Blood Diamond
What inspires me? The last time I got off my ass to add an update for this page was on November 3rd, after receiving a DVD in the mail from Invisible Children, an organization that demonstrates the power of media and mission to bring awareness to the issue of child soldiers in Uganda.
Tonight, I strolled a few blocks from my home to the Vogue Theater to watch Blood Diamond. I expected a rugged tale with a bad South African accent. And that's what it was. But it movingly reminded me that there are issues in this world that we don't see while walking through the shopping mall sipping a latte.
Early in the Spring of 2007, I plan to launch a branding firm named "Covive". This endeavor will harness my skills as a communicator and designer to empower businesses seeking to tackle the world's greatest challenges.
Covive is a word I have coined as an adaptation of survive. By dictionary definition, to survive is "to live above" others: survival of the fittest.
Sometimes even the fittest realize that they depend on others. Other people, other nations, other species, other forces.
To Covive is to live together through cooperation, through sharing. It's not a matter of being nice. It is a matter of survival, or shall we say covival.
This week I got a sick delight out of hearing of a married evangelical pastor of a mega-church in Colorado named Ted Haggard who was caught in a gay sex and crystal meth scandal in November. He was removed from his positions as senior pastor of New Life Church and as President of the National Association of Evangelicals.
I have been inside his church before. My parents (now divorced) ran in the same circles as he did. In fact, I once did a voice-over promoting a conference at which Ted was a featured speaker.
Despite my delight, his situation reinforced for me the seriousness of this cause to which I have devoted more than a year of my life.
Rocking a family, a church of 14,000 people, and an association representing millions of American Evangelicals is a simple issue: gay sex and crystal meth.
Whether Ted Haggard is gay, straight, or bisexual is non of my business. But that a substance can control a man to hide destructive behavior from his family and those he loves is something I can relate to 100%.
Just two weeks ago, I added a disclaimer to my home page saying that "I choose to be a real person, one who does not compartmentalize my life to showcase what's acceptable and hide what others may not want to see."
Nearly a year and a half ago I sent an e-mail to 30 people who love and care about me saying "Over the past four months, I have become a regular user of crystal methamphetamine. I acknowledge, without shame, a concern for my mental, physical and emotional health. As a result of this personal experience, I know that I am not alone in a having feeling of helplessness, especially in the gay community. The first step in fixing a problem is to acknowledge it."
If you have a problem with addiction, of any kind, ask for help. I am here for you if no one else is.
With Love,
Chad
chad@chadupham.com