirely unique and incredibly important, but not everyone can see it. And what a privilege that we get to do our best to remind and invite people, to believe better things, to believe that it's possible to change, to believe that life is worth living...

We're not saying that it's easy. But we're saying that it's worth it.

Love is the movement. Thank you for caring.
jamie

Click here for more info on World Suicide Prevention Day.

For more info and statistics on suicide from the World Health Organization, click here

Comments (53) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

You are going to move through this.

Comments (230) | Posted in General, Journal by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

Our friend Stuart was here last week, visiting from Glasgow, Scotland. He spent a few days with our team, helping us daydream about the future of TWLOHA in the United Kingdom. Stuart will be working with our friend Olivia to make some things happen there very soon. Keep an eye on www.twloha.com for details.

On that note, we're excited to announce that TWLOHA will have a booth at Greenbelt Festival, where our friends in Athlete are among the headliners. Greenbelt is happening this weekend in England. There will be TWLOHA info and merch available, and we hope you'll say hello to Olivia from our team. Also, if you're interested in getting involved, Olivia would be a great person to connect with.

Comments (13) | Posted in General, Merch, Music by jamie tworkowski

Hello everyone, 

My name is Denny and I am the TWLOHA UChapter Coordinator. I have been a TWLOHA staff member for 1 1/2 years. Last fall, the idea was created to develop TWLOHA student-lead organizations on university campuses, beginning in the United States. This fall, the idea is being realized when 14 colleges will be representing TWLOHA as the first ever TWLOHA UChapters.  

All of this is very exciting for our team. We believe TWLOHA UChapters is part of the future in causing real, tangible change in community settings at a local and global level. Not one movement has occurred in the U.S. without college students being at the forefront, protesting change and interacting with culture in a new way, forcing even the government to listen. If stigmas, which represent a form of contemporary slavery, are going to be overthrown and replaced by a new regime of honesty and openness on university campuses (and beyond), there must be a voice from within the university body. The voice must be provocative and creative, growing from within the lives of students who care. 

To be honest, we don't know where this will go and we don't know exactly what change to expect or how this change will look. We do know there are students who have gifts and desires that MUST be used as leverage against a society that struggles to find places of honesty and understanding. So in many ways, UChapters is TWLOHA's response to the response of students. Essentially, UChapters are groups on college campuses who embody the values which underlie TWLOHA's vision and mission. They will reflect TWLOHA, therein imaging the heart of TWLOHA. Each UChapter will serve on their college campus and within their local community. Through building community, we believe UChapters can organize gatherings, cultivate awareness, and create a network that actively raises funds and reaches people with a message of hope and help.

Personally, I have tasted this hope and help that can only be found in community. I know what it feels like to move from death to life and then to use the brokenness as a source of redemption for others. Universities are filled with brokenness and stories of hope that must be reconciled. It is estimated that more than 1,000 U.S. college students die by suicide each year. Death by suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students. 1 in 12 have created a suicide plan. 90% had a psychiatric disorder at the  time of death; 60% of those having severe depression. 10% of college students have been diagnosed with depression disorder, the majority of which never receive treatment. Yet in the face of these despairing figures, since 1994, suicide rates among 15-24 year olds has decreased 28.5%. We believe TWLOHA UChapters will be a means to even more change. 

With 15 UChapters already launching this fall, we hope to launch another 15 for the spring. If you are a college student, or are about to be one, and desire to either connect with an established UChapter on your campus or help start one, you can email chapters@twloha.com and we will send you further information. Below is the list of active UChapters for this fall:    

1. Columbia College, Chicago 
2. University of South Alabama
3.  Bloomsburg University, Pennsylvania 
4.  University of Northern Iowa
5.  Ithaca College, New York
6.  South East Missouri State University 
7.  Texas Tech University 
8.  Oklahoma State University 
9.   University of Texas-Austin
10. Manchester College, Indiana 
11. UMASS-Lowell, Massachusetts
12. University of Florida 
13. Miami University, Ohio
14.  Virginia Commonwealth University

With Hope, 

Comments (24) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Professional surfer C.J. Hobgood (currently ranked #2 in the world, his twin brother Damien is #5) grew up with TWLOHA founder Jamie Tworkowski in Brevard County, FL. In this video, C.J. talks about his own struggles and what he's found in beginning to invite other people into his story. He talks about his connection to TWLOHA and why he believes in the mission of the organization.

Comments (5) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Here's a great video of our friend Damion Suomi talking about his music and where he's been and where he's going.

Comments (1) | Posted in General, Music by jamie tworkowski

Comments (16) | Posted in General, Journal by jamie tworkowski

Comments (30) | Posted in Merch, Music by jamie tworkowski

We have a new friend called Craig Owens. He sings in a band called Chiodos. We have a new tank top called Filled. They've been hanging out lately. We tried to think of a better name for Filled but we just couldn't do it. We should have asked you because you probably have a better idea...

Anyway, the purpose of this blog is to let you know that our new Filled tank is available on Warped and it's also available in the TWLOHA Online Store. It's hot in half the world right now so Filled has been making lots of friends. Craig has been stopping by our tent lately and he seems to have a lot of friends as well. 

We hope you have a great day. We hope to see you soon.
jamie

PS: We also have new stickers. Big ones, small ones, ones for cars... You'll find those in the Promote section of the Online Store.

Comments (4) | Posted in Merch, Music by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

i am sitting at the coffee shop where i come when i'm home, the one that's not Starbucks, the one that plays good music and makes the town feel almost like a city... i have a theory that people go to coffee shops - well, i'm sure we go for coffee - but i think we go to feel less alone. i could write this in my room but i choose to drive across town to sit among the people. i might not talk to anyone but somehow it's better to be here...

It's been a busy week, a busy few weeks really. We've got lots going on, getting ready for the summer. Lots of design happening, lots of ideas and getting ready for Warped Tour...

i'm actually just writing to share some cool news and also to invite you. In the Spring of 2007, we were part of Anberlin's Cities tour. We were on the road for close to two months, all across America. On that tour, we got to know the guys from Bayside. Bayside is a rock and roll band from New York City. Growing up, i thought they were from my tiny town in Florida because they played here so much.

After the Anberlin tour, Bayside invited us to be part of their U.S. tour and then after that they invited us to spend the summer with them on Warped Tour. It's safe to say we spent most of '07 with them and it's no small thing for a band to share their stage or bunks on their bus. That's where they make their living and that's home.

Bayside's singer is Anthony Raneri and Anthony played our first "Heavy and Light" night at the Social in 2008. He came back to play it again this past January at House of Blues Orlando. And then we spent a couple weeks together in Australia, for Soundwave... All of that to say, Bayside has been incredibly generous and supportive, and Bayside has become part of the TWLOHA story. Anthony has become a friend and we take none of it lightly.

This brings us to now. Anthony is hitting the road for a short solo tour w/ Andy Jackson (Hot Rod Circuit) and he's invited me to speak at his solo shows in Gainesville and Orlando (Florida) next weekend. i'm honored and excited, and if i'm honest, a little bit nervous. Saturday night (6/20) we'll be at 1982 Bar in Gainesville and Sunday we'll be at Back Booth in downtown Orlando. Back Booth is special because i went there with Renee when i first met her, to see Band Marino. We took a photo in the photo booth that night and that photo made ended up on NBC Nightly News a few months back.

So Anthony is part of our story and Back Booth is part of our story and then it turns out that Sunday is Father's Day. As a lot of you know and remember, Father's Day is a day that matters to us... It's a day we've thought and talked a lot about. And then on top of all of that, there's this other thing. There's this other story that's bumping into ours and it's a big one. This other thing is a surprise and it's a weird one because it's connected to Sunday but we can't explain it until after Sunday... (You just sort of have to trust me that it's big and it's cool and eventually this will all make sense.)

Anyway, this is me inviting you to these two shows. On a certain level, they're small and on some other levels, they're huge and i suppose that's the case with almost every story. Anythony has a stage and he believes we have something important to say and so he lends us his stage and we go because there's going to be people in the room and people are the most important thing on the planet. (And then there's this other thing, this surprise, perhaps another stage...)

It would be really cool if you could help us spread the word and it would be the best if you could come. Beyond the speaking, some folks from our team will be hanging out and we would love to meet you...




TWLOHA.COM FOR INFO

Thank you and please have a great night.
We hope to see you soon.
: )
jamie

PS: Here's a really cool photo of Anthony's band Bayside at Bamboozle last month. Thank You to Jered Scott for sharing this photo with us.

Comments (11) | Posted in Music by jamie tworkowski

This was posted on PostSecret.com yesterday:

In response:
First, to the person who shared the secret and sent the card, thank you for what you shared. A lot of people feel less alone today because of your words. A lot of people can relate, because they live there too. They live with the jokes that aren't funny and the pain misunderstood. Thank you for speaking up, for pushing back.

Thank you for your support. Thanks for believing in this work we do, this message we're attempting to share. TWLOHA is a conversation and a journey and a story and my guess is that you believe because what is ours is also yours. It seems as people that we find a home in things that feel true. In moments and places where understanding somehow happens. There might be something magic in the possibility that we are not alone, that it wasn't meant to go that way. If you find any of those things in this, then please know that it's that thing we always say: that we're in this all together. Life and pain and dreams and stories. Even spread across a planet, we're not so different. We need other people. We need hope and help and reminders that things do move and shake and change.

Thanks for writing what a million people feel. That the jokes aren't funny. That a person's pain isnot a punch line. Not something to laugh about. Thanks for saying that ignorance isn't bliss - it's ugly.

It seems that you are on to the possibility that you deserve better, that you deserve to be put back together instead of torn apart. Wrapped in things that are true instead of lies. Shown pictures of hope instead of failure.

We do pray that the jokes would fade to silence, or perhaps a better minor miracle, that the ones that hunt for humor would find even better things - things like kindness and compassion. Grace and understanding. That they might learn and even learn to care. And we hope for those things because we hear the stories where it's happening. We hear the stories of people starting to believe better things, people getting help, friends learning what it means to be a friend...

We'll leave it with this...
If you struggle with self-injury, you are not "a cutter". You are a person. You are not only your pain. You are not only wounds and scars. You are also better things. You are possibility and promise, hope and healing, daydreams, favorite books and favorite songs. You are the people that you love and the people who love you. You are hope and change and things worth fighting for. This is all your story and your story isn't over.

Peace to you tonight.
jamie

PS: Before and as i wrote this, i reflected on Molly Jenson's song "Do You Only Love the Ones Who Look Like You", which features Jon Foreman of Switchfoot. You can hear the song on our MySpace or you can go say hello to Molly.

Comments (148) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Take some time this weekend to remember. 

War is a very real thing. 

If you feel free or safe tonight, know that it has come and continues to come at the highest cost. 

Soldiers are people - they are us - and many have given their lives for our freedom and security. 

This is not about politics. This is about people. 

The ones that live, can we even imagine what they've experienced, what they've seen and felt and lost?

What does it mean to "go back to normal"?

How do they recover?  How do they "let it go"? 

This weekend, let's do a better than "i don't have to go to work on Monday".  Let's look beyond "Oh cool, a three-day weekend."

Take some time to consider the soldiers.  The people.  Sons and daughters, brothers and husbands. Someone's father. Someone's uncle. Cousin. Neighbor. Friend. 

They are the fallen and the fighting and the ones forever trying to make sense of "home". They are missed by millions.

Have a conversation. Say "thank you". Ask a question.

The day is meant for remembering. Not just the deaths but the lives and the living.  

We live in a day with more distractions than ever before. More excuses. We make an enormous mistake if we fail to honor these people, if we fail to pause to consider and be grateful and be kind. 

Take some time this weekend to remember. Remember someone you've lost. Remember all the different soldiers. Remember the things that matter and the things that are true.

Peace to you.
jamie

Comments (31) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

We hope that today is a day that you can tell and show your Mom that you love her, that you are thankful for her life and for her place in yours. We hope that today is a day to pause and celebrate.

We also know that it's a difficult day for a lot of people. If you are without your Mom today, because of loss or pain or distance, we want to say that we're sorry.  We're sorry for your pain and for your questions.

If you are somewhere in the middle, please know that redemption still happens, that healing still happens. Hope and change still happen. Please don't give up on your story. Please don't give up on the stories around you.

If you are a daughter and things are broken, please know that there is hope for you. To break the cycle. To be a great mother to your own son or daughter someday. If that is your dream, then please know that it's possible.

Wherever today finds you, we want to take this moment to say that we're with you, that your life matters, your story matters. The places you came from, the places you'll go.

You are not alone today.

Peace to you.
jamie

Comments (22) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

"Hope isn't something you create, it's something you let inside."

Came across these words on John Mayer's Twitter tonight:

Something to think about...

Oh and if you have a couple minutes and you're a person of the twitter, we may have accidentally started a campaign to become friends with Mr. Mayer. i've often wondered if he's ever heard about TWLOHA, and what he might think. John seems like a guy who's trying to create things that matter and move... he gets music (obviously) but he also seems to get the power of words and importance of moments and the value of design - he values these things and i'm glad he's willing to speak up about them. 

This comes in contrast to a weekend where i saw a lot of bands led by singers who say the same things and say a lot and say pretty much nothing at all. There were certainly exceptions but it was strange and sad to watch band after band play to thousands of people and to hear them basically miss the moment - the chance to say real things, the chance to invite people to think or feel or ask a question or believe... 

It made me thankful for the artists we've connected with, folks who are trying to move people, folks with something to say in their songs and between their songs, folks willing to be honest, willing to be real, willing to dream instead of hiding behind bad laughs and empty chatter...

Maybe this applies to all of us. It's been said that "All the world's a stage." We all have an audience. We all have some kind of influence. We all have a story and a voice. Our lives are our songs. Our hearts are our songs. It's okay to ask real questions. It's okay to say real things. Let's make things that matter and move, and let's chase after those things as well.

Peace to you tonight.
jamie

PS: Didn't plan to write a blog. Was just going to share the JM quote as a bulletin... There will be a long-overdue it's-been-too-long new blog soon.

Comments (28) | Posted in General, Music by jamie tworkowski

We have a new shirt called Lowercase and it comes in yellow and it comes in black.  We're also offering our old friend Title in a new color called "heather blue".  You can find those HERE or at Bamboozle in New Jersey this weekend.

We'll be back at Bamboozle this weekend and we're excited and we hope to see you.  Look for the TWLOHA team under the TWLOHA tent.  For real, we would love to see you.

Our inspiring friends in Invisible Children have been fighting the good fight in Chicago.  They are going to be on Oprah today and 4pm and we hope you'll watch proudly.

I am sitting next to Zach at the airport in Austin, about to fly to NYC.

Peace to you.
: )
jamie

PS - Here are what the new shirts look like:

Comments (18) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Zach and i were at Virginia Tech three nights ago for a TWLOHA event. It’s hard to find the words to explain what the night meant to us. Early in my talk, i paused and confessed that i didn’t know what to say. We get a lot of opportunities to talk about the elephants in the room, but we usually can’t see them from the stage – we don’t know exactly what they look like. How do you talk about pain among people who have tasted it in a way you can’t imagine? How do you talk about pain when theirs was watched by the entire world?

We stood at Norris Hall and you cannot help but imagine the terror that took place there two years ago today. It is one thing to see the story on CNN, to read an article online. It is another thing entirely to walk the stunning campus, to see the flowers and the names, to see the portraits on the walls and to hear things like “I sat next to him in English” and “I had the chance to meet her mother.” 

Beyond the pain, we heard incredible stories of good and pictures of community. Students crying alone were met by the embrace of other students – strangers coming together to hurt and heal together. The residents of Blacksburg showed up to serve free food on Drill Field. With incredible understanding and grace, after ten days without classes, the school told their students that they could return to classes or not. If they chose to go to class, they could complete whatever assignments they wanted to. If their grades were good, they could choose to keep them. If their grades were poor, they wouldn’t count. Dave Matthews showed up to play for free.  So did John Mayer.

It’s been two years. Time heals some things but it can’t forget. There are fresh flowers at the memorial near Norris Hall, and i couldn’t help but imagine the stories of the people who left them. A mother’s whispered words as she placed the flowers by a name she chose for a daughter now gone. A best friend still aching after seven hundred days.

Today we join them in remembering. Prayers for families forever recovering. Prayers for students trying to believe that it’s possible to feel safe again. We remember the people who died and we acknowledge that every one of them had a story. We pause to stand with the people of Virginia Tech today. We say they’re not alone and we celebrate their grace and strength. 

Peace to you.
jamie

Comments (28) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

We've been home from Australia for a few weeks now. There's not a day that goes by where I don't think of it. The people and the place. We were there for Soundwave Festival, and with that, we were there for countless conversations.

The video below doesn't do the trip justice. There are no interviews and you don't get to hear any of the stories. You can't see the smoke from the fires or the courage in the faces. We had hoped to go spend time with people who lost everything in Victoria, but the weather cancelled our plans. We had hoped to connect with Dustin Miller - he was going to film interviews for us - but that didn't happen either.

Part of me was frustrated - this amazing trip but very little to show for it. But we did have a handheld camera with us, and when we weren't having conversations at the table, we were doing our best to stand inside the songs. We watched our friends in Underoath and Anberlin play some of the biggest shows of their lives. It's hard to explain what was happening in those moments. It was something alive.

Every person in every sea of people is also a story and every story matters. There are things worth screaming about. There are songs worth singing. Other places exist and people live there and they are priceless just like you.

Enjoy the video.
Peace to you.
jamie


Australia. from To Write Love on Her Arms. on Vimeo.

Comments (15) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

Exciting news!! TWLOHA shirts are now available at Zumiez stores across America. You can find TWLOHA at the following Zumiez locations:

Gilbert, AZ
Brea, CA
Santa Clara, CA
Pismo Beach, CA
Torrance, CA
Riverside, CA
San Jose, CA
West Covina, CA
Sacramento, CA
Modesto, CA
Fresno, CA
Cabazon, CA
Bakersfield, CA
Stockton, CA
Littleton, CO
Orlando, FL
Davenport, IA
Boise, ID
Gurnee, IL
Aurora, IL
Rockford, IL
Norridge, IL
Waldord, MD
Bloomington, MN
Buffalo, NY
Garden City, NY
Niagara Falls, NY
Woodburn, OR
Lincoln City, OR
King of Prussia, PA
Friendswood, TX
San Marcos, TX
Cypress, TX
Mercedes, TX
Pearland, TX
San Antonio, TX
Oklahoma City, OK 
Tulsa, OK
Grapevine, TX
Houston, TX
El Paso, TX
Round Rock, TX

If your local Zumiez is not listed above, feel free to go in and bug them about TWLOHA : )

HOT TOPIC UPDATE:
TWLOHA's Cities shirt shirt in black is now available in Hot Topic stores nationwide. Along with Cities, you can also find our Alive V-Neck in white, as well as our original Title shirt in a couple different colors. 

RON JON UPDATE:
We want to thank all of you that have supported TWLOHA at Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach over the last couple weeks. Thanks to you, TWLOHA is off to a great start in there and Ron Jon has decided to add TWLOHA shirts to their (South Florida) Sawgrass Mills location.

SO?
We're excited about all of this because our primary mission is to introduce a message of hope, help and community to people worldwide. We're trying to invite people into what we believe is an important conversation about issues that millions live with but few talk about. We want people to know that they're not alone. We want to do this by meeting people where they are and by doing our best to introduce this message in surprising settings. We've seen it happen online, with the 90,000+ emails and messages we've had the privilege of responding to, and we've seen it happen at universities and high schools, concert tours and festivals, even churches... We simply want to go where people go. With all of that in mind, we think the news above is another perfect example. 

Every TWLOHA shirt sold helps fund the unique mission of TWLOHA, and part of that mission is to give directly to treatment and recovery. We believe that help is real, that there are solutions for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide, and so we love that part of our mission is to invest in those solutions. Since 2006, thanks to your incredible support, we've been able to give nearly $500k to treatment and recovery, and that number continues to go up every single month. 

We want to say thank you and we want to say that we're excited and we hope you are too. We hope you have the best weekend in the history of weekends.

Peace to you.
jamie

Comments (27) | Posted in General, Merch by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

It's an anniversary of sorts. It was three years ago tonight that Jon Foreman from Switchfoot wore the first TWLOHA shirt, at a sold out SF show at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. At the time, we had simply set out to help a friend and tell a story. No plans to start a non-profit or a movement or anything like that. But we learned that night that the story we were telling was connected to something much bigger. We heard from people at that show who knew the pain of losing a loved one to suicide. We heard from people dealing with depression and addiction and self-injury. We heard from people writing in on behalf of friends and family, people asking how they could help, how they could learn more, how they could get involved. 

My friend Chad Butler plays drums in Switchfoot and he wore the shirt the next night in Jacksonville. Deon Rexroat from Anberlin put one on before a show in New York a few days later, and i don't think he took it off for a year. The shirts were curious billboards and so everywhere these bands went, the messages would follow - questions and confessions and folks wanting to learn to fight for their friends. And it wasn't just bands serving as the spark - it was conversations over lunch in school cafeterias, friends at work, strangers in airports... Countless moments that started with something like "What does your shirt mean?" 

Somewhere along the way, between that night in Boca and this night where you are, our story bumped into yours. We're certainly thankful for it, as it's been a privilege and a surprise beyond what we or i could ever begin to explain. We've said it before but it still feels true and so we say it: We're all in this together. Thanks for being part of it...

Peace to you.
jamie

PS: On the note of surprises, i grew up watching John Norris on MTV News. A few days back during SXSW in Austin, i had the chance to have a conversation with him about TWLOHA. Thanks to SPIN, you can watch the interview here.

Comments (60) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

i mentioned something called Summerset in the "Welcome to Australia" blog. Summerset was a house that i lived in a few years back, along with Rich and Byron from the TWLOHA team. This was about seven years ago, so it was long before TWLOHA, but i think it had a lot to do with shaping the people and ideas that would become TWLOHA. Summerset was more than a place - i suppose we remember it as something more like a season or a chapter or the good kind of gang. We were a pack, we stuck together, we dreamed each other's dreams. We fought for each other. We shared money, food, couches and cars. And i suppose we lived this way because we believed that the dreams were more important than the details. We were better as one than apart. There was always music or talk of music, and it was also the season when i first started to get excited about writing...

Read more

Comments (10) | Posted in General, Music by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

We're in Austin, Texas for the South by Southwest music festival. There's 40,000 people in town for this. The busiest street is Sixth and there are these two banners on the corner of Sixth and Trinity...

Comments (9) | Posted in General, Music by jamie tworkowski

Short version:

TWLOHA shirts are now available at Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach, Florida. 

Long version:

Hello from Australia.

Yup, i'm still here - big fan of this place. Stuck around after Soundwave for a few days of semi-vacation. i'm staying on the Gold Coast and cheering for friends who are here competing in the Quiksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks. This is the first event of the 2009 professional surfing season and it's pretty awesome timing that this happens to be happening right after Soundwave.

i've been a surfer my entire life. i am the son of a surfer. My parents grew up in Long Island but moved south to Florida before i was born, mainly because my dad fell in love with the warm and waves at Sebastian Inlet. After a few years, they ended up in Emerald Isle, North Carolina and opened a surf shop. i was born and after a few more years, we headed south to Florida. 

i grew up six miles north of Sebastian Inlet, which is arguably the best place to surf on America's east coast. For as long as i can remember, i've been around the ocean. Even now, if i'm away from it for more than a couple weeks, something in me starts to feel off. It's hard to explain but it's like part of me has gone missing. i don't usually realize it until i'm back home, or surfing somewhere, and then i begin to feel myself letting go of stress and questions. There's just something peaceful in it for me. That might sound weird, but it's become part of me being healthy. i don't mean that in some weird mystical spiritual way - i just mean it's become part of my story - it's part of who i am and it's something that i love... 

i worked at our local surf shop when i was in high school. After that, i worked for Quiksilver as an assistant in sales for four years. After Quiksilver, i worked for Hurley for four years. i handled all of their sales in Florida, which basically meant that i spent most of my time on the road, visiting surf shops all over Florida, making sure they had all the Hurley stuff they needed. Hurley took a pretty huge chance on me, offering a big job to an unproven 22 year-old (who liked to daydream and doodle and talk to people, but wasn't much for waking up early or paperwork). i learned so much in my time there, met amazing people and made amazing friends. 

A lot of people, myself included, assumed that i would work for Hurley for the next 20 years. It was a really good job and surfing and the surf industry were pretty much all i'd ever known, especially when it came to "career". But then three years ago, i met a girl named Renee and the five days that followed moved some things around in me. i wrote a story called "To Write Love on Her Arms", made a MySpace page to give the story a home, and ordered 200 t-shirts as a way to raise money for Renee's treatment. The surprising response to that humble beginning led to something of a crossroads and in July of 2006, i decided to quit my job at Hurley to pursue TWLOHA full-time. The rest, i suppose, is history. (If you're not sure what i'm talking about, It's pretty much all here in the archived blogs.)

One of my favorite things about my job at Hurley was Ron Jon Surf Shop. It's the biggest surf shop in the world and it's located just a few miles from where i live. People come from all over to see it - they follow the billboards along I-95 to a sea of boardshorts and t-shirts and bikinis. When i was with Hurley, i would go to Ron Jon every Monday to straighten up our section and to see what they needed. In the process as the years passed, the people there became my friends. There was a sense that beyond the business, there was caring in the room. It was nothing unusual for important meetings to begin with talk that sounded more like friends catching up over coffee. 

So when i left Hurley, it was really hard to say goodbye to Ron Jon. It was so hard that rather than call, i sent an email, which is probably the equivalent of breaking up with someone via text message... We did talk soon after and we did promise to stay in touch... 

Well, the exciting news is that i was back at the Ron Jon office a couple weeks ago, but this time it wasn't for Hurley and it wasn't even just to catch up as friends. i was there for a meeting about TWLOHA... It meant a lot to be able to bring them up to speed on everything that's happenened over the last two and a half years, how things have grown from a simple beginning, the surprising doors that continue to open, where the journey has taken us... It also meant a lot to hear their kind response.

The exciting news is this: TWLOHA shirts are now available at Ron Jon Surf Shop. 

We live in a world where everyone wants to label everything, put everything in a box where they can make simple sense of it. Well, TWLOHA is a few things at once and one of those things, in my opinion, is that we're a brand. We're also a non-profit, a conversation, a story, a collection of ideas, and maybe even a movement (though that's a very big word that shouldn't be thrown around.) 

Anyway, Ron Jon is home to a lot of popular brands such as Hurley, Volcom, Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong and Element. There are a lot of popular brands in the world but it's rare that a brand has something to say. We believe that we do, that ours is a message that attempts to move people toward real hope, real help, real change. Toward conversations that heal and toward lives filled with real compassion. That's what we're aiming for.

We've also given nearly $500,000 to treatment and recovery, and with every TWLOHA shirt that someone buys, that number grows. 

We're excited about the Ron Jon news because thousands of people visit Ron Jon, and our message is one for people. It's a message of hope, help, honesty and community. We talk about issues that affect people so we like to bring our message to places where people go. We've been able to see that happen everywhere from universities to concerts in clubs to churches, even Hot Topic and NBC Nightly News. 

We're excited to add Ron Jon to that list and we hope you are too. If you're planning a trip to central Florida, or you call Florida home, we hope you'll check out the TWLOHA section at Ron Jon. Right now, it's just one rack, but with your help - who knows? Maybe we can make it grow. Like the rest of our surprising story, we make this stuff happen together.

Oh and if somebody asks why TWLOHA shirts would be sold in a surf shop, tell them not to overthink it. People are always the most important thing. People go surfing. People go to the beach. People wear clothes. People wrestle with questions and pain. We want to continue to show up where people show up. We want to continue to surprise people.

We're honored and grateful that Ron Jon would invite us. We hope to see you soon.

Peace to you, from the Gold Coast.
jamie

PS: i wrestled with this one being kind of long. Decided to share that stuff about my history with surfing and the surf industry as a way of explaining where this news comes from and also as a way of saying that this one means a lot to me. Thanks always for reading. Thanks for letting me write.

Comments (18) | Posted in General, Merch by jamie tworkowski

Going all the way back to the original TWLOHA story, contrast is something we think about and talk about. My friend Kory and i aimed for it when we worked on the original (TWLOHA) Title logo three years ago. It's the reason we chose black and white. To represent pain and hope. Addiction and sobriety. Our dreams and our fears. Life and death. These odd couples and these battles seem to be everywhere - i see them on the news and i see them on the street and i feel them in my chest - and yet they tend to stay as secrets.

We're not smart enough to fake it, so from the very beginning, we decided we would just do our best to say the honest thing, to put it all in one place and say "Let's talk about it." Maybe if you're honest about the darkness in a room, maybe then you can begin to show someone the light. 

We have a new hoodie. It's black and it's white and we're calling it "Contrast". We might be idealists to the point of believing that a sweatshirt can be more than a sweatshirt, that what we wear can be an expression of what's important to us and the kinds of conversations we hope to have. 

Available now in the TWLOHA Online Store.

Comments (28) | Posted in General, Merch by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

i want to begin by saying that we're in Melbourne now, and so much of our focus going into this trip was on our time here in Melbourne, getting to visit people and places affected by the fires. We had plans to brings artists to shelters, to offer their time and their songs in trying to make life a little better for folks who have lost so much recently. Anthony from Bayside, Stephen from Anberlin, Aaron from Underoath, and Jordan from New Found Glory were all excited to go. 

Because of the weather, we had to cancel our plans. Unfortunately, the weather is simply too dangerous in the areas that have already been affected. The concern is that there will be more fires because of the temperatures and the wind. 

i mentioned the guys who were planning to go because i think it's important to say that they care, that there are people on this tour who are thinking beyond the stage and the shows. i walked up to Jordan from New Found Glory a couple days ago and gave this awkward introduction, started trying to explain our plans and he stopped me mid-sentence with "I'm in." 

The good news is that all of us will be at Soundwave tomorrow, and we'll get to spend the day with thousands and thousands of people from Melbourne and the surrounding areas. My guess is that everyone there tomorrow has been touched by the fires in some way, and that some have known significant loss. It's our hope that tomorrow will be a special day in the middle of a difficult time for people here. 

There's no easy transition. i'll simply say that the fires have been on our mind and remain on our mind. Again, the good news is that we're excited to spend the day with the people of this place tomorrow. Say a prayer for Victoria.

The trip has been great so far. Here's my best attempt at bringing you here with words:

I went and said hello to the Bayside guys just before they went on stage at Soundwave in Sydney last weekend. My friend Jack plays guitar in Bayside and I asked him how he was enjoying Australia. This was his response: 

“I’m trying to think of one good reason why I shouldn’t move here, but I’m having trouble coming up with anything.” He eventually added that living in Australia would put him far from his family, though it was the only negative he could find.

We heard similar things the next day when we introduced Aaron and Spencer from Underoath and Stephen from Anberlin to Bondi Beach. At Bondi, the shops and cafes and houses stand along the water like an audience, and whether you prefer city or coast, we all agreed it would be hard to find a prettier place or a setting more alive. (I’m a surfer so I may be a bit partial.)

Our (TWLOHA) team on this trip to Australia is Chris Youngblood and Rich Sullivan and myself, and we are here primarily for Soundwave Festival, which happened last weekend in Brisbane and Sydney and will happen again tomorrow in Melbourne. Sunday is Adelaide and then we get one day off to fly across the continent to Perth. Adelaide and Perth will be firsts for us so we’re certainly excited. 

Chris was our first intern and when I met him, about two years ago, he had never left Georgia. I think his first time out of Georgia was to help us at The Almost show in Columbia, South Carolina. Over the last couple years, he’s become a big part of our story and our team. On our better days, Chris reminds us that community is not some idea for blogs and stages. It is something real and needed, as we have become his and he is part of ours and mine. He traded everything he knew to join our team.

These days, Chris handles everything in the realm of the internet and social networking for TWLOHA. He also spent last summer representing TWLOHA on Warped Tour and will be back out there again come June. Chris and I just took a long walk down Chapel Street in Melbourne, Australia, and this makes me smile because it’s safe to say that he is a long way from Georgia at the moment. 

Rich is one of my oldest friends. A few years ago, we shared a room in a house nicknamed “Summerset”. Byron Cutrer is TWLOHA’s Director of Operations, and he lived there too. Well, technically he didn’t live there, but he slept on the couch probably five nights a week. Summerset was a bunch of guys who liked music way too much, doing life together and wrestling with dreams we didn’t know what to do with. We walked through a lot together. We look back now and smile because so much has changed since then, but also because the things we began to believe back then are the things we get to believe now with TWLOHA. 

Anyway, Rich was part of the first “Stop the Bleeding” tour we ever did, to Nashville and back in 2006. He has been a friend ever since, played a major part in HEAVY AND LIGHT last month, and started full-time with us just after that, focusing on all things related to music and events. 

Okay, back to Australia. (Sorry for the detour, but I feel like I am usually the one who writes these things and I like the idea of you getting to know the folks behind the scenes.) 

We’re here for Soundwave and we’re off to a great start with Brisbane and Sydney. Brisbane is a beautiful city on Australia’s east coast, the furthest north we get to go on this journey. Brisbane’s downtown is really cool – lots of shops and really clean and alive with lots of young people walking around. Sydney is hard to describe – I haven’t been everywhere but it must be one of the world’s great cities. It is a beautiful mix of harbor and hills and skyline and beaches. In trying to explain it to folks back home, I’ve found myself saying that Sydney is like San Francisco meets Seattle meets the tropics. I don’t know if that’s remotely accurate but that’s what comes to mind. To say it a different way, I could totally live here. 

The folks from Soundwave have been incredibly generous and inviting to us. We arrived the first day in Brisbane to find that they had set us up our own tent, more space than we needed, right next to the main merch tent. They have something like 50 bands to look after, not to mention thousands of people coming out each day, and we were blown away that folks from the Soundwave team kept coming by asking how our day was going, asking if we needed anything. It’s an amazing thing when people believe in what you’re doing, when people get excited and start sharing whatever they have, opening whatever doors they can. 

The kindness we found with the Soundwave team didn’t end there. It must be an Australian thing because people have been really amazing to us, thanking us for coming, asking how we like Australia, asking our plans for this place and how they can get involved. We’ve had countless conversations with folks here who believe in the work and mission of TWLOHA. It’s been exciting for me personally, to see the passion and belief in the people here. There’s something powerful about finding things are true around the world, that we share ideas and needs and solutions, that we’re all people in need and that hope is contagious and universal. 

Read more

Comments (11) | Posted in General, Merch, Music by jamie tworkowski

To our friends in Australia,

We don't know what to say. 

i'm sorry.  We're sorry. 

We'll start there.   

Why?  Why does it snow in one place and rain in another while a third place burns? 

Why is life like that?

The following words kept me up most of last night.  This came in an email from a friend in Melbourne:
"A few days ago i read a text message that a mother had received from her son who was trapped in the fire - it was his goodbye.  This woman broke down in front of me at the thought of never seeing her son again..."

My friend went on to say that he had stood on what used to be a football ground. He said that 56 people had evacuated to this place at the last minute, believing it was safe because it was away from the trees.  All 56 of them were killed. 

i don't know what to do with stories like that.  i don't know what to say in response. 

i suppose we just want to say that this has our attention, and that we're going to do everything we can to help.  We're talking to friends, especially in Melbourne, to see what's being done and how we can get involved.  Rich, Chris and i head to Australia for Soundwave Festival next week, a trip we already had planned, before the fires.  The timing is certainly surprising.  It hit me late last night in reading that email from my friend, that we have to do something, we have to respond.  We have to be creative and do what we do best... i emailed some of our friends who are playing Soundwave, guys who are part of our story.  Amazing to think we'll be over there with some of our close friends (Anberlin, Bayside, Aaron Gillespie) in a moment like this.  Everyone is willing to help, to say this matters, to do something in response, to go beyond just saying words from a stage...

In closing, i just want to say that our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Australia right now, especially those that have lost ones and homes.  We don't want to offer you cheap answers.  We do want to say that your questions matter to us, your pain matters to us.  Your families, your towns, your stories, your memories.  Real things.  They matter.  You matter.   

As much as possible, across an internet and across all the oceans, we want to say that we're with you right now.  Australia is a place that moves us, that matters to us - i mean that personally, that i fell in love with Australia last year.  We're excited to go back and we hope to see you soon.   

Peace to you, from all of us in Florida and around the world. 
jamie



We will be at all five dates: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. (Yes, Perth!) Look for the TWLOHA tent and check the calendar for more info.

Comments (39) | Posted in General, Music by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

i think we can all relate to all of the following: pain, hope, love, loss, laughter, questions, joy, loneliness, dreams, sickness, fear and friendship.  Sometimes life is this really amazing thing.  Sometimes it hurts like hell.  Sometimes it's just plain awkward.

Valentine's Day can be pretty great if you have a date or a wife or boyfriend, or something along those lines.  But like most holidays, it can also remind you what's missing or what hurts.  It can be a pretty lonely day.  (It can certainly be awkward.)

We believe that conversations are powerful, that with all of the issues we speak to and so many of the messages we respond to, the answer begins there, with choosing to live less alone, choosing to do life with other people. 

So, for the second year in a row, this is our attempt at taming a famous awkward day.  We did this last year and it turned out to be a great night.  We're aiming for more of the same this year, wanting Saturday night's live chat to be a taste of community, honesty and hope for a lot of people. 

See you Saturday? 
: )
jamie

PS: It's pretty easy.  You'll just need to go to AbsolutePunk.net at 8pm EST this Saturday night (2/14). If you want to participate in the chat, you'll need to create an account. It's easy and it's free.

PS2: We'll be in Chicago for events Thursday and Friday.  Check the calendar for info. 

Comments (39) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hello from New York.

Great night last night, celebrating birthday with some really dear friends here in the City. Been feeling loved lately and i hope you can say the same. It's good to be reminded.

Last night i met a beautiful girl by the name of Lorretta Faye Williams. i'd heard a lot about her so it was good to meet in person. Lorretta is a month old and has a daddy named Zach. Zach loves a woman called Stacy and their story is about as good and strong as stories get. You'll have to catch a show sometime to know what i mean.

Fell asleep to snow last night and woke up to rain. It's cold but i suppose we're headed for a different kind of cold tomorrow. Tomorrow, we head for Canada. Zach Williams is bringing his band (they're amazing) and his songs, and Stacy and Lorretta are coming too. This trip is an exciting one, as it's the first time Zach's band will be joining us for a TWLOHA gig, and it's my first time speaking in Canada.

The Ottawa event is happening Friday night. We hope to see a lot of you, and we hope you'll help us spread the word. Here's the info:

This Friday, 1/30/09
A Really Cold Evening in Canada with TWLOHA.
Conversation: Pain, Hope, Questions and Community.
Talk by TWLOHA founder Jamie Tworkowski
Q&A to follow.
Music by Zach Williams

Algonquin College
Marketplace, Salon A
Building D
1385 Woodroffe Avenue
Nepean, ON K2G 1V8, Canada
7:00 PM FREE / ALL AGES

For more info, go HERE or email info@twloha.com

Hope to see you soon.
: )
jamie

Comments (21) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

i like birthdays. i like them more for other people but i'm glad we celebrate them. At the heart of it is the opportunity to tell someone "I'm glad that you were born", which is also to say "I'm glad that you're alive." Those are powerful statements. The world would be a different better place if we lived that way, if we said and showed those things, more than once a year.

i hope TWLOHA can be something like that, an attempt to say those things more often, to say that we are thankful for life and stories and certainly yours. i hope that we can be something like a gift, something like a favorite song or some show that you remember, some piece of hope or life or strength to hold against the walls when they feel cracked or falling. i hope we can be a reminder that life is worth fighting for, that your friends and family are worth fighting for, that love and beauty still happen, that change still happens. We'll only ever be part of the process, words on a screen in the middle of the night - i hope they find you like a friend. A t-shirt pulled from one of your drawers early on a tired silent morning - i hope you feel less alone when you look in the mirror. i hope it reminds you of community, that you're part of a bigger thing. i hope it sparks some conversation that brings change like a fire on the coldest night.

You'll need more than us. You'll need more and better. You'll need other people. You'll need people to help you process, people to help you let go, people to help you remember what's true and people to help you forget what's lies. You'll need the stories and advice of people with gray hair or white hair or no hair at all. Don't buy the lie that suggests they have nothing to offer or nothing to say - they were young once too. They are stories still going and they've seen the places you will go. They've been stuck at times as well, just like you and me and everyone.

You'll need coffee shops and sunsets and road trips. Airplanes and passports and new songs and old songs, but people more than anything else. You will need other people and you will need to be that other person to someone else, a living breathing screaming invitation to believe better things.

We're saying the story doesn't end here, that the air in your lungs is there for a reason. Perhaps we're all in the business of better endings, you as much as us, the business of redemption. Yours and mine and all the characters around us, and perhaps that bigger thing. i'll steal from Bono here and tell you that i believe we're far from alone in this, that God's been at this for a long time, this business of buying things back, making things new. If this is starting to sound too Churchy or spiritual, i'll simply say that i believe God gives a shit, about your life, about your story, about your pain. And if those possibilities feel too far or they just sound weird, then rest now and we'll get back to people.

We give a shit.

The darkness wins too often. Broken things build themselves in silence. People feel alone. People give up. People talk about this stuff like it's math or they don't talk about it at all.

So what are we doing? Why this page? Why the shirts? Why did a group of young people put their lives on hold and move to Florida a week ago? Why would they trade everything they know, all their normal comfort and quiet, for a crowded house and endless hours of this word "community"? Why would they want to join a conversation that most people run from?

We're trying to fight for people with kindness, with words that move, with honesty and creativity. We're trying to push back at suicide with compassion, with hope. We're pointing to wisdom, pointing to medicine, saying that hope is real, help is real. We're fighting for our own stories, our own friends and families, our own broken hearts. We're saying there's nothing we can't talk about, nothing off-limits. We're kicking elephants out of living rooms, making room for life.

You. It's about you. This is for you. It's crap unless it moves you, crap unless it connects with your story, meets you in your pain, reminds you of your dreams, reminds you what's possible.

We're still alive, you see. You and i on this night that's never happened before. Spread out across a giant circle, winter on one side and summer on the other, day and night the same. And then it moves and turns and changes. Things are always changing.

We are glad that you were born.
We are glad that you're alive.

Don't give up. Don't give up on your story. Don't give up on the people you love. Hope is real. Love is real. It's all worth fighting for.

Peace to you tonight.
jamie

PS: If you're wondering where the heck this came from, i turned 29 today. It's enough to make you think... : ) Off to meet the boys at Texas Roadhouse. Gonna catch a B.L.O.R.R. show after that.

PS2: You absolutely must see the new Coldplay video for "Life in Technicolor II". Prepare to smile.

PS3: You are officially invited to follow TWLOHA on twitter: twitter.com/twloha

Comments (45) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys. 

Denny and i spoke to a small group in Altoona today, in response to the recent suicides in the community here. It was a privilege to be in the room, just to be invited into the the conversation. We heard from a mother who lost her son, friends and classmates, parents and counselors, and even the School Superintendent. It was an honor to show up on behalf of this global community (you), to tell our surprising story of lives changing, people finding hope and help.

More than anything, we came to say that this place matters, these people here, the lives lost and the ones in the room and the many outside. We came to say we're part of the same story, that the hope we believe in, the help we point to - we believe those things for people here as well. And for the great loss, the people who can't come back, we simply said we're sorry. We acknowledged the enormous questions and did our best not to offer anything cheap or tiny in the face of those. No magic formula or easy answers. People cried because there are things in life worth crying about.

i found out today that the Anberlin guys will be here (Des Moines) tomorrow, on their tour with Between the Trees. So i decided to stay an extra day to spend some time with them, and to say a few words at the show tomorrow night. Hope to see you there.

Also, the Superintendent and some other folks here asked us to come back, so we're going to come back soon, to speak at one (or some) of the high schools. We've been moved by the story here, and it isn't just the loss. We're moved by the people that we met today, the folks remembering and believing and asking for change. We'll certainly be back, and together, we'll continue to say these things that we believe. We'll do our best to meet each other in the questions, and to say that life is worth fighting for.

Peace to you tonight.
jamie

PS: Don't tell Josh Moore, but i bought him a shirt today, at a store called SMASH. It says "The prettiest girls in the world live in Des Moines." It's a Jack Kerouac quote. i don't know if Josh has been here, but i think he's gonna smile.

Comments (17) | Posted in General, Music by jamie tworkowski

Last night began like this:
You can watch HEAVY AND LIGHT from start to finish HERE, thanks to SyncLive.com.  You'll have to create an account but it's free and super easy and honestly, it rules.  It's basically like a DVD.  You can skip forward or rewind.  You can watch specific parts.  The sound is really good.     

Here's what a few folks had to say...
Jon Foreman: "My favorite night of the year so far! Good friends with incredible talents singing together for a night of validating the worth of the highs and lows of the human experience."

Dustin Kensrue: "It was encouraging and life-giving to see so many people gathered with their guards down.  It's a rare thing in our culture to cultivate that kind of honesty and openness, and the way TWLOHA has managed to create that atmosphere was clearly seen last night.  It was beautiful to behold."

Aaron Gillespie:  "It was my favorite show of the last couple years.  It reminded me of how I imagine the 50's in Nashville, with Johnny Cash and his friends learning songs backstage and then everyone playing together that night."

My two cents: Last night was a dream come true on so many levels.  A few years ago, we started imagining these nights that could be more than music, nights where you could fill a room with hope and honesty, nights where you could also point to community and treatment.  It was unbelievable to see so many people willing to listen last night, people willing to engage this conversation.  And then obviously, the music was incredible and to be able to do it in this venue that we love, in the city where this began... It was a night we’ll never forget.

We want to say thank you to Jon and Dustin for flying across the country to be there, Anthony and Zach for coming down from New York, Mr. Josh Moore for coming from Carolina, and Aaron Gillespie for making the drive over from Tampa, after being on the road for basically the last six months. Thanks to the House of Blues for having us, and thanks beyond words to everyone who came from everywhere to be there last night. It was seriously a beautiful night, and i needed it as much as anyone.  More very soon, pictures and sounds and words.

Peace to you.
jamie

PS: You seriously need to watch the webcast.  All i can tell you is that it's safe to say there was some collaboration.

PS2: Here's the link to the Intro Video on YouTube.

Comments (13) | Posted in General, Music by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

Exciting news. TWLOHA is included in an article about depression in the new issue of Teen Vogue Magazine. It's the February 2009 issue (Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester on the cover). The article was written by Leigh Belz and can be found on page 106.

Read more

Comments (27) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

Sitting here listening to Land of Talk's "It's Okay" on repeat.  Not sure why, just been feeling safe in this song for the last few days.  Her voice is calming.

There's a great article about HEAVY AND LIGHT in today's Orlando's Sentinel. Check it out HERE.

We drove over to House of Blues today to get a feel for the room.  We've been there a hundred times but there's something different when you know they're about to hand you the keys, when it's yours for a night.  The room was completely empty and Chad was trying to figure out where the shirts will go and Rich was working on internet stuff and i was wandering around talking to myself and thinking about Sunday - up in the balcony thinking about family and friends and down on the floor wondering who will be standing there and where they will come from and how they'll be feeling.  It's an amazing room but it's empty until you fill it with stories.  People make a place.

The airplanes start arriving tomorrow so there's been lots of last-minute calls and texts and ideas.  Like last year, there will be some great surprises, some bright moments.  i'm still blown away that all of these guys are playing our show.  i would be excited if any one of them were playing and instead it's something like an all-star team.  More than half the names are known but we like the introductions as well.  You found us because our friends shared their stages so now we do the same.  There is a rookie by the name of Zach Williams who we think people need to meet.  He sings his stories with an urgency, something like a screaming.  Maybe we like him because we believe that there are things in life worth screaming about.  Maybe we find something true there, some sort of freedom.     

Heavy and Light is about winning and losing together.  It's the idea that we were meant to live that way -  we were meant to share things, to walk together.  It's the idea of being honest about pain and hope.

Also, we think music is pretty great so there will be a lot of music.  Music reminds us that we're alive, that it's okay to feel and care and ask and move, that maybe it's okay to be honest.

We hope to see you Sunday when the lights go down at six. There are still tickets available. Come with a friend or simply bring your story.  Your story is important.

Peace to you.
jamie
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Comments (4) | Posted in General, Music by jamie tworkowski

Hi Guys.

It's been a pretty amazing year. Thanks beyond words for your support.

Here's 2008 in review, starting back in January.

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Comments (15) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

What was the highlight of your 2008?

What are you hopeful for in 2009?

: )

Comments (75) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

Sorry it's been a few days. i hope this finds you warm and with people you love.

At the heart of today is this idea that we've been given a gift, and the gift suggests that we are part of a bigger story. Gifts and stories are the same in that we get to choose what we do with them.

Someone hands you a present and then you get to choose:

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Comments (9) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

Hello from New York City - Times Square to be exact. Byron and i just took a walk and checked out the enormous famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, which was lit earlier tonight, smells great and simply rules. New York is hard to beat, especially this time of year. You gotta see it.

We are in town for the first-ever Alliance of Youth Movements Summit:
"From December 3 to 5, leaders of pioneering youth movements will launch a global network that seeks to empower young people to mobilize against violence and oppression. Brought together by Howcast, Facebook, Google, YouTube, MTV, the U.S. Department of State, Columbia Law School and Access 360 Media, leaders of the organizations will travel to New York City with the mission of crafting a field manual on how to effect social change using online tools."

Needless to say, we're beyond honored to be here. It's a pretty amazing group of people from all over the world, brought together by a pretty incredible group of brands. Everyone here is fighting for change in some way, working creatively to fight injustice and make life better for people. One interesting thing about this group is that all of us are using the internet and new media to do it. 

TWLOHA will be featured (speaking) on two different panels:

Thursday, 12/4 - 1:45 to 2:45pm EST
Panel: "Addressing Violence at Home"
Hosted by Whoopi Goldberg!!

Friday, 12/5 - 8:50am to 9:40am EST
Panel: "How to Begin - Taking it to the Streets"
Hosted by Larry Diamond

For tons more info (including schedule and press release) and to watch the whole thing live online tomorrow and Friday, check out:
http://info.howcast.com/youthmovements/

This is a pretty big moment for us and i just want to take a second and say that we are here because of you. i mean that in a couple different ways. i mean we're here because you got us here, because of your response and because of your incredible support. But i also mean that we're here on your behalf. Earlier tonight we were at Google and tomorrow we're being interviewed by Whoopi Goldberg and tomorrow night we'll be at MTV in Times Square, and all of that is pretty exciting... but the heart of the matter is that we're here on behalf of people who are hurting. We're here on behalf of people who feel alone and people who live in silence. We're here because we believe in hope and help, and because we believe that people need other people. It's a privilege that we get to say those things and it's a privilege to represent you guys.

i have to be awake in five hours so i should probably get some sleep : )

Peace to you.
jamie

Comments (15) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hi Guys.

i hope it's been a good weekend. Thanks for the kind words in response to the last blog. That one meant a lot as those are the moments when i feel like i have the best job in the world. Perhaps honesty is a bit contagious in that when one person goes there, it somehow gives other people permission to do the same... Also, really cool to see people talking about the things they're thankful for in the comments.

As for tonight... As an organization, we are fans and friends and partners of both Hopeline (1-800-SUICIDE) and PostSecret. One is on the front lines of saving lives and the other is inviting people to tell their secrets and it's sparked a conversation that is honest, creative and powerful. We feel a lot of common ground and believe in the work of Hopeline and PostSecret because what we all have in common is that we're trying to invite people to reach out and take steps away from the weight and shame of their secrets and their pain, to begin to be less alone in those places.

In yesterday's PostSecret MySpace blog, PostSecret's Frank Warren interviews Hopeline's Reese Butler. Reese started Hopeline after the suicide of his wife Kristin in 1998. Kristin ended her life in the midst of battling postpartum depression and Reese founded Hopeline because he believed that more needed to be done to offer hope and help to people considering suicide. Frank calls Reese his hero and i know that we would echo that in saying that we are inspired by his life and work, and we are thankful for his friendship.

Each week, PostSecret receives hundreds of anonymous postcards from people all over the world. These are people's secrets and they are delivered to Frank's door. The following postcard was featured in yesterday's blog and i thought it might be powerful to post it here, and also to respond:

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Comments (1960) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Just wanted to say a quick hello and Happy Thanksgiving. It's an interesting day where families get together and we're invited to consider the things for which we're thankful. i suppose this holiday, like pretty much every holiday, can look and feel a lot of different ways. In some homes, i imagine it's epic and people stand and share aloud the things they're thankful for. For others, it might just be a lot of football on television and conversations that stick close to the surface. Maybe it's a day you love and look forward to, an easy day. Maybe it's a difficult day, rooms filled with elephants, things left unsaid or people simply missing... 

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Comments (19) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Tonight we remember the life of Casey Calvert. It's been a year since Casey's death. Our thoughts and prayers are for Ashley and the rest of Casey's family, and for Hawthorne Heights (Eron, JT, Matt, Micah) and the many more who called Casey a friend. 

Our hearts are heavy and light.
We laugh and scream and sing.
Our hearts are heavy and light.
In loving memory: Casey Calvert

This community responded in an amazing way one year ago. We want to thank everyone who has honored Casey and helped meet the needs of his family over the last year. And thanks to everyone who wears the Casey shirt - i know it continues to mean the world to the guys in Hawthorne Heights. i had dinner with them a couple months back and they said it's the coolest thing in the world seeing those shirts at their shows, people saying that they care and they remember. 

You are welcome to leave a comment here, but i think it would be even cooler if you send your love HERE.

Comments (18) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Comments (15) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

Mentioned our surprising night in Philly in yesterday's blog.  Well, thanks to Mike Gallagher and Philly Music Scene Initiative, we get to share it with you here (minus the cold weather and minus the hot chocolate).  This is what happens when 100 people show up at a coffee shop where the fire code is 50.  Is it possible to be in two places at once?  This was our attempt at "Yes"...

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Comments (3) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hello from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

Comments (2) | Posted in General, Music by jamie tworkowski

We just finished the gig in Newark, Delaware and we're heading for NYC. It's late but we're excited to get Zach Williams back to his Brooklyn and his bride. We'll spend our day off in New York tomorrow. Friday night is DC and then we'll be back in Brooklyn Saturday afternoon. The road's been great so far. The colors of the Carolina Fall have had us staring out the windows, considering beauty. The brights are giving way to browns and grays, and we know it won't be long before they fade to white and winter. We are here before those storms.

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Comments (13) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Josh Moore, Aaron Moore and i had a great night at Greenville College in Illinois two weeks ago. First event we've done together in a while and it got us excited for this east coast tour that we're on now.  The GC folks were kind hosts and i was happy to say yes when they asked if i might answer some questions so that their community could learn a little more about TWLOHA.  i wanted to share the conversation here as well:

GC: Can you give me an overview of TWLOHA? How it started? What's the purpose? Who is TWLOHA?

JT: "To Write Love on Her Arms" began in 2006 as a written story and an attempt to help a friend. We made a MySpace page and started selling t-shirts as a way to help pay for our friend's drug treatment. The organization was born from the response to those things. Today, we're a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. We exist to encourage, inspire, inform and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery. In the last two years, our team has responded to 80,000 messages and those messages have come from 40 different countries. 

I'll give you two answers for "Who is TWLOHA?"

1. TWLOHA is a small team of staff and volunteers based in Cocoa, Florida.
2. TWLOHA is a worldwide movement of young people committed to hope, help, conversation and community.

GC: Who is TWLOHA aimed toward?

JT: Our message has spread quickly through MySpace, Facebook and the music community, so a lot of our audience is young. That said, we know that the issues we talk about are issues that affect people of all ages all over the world, so I think the best answer is simply "people". We're trying to create something inviting, something that meets people where they are, as they are.

GC: This story started with Renee's story. (See www.TWLOHA.com for the background information.) Was she the first person who raised your awareness to these types of issues and gave a "face and a name and realness" to the things people struggle with?

JT: Renee was the first in terms of addiction and self-injury. There were other people in my life (prior to Renee) who struggled with depression. I lost my friend Zeke to suicide about a month before I met Renee.

GC: How does TWLOHA invest in lives?

JT: We try to create hope and point to help and we do that through words especially. Through our blog and other website content, through the messages we read and respond to, through creative campaigns and projects, through opportunities to speak and lead discussions at universities, concerts, churches and other events. We also invest financially in treatment and recovery. 

Comments (3) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

We've stood on a lot of different stages over the last couple years, though they're almost never ours. We tend to borrow them from our friends. The crowds gather and stand and wait for the songs. The band sends us instead. It's a surprising privilege, scary at times. Usually, it's just a couple minutes, just long enough to to mention hope, to say you're not alone. It's an honor to take the stage before the songs, because we believe in the songs - we believe in the things our friends have to say, the music that they're making. And maybe it's an honor all the more because the borrowing suggests that a band believes in us as well, that maybe we have something to say. 

We've borrowed from Anberlin, Switchfoot, Bayside, The Almost, The Rocket Summer, and Copeland. Maybe you first found us at one of those shows, as the stranger on stage or the table in the back... We've heard that from a lot of people. We love those nights. We love being in the room with the music and the people and the sense of now and urgency.

The stage thing first happened three Cornerstones ago. July 2006 to be exact. i introduced Bradley Hathaway, Copeland and one other band that year. i'd met those guys before, Bradley at a birthday party in Orlando, Aaron on a long walk in Lakeland. The third band was the Myriad and i'd never met them prior to Cornerstone. i kept running into Jonathan from the band and we became fast friends. They played twice that year and i think i actually introduced them both times. i remember Jon playing in our green Title shirt, but with this long white scarf as well. It shouldn't have worked but it totally did, as the band is completely unique and something like a theater show. They are truly great live.

We've run into The Myriad guys here and there since then, at festivals and shows along the way. They were with us for the start of the Switchfoot tour earlier this year, always warm and kind and smiles. They work hard, tour constantly. They travel by van to keep the costs low, so that there's something to send back to loved ones on the west coast. The old songs were good and the new songs are even better. The live show is even stronger, which is saying a lot. We root for them.

And i've never forgotten their generosity back when all of this began, basically: "The show can wait. You have something to say. Go tell them." 

Well, we have something like a stage now. The numbers suggest a stadium. You helped build it, you lit the lights. This place is unique and so we all play all the parts. We are the builders, the sold-out crowd, the workers and just as much the talent. i'm writing tonight to return the favor to The Myriad, because there is a need among them.

Their drummer Randy Miller is fighting cancer. With him in this fight are his wife Kristyn and his children Connor and Gillian. There are immediate and on-going financial needs. Please read the initial band's blog HERE.  There is also an update HERE.

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Comments (2) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

We've been working on tour stuff today, excited to kick things off this Friday night at UGA in Athens. (As a sidenote, i am a little sad about having to miss Coldplay. They're playing Orlando that night.)

i want to say thanks to everyone who responded to yesterday's "Meet Zach Williams" blog. i talked to Zach for a while this morning and he was really moved and encouraged by all the kind words. He wrote a blog in response and you can read that HERE.

We're excited to announce that Zach Williams will be joining us for three dates on the upcoming East Coast Tour.  He will be playing the first two shows, Friday in Athens and Saturday at Clemson. He'll also be joining us in Brooklyn on Saturday, 11/15. That's a show we're just now announcing and that one will have to be "An Afternoon with To Write Love on Her Arms", because it starts at 4pm. Super excited about this one as i spent a few days there last week and it got me thinking... that maybe life in NYC has a lot in common with life in community. Both require sacrifice. Both mean being vulnerable. Both can be really difficult, but people choose NYC and people choose community because, ultimately, they believe it's worth it. There are easier places to live but ask any New Yorker and they'll probably tell you that it's the greatest city in the world, that they couldn't imagine living anywhere else. It seems there's something healthy about living life with other people, living among stories and conversations, inviting those things and choosing those things. And then it seems like there's something about inspiration as well, like we were meant to be moved. For me, there's something about being in a place where so much is happening, something about all of that history and beauty, something about that skyline... 

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Comments (7) | Posted in General, Music by jamie tworkowski

We just added a new song to the MySpace playlist... 

i'd never heard of Zach Williams until my friend Jon Tyson invited me to see him play last Tuesday in NYC. Jon is one of my heroes and his text said "Trust me" and since i'd never heard him say that, i pretty much had to go.

i went to see Zach play at Rockwood Music Hall, which is a tiny perfect room in Manhattan's Lower East Side. It turned out to be one of the best shows i've ever seen in my life. i keep telling people about it and i'm pretty sure i sound like an idiot because i can't begin to explain it and i just go on and on. For me, it was everything i love about music and so much of what i hope to find in this life. The packed tiny room was also a picture of community. When Zach sang "Take me to Brooklyn", his friends screamed and it was obvious that Brooklyn is them and theirs and they are a gang of the best kind, the kind we were meant for.

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Comments (8) | Posted in Music by jamie tworkowski

Hey Guys.

We want to say thank you to everyone who watched the TWLOHA story on NBC Nightly News tonight. Our team watched it together in Cocoa, along with Byron's parents, his wife Amanda and their new baby Eden. My mom was there too - my mom is the best. It was a really special night, more emotional than i thought it would be. It was really heavy having our story in the mix with the news about Hurricane Ike and the millions affected in Texas and the Gulf. We said a prayer for those people during the commercial break, and they remain in our thoughts and prayers now. We know that this is a difficult night for a lot of people. We also prayed for the people and families that would be seeing the TWLOHA story tonight. We were told nine million people would be watching and it was heavy on my heart tonight that those are nine million individuals. Nine million stories. Real people. Real families. We spent some time talking about that, and we prayed that those people would be introduced to hope and help.

Comments (20) | Posted in General by jamie tworkowski