You

The American Dream: a house and a wife and two and a half kids and a crossover and a Nissan Altima

That's not my dream a bit

Sure, I  want a wife

And certainly a place to lay my head, but not necessarily a "house"

All those things are good things

But I don't want to be defined by them

I want to be defined first by Jesus Christ, then by John Justus Angelo Hoehn

I would have people say of my life that it was full and passion filled and free 

Rather than "successful."

Rather than "He climbed that ladder and was a part of the local Lion's Club"

Blech! 

Give me more! 

Give me a backpack and 100 bucks and a plane ticket 

And I'll take a snippet of LIFE

Give me a set of keys and an inspiration

And I'll give you a song

I'll give you a glimpse of paradise

Of life

We were created to live up to our potential, don't you think?

I heard somewhere that, anymore, people aren't following there dreams as much as they used to

That there are Heaps of Doctors out there who were Created to be Park Rangers

There are Piles of Teachers who are cut out to be Musicians

Plumbers who were Designed as Airplane Pilots

And they all hate their lives and their jobs because 

You can't force a square peg through a round hole

Well, you caaannn, but not without a whole lot more friction than is necessary

You ought not try to fit a Painter peg through a Finance Manager hole

It produces more friction than is necessary

And Heck, we've only got one life, haven't we?

So what is the point of wasting all your precious talents and your limited time in pursuance of something that does not fulfill you?

I KNOW you have heard this all before

But what holds you back?

I know a very lovely individual, whom I have gotten to know really well in the past few weeks

And one of the many words that comes to mind when I think of this person is

Bright

Because they shine

They are alive 

They walk on the curbs and not on the footpath 

Because that draws more "life" out for them

That should be everyone of us

We should all inspire each other to be ourselves

When you look at me, I want you to see the original John Hoehn

And I want that to inspire you to be the Original you 

Who the H are you if not you?

Our culture in America is all about fitting the "Prominent Businessman" cookie cutter

or whatever 

Instead

What if we focused on Filling the you shaped hole in the world?

There is a hole somewhere in this world

And I am the only putty, the only finger, the only patch 

That can fix it

And that goes for EVERY HUMAN BEING!

Every one adds something that the Earth did not have before

And gosh, that's a beautiful thought

Makes you view everyone differently, yeah?

Maybe I digress from my original thought

But what else is a blog for if not for sharing my original thoughts?

I know it's difficult to live as yourself

It takes a WHOLE LOT of soul searching

And a decent amount of hard decisions

We've certainly dug ourselves a deep hole of monotonousness and anonymity 

But we can climb out

I'm definitely not an "individual" yet

I've still got growing to do

But I realize that now

And I'm working on it

And I've got a friend who inspires me to work on it

I hope I will, in turn, inspire someone else

To be them

I love you, you special special you :) John H.  

Life

Woah, life's been happening for me recently
Don't even know what the big deal is
Maybe cause it's spring
Maybe it's cause I've got some REAL good friends here at Harding
But I feel a lot less "bleh"
And a lot more "Blessed"
I recently changed my major BACK to Communication Studies with a Leadership and Ministry secondary major
Back?
Well, I came to Harding declared as that ^
But as I explored the different things that I could do here, I started to doubt
I briefly, but seriously, considered Communication Sciences and Disorders
But the medical side of that is not for me
Nor is the grad school part
Then I thought about Public Relations
Because I love telling stories, something I've recently realized about myself
But PR is way too.... Businessy for my taste
So back to Comm Studies for me
Cause I love communicating with people
I do love telling stories,
Interacting
Enjoying life at the "speed of conversation" if I may quote Rhett and Link
And who knows what I'll do with that degree?
Hopefully, I'll have a whole lot of real deal friends and I'll cross paths with some real cool peeps
And Hopefully, God will use my life in the way He sees fit
Take me to a land far away to show kids how to make their letters in a different language
Or show me down three houses to wash my neighbor's car
And through everything
Through my life
I will be a point of Light in this Dark world

"Keep your nose from turning brown,
 and save your soul from pain
Look away when friends fall down
and frown out at the rain
OR
Keep your heart from turning rough
and wash your sins away
Look through all your dear friend's bluffs
and smile and dance and play"

Whatever floats your boat really
Ya gonna use your one chance to mean something
Or are you going to lay it down, pick up your iPhone and see what's currently trending on twitter...
"Am I not a man and a brother?"

Treat your fellow man to a piece of your life
And maybe, they'll return the favor
C'mon, we all rock SOCKS
Don't waste it
Always Hope, Love Regardless and Peace Out- John H.

Thoughts

So many things go through my head recently
I can barely keep track
I looked it up and apparently humans, on average, think 70,000 thoughts a day
I may be breaking the stats on this one
A lot of things that I should have thought about during the last few months and years of my life
Are finally coming to my brain
All at once
Like, who am I?
Literally, what makes John Justus Angelo Hoehn happy?
Laugh?
Cry?
Create?
Coldplay is one of my favorite bands, because I like how their music sounds and what most of the words say
But, is it still?
Believe me, yes, Coldplay is still great in my book, love them
Busting rhythms, Idk, am I good at it? I've never thought I was, cause I've never tried
So, now it's stuck in my head that I don't like rap music
Sometimes, rarely, I like Christian rap
Sort of
However, it's always been about the content for me, with rap
How are they getting their message across?
Hateful?
Proud?
Playful?
Profane?
That's what I've always hated about rap
The words
They're either too worldly/dirty or too preachy/cheesy
Do I hate rap though?
Don't think so, now that you mention it
Dead on what I'm talking about
Leaving my past conceptions behind
Leading a more fulfilling life
Loving in a more... MORE way
Realizing what I like and don't like
Reviewing what it is that ticks me off and what gets my face to never stop smiling
Revenue?
No way on earth
Never, at least I hope and pray, will I rely on money to fulfill me
Not on circumstances either
Joy comes from within
Jesus in the reason for every season, especially the season of life that you're in
Just think about that now
Many great thinkers
Mulling over the issue of fulfillment and happiness
Mastering all other aspects of life
Kept from this one thing
Knights of a cause they do not understand
Keep on keeping on, but never find it
Unless
Up against their own worthlessness
Urged by the Spirit of God
Epiphany happens
Everything changes
Easter means more than chocolate and fake grass

Do you see what I've done?
I have created order out of the madness in my brain
At least a small part of it
At least some semblance of order
What you have just witnessed is my thought vomit on a page, a webpage
What I really wanted to say is that I have recently met someone that, if you're reading this
Don't get the wrong impression
Just keep smiling :)
Anyway, this person has stimulated a great many thoughts in me
How do I relate to other people?
What do I value in a person?
In a girl?
In a dude?
How do I effectively express my thoughts in conversation?
How do I look past the awkward moments and move on with the friendship?
Am I a radical
Or am I common place?
Am I being real with myself?
With other people?

I could go on
But this blog is long enough
Mull over it
Tell me your thoughts
Tell me something I don't know

Keep rocking, Keep rolling

Always Hope yall, John Hoehn