The Homeless Have Stories Too - A Tour Story

The Thing We Never Do Enough

Often times we as people, especially during the Christmas season get so caught up in we are doing that we forget to look around and acknowledge what the people around us are going through. We all know that the holidays are hard for some people, but do we ever consider the small steps we can take to make their holiday a little less hard?

Stress, Work, and Perfectionism

As I was preparing for a show in Midland, Michigan while on tour this last month I was stressed. Stressed about how I was going to make the band look good, while also outdoing myself in comparison to the way I performed the night before. A classic predicament of a creative hustler. 

A friend of mine who was serving within the hospitality crew for the tour turned to me in my stress, and politely asked, “Hey Cole, would you mind taking these extra burgers out to the homeless men across the street?”. Without hesitation I said yes because I needed something to get my mind off perfectionism. 

As I walked across the street I was thinking thoughts like, “It’s too fu*** cold out here”, “Should I jog to warm up”, and “What if they don’t like the fact that I have food and jump me.”. EVERY single one of those thoughts was so irrational and stupid considering my circumstance. Regardless I had a job to do and I was going to do it to the best of my ability.

He Was Homeless. I Was Busy.
Soon enough I ended up arriving to these men dressed in winter coats. All the men had a certain roughness to them, but it wasn’t aggressive. It more brotherly than anything. Like these guys took care of each other (Which I later came to find they did). I explained to them that the meals were for them and then got into a conversation with a man named Steve. 

Steve explained to me that he used to be both a musician and a Christian, but is not longer heavily involved in either for reasons unbeknownst to me. He explained to me what hurt him, what got him excited, and what life was like. Guess how long we talked? 30 minutes. I expected to be outside for 3 minutes tops. 

He Lives In my Inconvenience
The reason I share this story is to drive home the fact that we have so much to be grateful for, and have the ability to help people relive their creative dreams vicariously. We do this art so that others can dream big. Next time you’re out, ask a “Steve” you would’ve never talked to, “What’s your story?” because you may just give them a glimpse of hope… oh yeah… and they might just leave you with something you never would’ve thought about otherwise.

Love people y’all. Love Steve. Stay creative.

-CP