My American Dream isn't always Pretty

My income was cut in half yesterday. I was in shock and think I still am. Has this ever happened to any of you? Takes the wind right out my sails a little. If I dwell on it long enough it takes the wind out of my sails a lot. My ship is stopped. Should I give up? Or should I keep going? The hero in me says, "Keep going Cody!" The coward in me says, "Give up Cody!" Is it easier to keep going or to give up? By giving up I play it safe right? By pushing forward I play the fool.

For those of you following my story, I set out to record a song I wrote called "Are There Any Americans in the Crowd?" a few months back. The recording was a success and now I'm just laying the groundwork for a release in January. I have this idea that this song is meant to be heard right now in our country. It's not just an idea, but a feeling inside my heart. I work in the oilfields of North Dakota and I don't get to see my wife and kids as much as I'd like. The pull toward promoting this song is so strong that a few months back when I had the chance to go home I literally came to a crossroads.

It was at a junction where highway 8 and highway 23 meet between Parshall and New Town, North Dakota. As I rolled up to the stop sign my heart started racing. I felt myself strongly desirous to turn right. Turning right would mean that a loving wife and 4 wonderful children would greet me after a 1,000 mile drive to Utah. Turning left would mean a lonely 1500 mile drive to Nashville. My mind filled with patriotic thoughts of America. A responsibility and duty to my country turned my steering wheel to the left. Turning left also meant that I would spend thousands of dollars on recording a song that people might not like. Of course I want to believe that people will love it, but sometimes my doubts get the best of me.

I drove about 2-1/2 hours before I realized that my transmission was stuck in 3rd gear. It wouldn't go into overdrive. This was discouraging, because now my 21 hour drive would take even longer, because I would only be able to go about 55mph instead of 80. If I pushed the rpms too high for too long I would burn up my motor. I stopped at a transmission repair shop and they said they were 2 weeks out from being able to work on it. I topped off the tranny fluid and drove on. I began to feel discouraged. Maybe I should've turned right. What's the point of trying to get a stupid song out into the world when my world was at home in Utah with my wife and kids? A dream can be a really lonely thing sometimes.

I drove through Minnesota and Wisconsin wondering if I was doing the right thing. I had a rough recording of the song on my phone and listened to it over and over again through my headphones to keep my morale up. I would've plugged it into my car stereo, but my car is over 20 years old and didn't have a USB port. My mom owned the car before me and its on its second engine with over 380,000 miles on the odometer. I think the transmission is original and probably the reason for it getting stuck in 3rd. Anyway, I was somewhere outside of either Minneapolis or Chicago when something happened that struck me to my core.

I was going through a jumbled mess of inner-city over passes and under passes when I looked up briefly to see a woman standing behind chain link fencing surrounded with and holding signs that said things like Never Forget and Remember 9/11. Tears instantly came to my eyes. I had lost all track of time working in the oil field and didn't even realize the date. It was Sept. 11th 2015. An overwhelming sense of duty and obligation filled my soul. My determination to do my part in honoring and standing up for everything that America stands for hit my heart. I was totally caught off guard by the power of patriotism that hit me in that moment. I continued onto Nashville with a new resolve and the song was recorded in just a couple days.

I then pointed my car west and drove 1700 miles home. I discovered that in the early morning when my transmission was cool I could get it to shift into overdrive and travel 80 mph. After it heated up it would stay in overdrive until I came to a stop. The first stop of the day came in Kansas when I had to stop at a toll booth. Then I was stuck in 3rd again. It's been a while now since I made that trip. I'm still working in North Dakota and trying to get things ready for the song release in January. I hope I am able to present the song to as many people as I possibly can in as many ways as I can prepare.

I've got a radio station in Utah that will play it. I'm hoping to shoot a music video in the next week or so for the song. I'm working on a website too where people can join me as I try to get the song out to the world. This isn't easy. I'd like to invite all of you who have been following my story to make it your own when the time comes. We all have hardships and setbacks. We all have tough choices between going left and going right. Sometime we feel alone on our journeys and wonder if the odds are stacked against us. Keep moving forward America. I don't think it's too late to save our country.

I still believe there are good people in this land who love their country. These are the people I wrote this song for. These are the people I want to invite to make the song their own. For this to work I will need everyones help. I have been blessed to live in so many wonderful parts of our country. I have friends and family throughout the states. I've lived in Nevada, Missouri, Utah, Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, Massachusetts and Tennessee. As a truck driver I have driven through most of the 48 states. I have seen where Americans live. I have seen our industry. I have seen our communities. One night I came through a little town in Texas that was filled with the American spirit of small town America. I parked my rig in an empty lot and walk down to the town square. I read the bronze plaques around the square. There was a gazebo and bronze sculptures throughout the town.

I don't remember everything I read there, but I remember the spirit I felt. There were businesses around the block and I looked at their displays through the windows. I took in the smells and warm air of Texas that night. I don't remember the name of the town, but there are hundreds of thousands of them all across the country. Our ancestors and ourselves have worked too hard to let all of this slip away into chaos. Let us hold our ground and maintain our convictions about our love of country and duty to support and defend her from evil and corruption wherever it might be.

How To Start A Movement

What country are we building and saving for our children? This is a picture of my grandfather Robert Woodley and my daughter Angelina Sorensen. My grandpa died in 1991 and she was born in 2015. He fought in WWII...I pray she will never know war, but it's highly unlikely given the path we are on as a nation.

There is a lot going on right now in the world. With all of the busyness, how are we going to save America for our kids? We all want to live normal lives filled with opportunity and peace right? Many of us are striving for this right now, but there is a restlessness within everyone I talk to about something being amiss. Something is terribly wrong. Many of us try to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the problems, but the noise is growing louder. We can't ignore our duty any longer.

The populations of the earth are shifting. There are those who are destroying and those who are fighting the destroyers. Most are running away. These refugees are seeking safety from the storm, but are having a hard time finding it. We have those in the middle east who are heading into Europe and those in central and south America who are heading for the United States. They are seeking the blessings of the promised land where there is milk and honey for all. We are the ones who already live in the land of milk and honey, but what are we doing to protect and preserve it?

We are the ones who have been blessed by a strong military to keep us safe so that we might enjoy the prosperity and enterprise of a free people. We have education, homes, transportation, grocery stores, retail stores, movie theaters, restaurants, running water, wash machines, dryers, air-conditioning, electricity to run our electronics and lightbulbs, hot showers, carpet and hardwood flooring, heating, refrigeration, dish washers, beds, couches, chairs, tables, clothing, shoes, fast food, homemade food, conveniently packaged meats, cheeses, crackers, cereals, candies, milk, chocolate milk, juices of all kinds, vegetables and fruits even when they are out of season.

The blessings are too many to name! I lived in Colombia and they had many of these same blessings, conveniences and amenities, but not like we have in the USA. We can no longer take these things for granted my friends. We can longer ignore the corruption in our three branches of government, in big business, banks and special interest groups and agencies. This is the land of the American dream, but that dream is getting harder and harder to achieve as these big groups seek control and domination by combining and conspiring together against the little man. They fail to see what we need to begin to see. They wouldn't exist without us and cannot exist without us. They need our hard work and our hard earned money to survive.

We have the power! We must first pull back and take a good look at the truth of our predicament. For us to continue to preserve the blessings of liberty and all of the freedoms that come along with that liberty we must turn off the distractions that have been numbing our minds for the past 70 years. We must return to the chopping block of law and order and pull down the high and mighty who no longer hear us. The wheeling and dealing that is going on behind the backs of the American people must stop! It is time for us to stand up and fight!

Let me explain: There is only one thing that we have that big government, big business and special interests understand. The Boycott! They say that over 100 million Americans aren't working and that the other 200 million are footing the bill. Well, what should we do? Are we going to just keep plugging along sending 30% of our paycheck down the gutter or are we going to boycott this inequality? The working man is done footing the bill for the lazy man. We all need to stop paying our taxes until the holes in our ships are mended.

Our tax dollars are going to planned parenthood to help pay for the murder of future Americans!? Our tax dollars are going to the illegal aliens who are living on the welfare safety nets that were meant to help Americans get back on their feet. Our tax dollars are filling big government bloated budgets that are being divvied up among unproductive government employees as wages, free healthcare and pension plans. Where is the working mans pension plan? Our tax dollars are being used to bail out big business and banks that have no business getting our hard earned money. These business didn't manage their budgets properly and they should have been allowed to fail, but the big government forced our hand. All of the shareholders got rich! All of the the chief officers got rich! What did the American people get? More mediocrity in service and crap innovation in products.

Boycott all businesses and banks that unconstitutionally stole our tax dollars. Boycott all of the leadership that voted for these bailouts. Close your accounts at these banks and stop buying goods and services from these businesses. This is really the only way we can start a movement. We can't wait until it all comes crashing down America! If the American people fail at saving this nation then there will be no place for refuge. If everybody else in the world is running here, then where are we gonna run when the lights go out?

The Last of the Americans

I'm going to right using speak to text. In our country right now there is great division between the left and the right. The left think of themselves as the intellectually gifted. The right think of themselves as the smart workers. The problem isn't it that we have differences. The problem is that neither side is choosing to see the point of view of the other side. As we squabble and argue and fight amongst our selves our nation continues to weaken. Our enemies foreign and domestic are becoming braver and more emboldened. We are beginning to see our foreign enemies build up their military and we're seeing domestic individuals lash out against are peacekeepers. America is sick her people have lost their way. There are many that are still alive who are considered those of the greatest generation. These are the men and women who came together in the face of great adversity during world war 2 to unite in an effort to save Europe from the axis of evil along with the other allies. Are we not the sons and daughters the grandsons and granddaughters the great grandsons and the great-granddaughters of the greatest generation? Do we not have the same blood flowing through our veins? When our enemies surround us will we lay down racism, our indifference, our intolerance and our foreign ancestral flags and join hands beneath one banner? I sure hope that we do. I hope that those of us in this country who don't speak English recognize the fact that the majority do speak English and then if they don't learn English when times get tough and our enemies attack they won't be able to communicate and they will find themselves in a very difficult situation. Our nation will be wiped off the face of the earth and the new people will come and claim airlines if we don't remember the god of our country if we don't remember our indebtedness to him in leading us to this country in blessing us with prosperity. Husbands and wives look after your children dissmissal selfishness from your heart that threaten your marital relationship so that you can continue to build the foundations of strength for yourselves for your children and your children's children. If we don't do this within the next generation with in this generation we will be the last of the Americans.

10 Things To Do Today To Make a Difference in America

#1 Obey the Laws of the Land.

This is something all of us can do better. Did you run any red lights or stop signs today? Did you cut anybody off in traffic or drive faster than the posted speed limit? Did you throw any trash out of the window of your car today? Simply obeying your local traffic laws can make a huge difference in everyday life of millions of Americans. 

#2 Do Something Meaningful to Help Your Neighbor.

We all have neighbors that we might not care for very much, but I dare you to put your differences aside and love them anyway. Think of ways you might be able to mend the relationships in your neighborhood to help unify your community. Why is this important? America is only as good as the communities of which she's made of! Be the first one to organize a neighborhood watch or a service project to reach out and lift up the less fortunate folks in the area. You may not realize how important neighbors are until a disaster strikes and you don't know who to turn to, because you never got to know your neighbors. It's one thing to know who they are, but good deeds without thought for recompense solidify relationships that can last for generations.

#3 Pick up a piece of trash lying on the ground in your community.

When I was a kid I threw a wrapper out the window once. We travelled a few miles and my mom asked me where my wrapper went. I admitted to tossing it out the window. She stopped the car, turned around and drove back looking for the piece of trash. She made me get out of the car and pick it up. I'll never forget it. Set an example for others by picking up the trash in your community. Properly managing our refuse can make a huge difference in how we feel about our homes, communities, cities, counties, states and country. 

#4 Report an illegal alien to Immigration & Customs Enforcement.

This one might scare a lot of you, but if you know of somebody living in your community that came into the country illegally isn't it your duty to report them to the proper authorities? These people take jobs away from American citizens. They become a burden to our welfare systems. If you don't want to report them, then help them assimilate through the proper channels. They may need to be deported and then come back through following proper immigration laws, but at least then they won't be hiding in the darkness of lawlessness. 

#5 Raise an American Flag in your yard.

The more flags we see flying in our communities the better. The American flag is the ultimate symbol of freedom. Wave it loud and proud without any fear of overdoing it. This is America and we have our own flag. A flag that has been on every battlefield in America and throughout the word. It has been shot, blasted, burned and soaked with the blood of patriots. It is so much more than a piece of cloth. Put a light on it at night and take good care of it. Retire it before it shreds and replace it with another as a bright reminder to those who see it that freedom doesn't come free. Flying the flag is also a silent way to express your right of freedom of speech.

#6 Teach your kids about the American revolution and why it happened.

If we don't remember the captivity of our forefathers and why they sought to throw off the bands of oppression then how will we ever be able to keep history from repeating itself. Teach why we didn't want to be ruled by the British anymore. Teach them about the courageous stories of those who gave their lives to fight for the freedoms that we enjoy today. The spirit of freedom is one of the most incredible forces for good in the world today. The problem with many of us is that the comforts we enjoy might not be here tomorrow if we don't get our patriotic hands dirty from time to time by reminding our elected officials that We The People are the ones with the power.

#7 Go out and buy a gun and some ammunition.
One of the reasons America is a country to be reckoned with is, because we have the right to bear arms. We all have guns! These guns are to protect us from foreign and domestic enemies. Owning one sends a reminder to our local, state and federal governments that we will not tolerate any violation of both our divinely and constitutionally given rights. Get out and shoot your gun on a regular basis so that you're prepared to use it when the time for action knocks on your door. Learn how to use it safely and stockpile ammunition, because a gun isn't more than a club without bullets.

#8 Get a job or start a business.

Why are nearly a 1/3 of Americans not working? Come on people get off the welfare programs and take your lives back. I'm convinced that there are jobs out there to be done. Swallow your dignity and work jobs that get your hands dirty. It'll make you feel better. There is nothing worse than a man without a job. It's self-degrading. Don't be afraid to do something different. If you're in a position to start a business and provide jobs for others--do it! Look around and see what you can do to fill a need in your community. Turn that need into something of value and that's a business. If you're drawing a blank then use the internet, library and public services to educate yourself about job and business opportunities available in your area. If there aren't any. Keep looking! Never give up your right to change your future and never rely on government to give you a future. Government cripples the working man when that man accepts unnecessary handouts.

#9 Sit down and eat dinner with your family.

Harder than you think, but this one action changes nations. Quality family time is priceless. Make it count!

#10 Go to church.

Where do you get your hope recharged? Do the best you can with what your parents taught you and carry on that tradition by teaching your children. We all need a good foundation underneath us to carry our hearts and minds through the good times and the bad times. Just do the best you can with the knowledge you have. Jesus Saves!

What Can We Do to Save America?

What I am about to write is written with the intent to scare you into getting prepared for the tough times ahead. World markets are spinning out of control and when economies tank, goods and services skyrocket and become unavailable. Use this fear to motivate you to prepare for any calamity that might present itself. I have some good news for those who live in rural America close to agriculture and some not so good news for the masses that live in large cities void of agriculture.

I was raised on a dairy farm in Nevada. We raised crops and fed and milked our cows. We had a large garden each year where we enjoyed fresh vegetables. We had fruit trees and when we needed meat we butchered a cow, pig or chicken. We also had a flock of chickens and enjoyed fresh eggs. There is nothing quite like an ice-cold mason jar filled with fresh cows milk on a hot day with buttery corn on the cob, a lean steak and mashed potatoes with gravy. Those who have access to the earth and a water source will be able to provide for themselves if they have saved up seeds for planting and have some livestock for protein. 

Raising chickens has really taken off in urban America and is probably one of the only hopes for city dwellers to enjoy a daily egg or two. The problem is getting grain to feed them. There are literally billions of people in cities who depend on trucks to deliver the food they consume. Always consider worst-case-scenario and prepare for that while hoping for the best. City folk will need to rely on getting some dehydrated food storage. If the world slips into chaos then we are going to see a lot of hungry Americans looking for food. This can often be a problem for the self-reliant Americans who've laid up a food store.

This is where self-defense items come into play.  When the hordes of hungry Americans show up at your doorstep you have two choices. You can share your food with them or you can put a gun in their faces and try to defend your stores for your own. If you share your food it won't be long before you join the hordes, because you and yours will also be hungry. I think it's going to be a tough situation that will require some tough decisions. Those who have spent their money on food, shelter, clothing and water preparations will still have to defend these resources from those who havn't prepared. 

Also consider medical supplies, a mobile power source, water filtration, fuel, firewood, cooking supplies, batteries, hygiene, toiletries, a mobile shelter, winter clothing, sleeping bags, tools and the list goes on and on. A survival guide is a good item to tote along in your backpack. You might consider practicing fire starting using items other than matches and gasoline. I could write a book on all the things you can do to prepare yourself, but that's not my job. It's yours! Just do it before the moment of emergency arrives, because it will be too late for preparations when disaster strikes.

I wish I could tell you to save some money and keep that on hand, but if the course our country is heading doesn't change then I'm afraid paper money won't do any of us any good. It will be all about food, weapons, ammunition and useful supplies, tools and services that we'll use as currency to barter and trade with. I hate writing articles like this, because they remind me of post nuclear war movies. I don't want to have to experience any of the above conditions, but I'd rather be prepared for the worst then not be. I pray we all stand up and stop the corruption in our communities, cities, counties, states and federal government. 

Why are we still allowing the uncontrolled spending of our hard earned tax dollars? Why are we still allowing those who do it to get away with it? Who is going to stop them if we don't? They're not even spending the money where it's most needed like toward our national defense. No, instead they are spending it on their utopian entitlement programs where government takes care of every need of a persons everday life. There are millions of Americans who have worked for the government for so long that they have forgetten what it's like to work for themselves. They work to be paid by the private sectors tax dollars. 

The burden on our shoulders to bear the weight of all of the public sector jobs is killing us! I am all for military jobs. I'm all for the bare bones departments that administer the nuts and bolts of proven social nets, but I'm sick of the wanton waste and self-entitled hipocrisy from the professional political class that wants more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more. I'm greatful for those who seek public jobs to administer the policies, procedures, maintenance and construction and management of our communities, citities, counties, states and country, but not when they continue to bloat their budgets and increase their salaries to put themselves above the rest of us.

Our education system no longer turns out young adults ready to change the world with new ideas armed with the practical tools necessary to build businesses and pursue self-employment opportunities. Most of our media movies and shows have become so base and crass that the infection their garbage spews has poisoned our minds and made us dumb, lazy and without feeling. We've become numb to goodness and wholesomeness. We are no longer offended by perversion and immoral behavior in print and video formats. We can't afford to lose the value our previous generations have taught about the value of a human life.

The more I write the madder I get when I consider what is killing America. It's a disgusting feeling and every thought could be a title heading for an entire article. Funny how a focused mind begins cutting through the frill around the edges and goes straight to the heart of the problem. We have a lot of crap to cut through and nobody's going to do it unless We The People do. Right?

Is Donald Trump What America Needs Right Now?

The American people are sick and tired of politicians, news organizations and government agencies slimy antics used to sugar-coat the world we live in. Common sense gained through real-world work experience alludes the majority of these think-tank-poll-driven-consultant-polished bureaucrats.  What comes out of their mouths is always geared toward saving their own butts rather than geared toward fixing our nations problems. I keep hearing people trash talk Donald Trump calling him a "clown" and a passing sideshow, but he seems to be the only one with a get-to-the-point message. America is dying people!

I'm excited to hear a true patriot get up and paint an ugly picture. Someone who pulls out all of the props and just tells us what's wrong. We already know what's wrong, we just need a leader who can articulate the problems and then share a straightforward plan of action. Donald Trump is doing this. Winston Churchill was an amazing war leader, because he himself had fought in the trenches of World War I. He knew firsthand about what had worked and what hadn't. This is why his leadership was so valuable in World War II.

Donald Trump has been in the trenches of business. He has seen what works and what doesn't work in trade negotiations. He knows how to take an idea and use that idea to create jobs. He has employed tens of thousands of Americans. I bet he knows a thing or two about how government interference through over-taxation and over-regulation held his businesses back from contributing more opportunities for those workers. He knows that government doesn't create jobs, entrepreneurs do. I'm excited to see what happens to America when he removes these crippling abuses from American industry.

When he talks about trade he makes sense. He says that we have terrible deals that are moving millions of jobs and dollars out of our country every year, but doing very little for America. He has brought the issue of immigration to the forefront. This issue has been in the back of our minds for years as we have watched the safety nets in our country dwindle and go bankrupt sucking the lifeblood out of the taxpayers who fund them. Donald Trump is a fighter, but he might not be the most eloquent speaker. My favorite thing to do when reading news articles about Donald Trump and the 2016 political environment is to read the comments posted by the viewers.

99.9% of these comments are made by very stupid people. They might be book smart, but they are very ignorant when it comes to real life experience in the private sector. They go on about how dumb Donald Trump is and how he would be a terrible statesman, because of his crazy rhetoric. They have no idea what it takes for a guy to make billion dollar business deals. Donald Trump has spent years building up the TRUMP brand to the tune of 10 billion dollars. How does an idiot do that?

Donald Trump loves America. How do I know this? It's easy, he doesn't spend all day talking about loving America, he spends all day sharing how he plans to save her and he has spent decades literally building her from the ground up. He needs to save her from the professional political class. Save her from the bloated government agencies. Save her from the ignorant, brain-washed millions who suck off the hind tit of self-esteem destroying government welfare programs. This guy is all about cutting costs. He's all about firing the unproductive and encouraging excellence from Americas great men and women who know their true worth and aren't afraid to get their hands dirty.

Donald Trump is the right guy for the job right now, but are we? Are we ready to be the Americans who are going to save our country? Donald is only one man. He can't do this alone! Are we going to take a stand and redirect our lives so that we can be favored by God once again? We have to cast aside our wicked ways or Donald Trump will fail. He speaks about how he is great at business, but are the American people still a wholesome and righteous people full of ideas, self-reliance and commitment to the American Dream? I hate to say this, but I don't know.

Do we have to wait until we're starving, before we wake up and realize that our society is only great inasmuch as we live righteous and principled lives? The corruption will only get worse if integrity has flown out the window. I think we can do this. I think that we still have men and women of true merit and character. I think that those of us who have strong moral character can stand up and bring America back to life. Lets polish the light on a hill and continue as the force for good in the world. Lets put down the devilish appetites of the flesh that seek to destroy our goodness. Throw down any lifestyle that leads to selfishness, cruelty, inhumanity and immoral behavior.

Lets give Donald Trump a great society to work with. Begin with yourself. Rid your life of the things you know have been causing you to cower from the light. When the light of God returns to your eyes when you look in the mirror, spread that light throughout the lives of your loved ones. Lift up your wife. Lift up your children. Encourage your neighbors to step up. Entire communities, cities, counties, states and regions will advance. What good is all the money and jobs in the world if the society we create isn't conducive to a kind-hearted and charitable people.

Sure we have problems, but lets not be the problem. Donald Trump preaches that he can make America great again, but he can't if her people don't believe and see a path to achieve this greatness. Cast out evil from your lives and the right leader just might have a chance. There are countries who hate America for her goodness. They are jealous of her prosperity and humility. Humility is the true source of Americas power. I know it might not make sense to a lot of people, but it's true. The humbler we get the more powerful we become, because the depths of humility is where we find our Creator and with Him with us, who can stand against us?

I don't want the moral decay of our society to be the cause of our destruction. It will be if we don't change course. We have been blessed like no other nation on earth. Let us not throw it away. Donald Trump is a business man. We come from industrious ancestors. We are the benefactors of our ancestors industry. We mustn't forget how hard they worked. We mustn't forget how much they sacrificed so that we could have it so easy. We mustn't forget how much blood was spilt to keep oppressive organizations, governments and tyrants from violating our inalienable rights which provide us with the fruits of freedom we have enjoyed for so long.

When you listen to Donald Trump and consider the goods and the bads, I want you to remember the Apostle Paul. He was a disciple of Jesus Christ, but had blood on his hands from his previous life as Saul. Donald Trump isn't perfect, but neither are any of us. Donald Trump is sincere. He has put everything on the line. He doesn't need to be President! He doesn't need the money. He is being slandered from the left and the right. He has lost millions of dollars from making a stand. I like other candidates, but Trump is the only one that is playing The American Song in the hearts and minds of so many disenfranchised Americans who's forefathers and mothers gave their all to build this great land.

We have people here now who don't even want to learn English. They don't want to assimilate into Americans. They want to make America the countries where they came from. IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT! It can't work like that. Get the hell out of here if you don't want to be an American! My ancestors did it. Why can't you? Donald Trump understands this. We can't have a nation of nations, because then we can't stand united as "ONE NATION UNDER GOD".

The Parable of the Farmer, the Chicken Flock, the Dog, the Raccoon and the Skunk and How it Applies to America

We moved to our home five years ago and I immediately set out to build a chicken coop to house the chickens we brought from our previous home. When finished it was pretty cool (I thought so). It included a run on 3 sides of it with exits to access entire tracks of our yard. One exit was an underground tunnel that the chickens had to go through to access our raspberry and garden patch. Another exit accessed two sections of grass beneath our apple and peach trees. The 3rd exit accessed a hillside between our property and a public road.

Each of the larger tracks were fenced using 6' tall chicken wire with 2" diameter holes. I even created a youtube video called, "How to Build a Chicken Run" at the time of construction which now has over 80,000 views. It has now been 5 years and something interesting has happened. During the first 4 years I never had any chickens die from predators. I may have had the occasional neighborhood dog catch and kill a chicken that flew over my fences, but for the most part, my flock was safe within the fences and coop.

A few months ago we started loosing 1, 2, 3 and sometimes even more chickens a day. I couldn't figure out what was killing my chickens. It wasn't long before I had lost 30 to 40 birds. It was creepy too. These chickens were being ripped to pieces. Guts were everywhere. Entire bodies would be hardly touched, but would be disemboweled or have their heads missing. One night my wife thought she heard a chicken freaking out so I ran out there with my .22 rifle. I looked for signs of an attack and was kind of creeped out when I noticed a freshly killed chicken floating in a watering basin.

At this point I wondered if the attacker was maybe something more sinister. My mind went straight to sci-fi horror films like Alien and Predator. Yikes! Then I noticed wet foot prints leading away from the crime scene. I climbed inside the run and started investigating. The footprints weren't alien, they were familiar. I followed them through one of the exit points and out into the hillside track. They went up the hill and under the fence near the street curb. I followed the wet tracks across the pavement and into thick 1970's style shrubbery. That's where the trail ended.

My guess was either a dog or a raccoon. The tracks had dried a little and so they looked more like dog tracks to me. I went back to where the attacker had gone under the fence and found a tuft of hair. It looked like coon at first, but then I started wondering if it was hair from my neighbors husky. My neighbors dog had killed several of my chickens in the past so I accused him of the deed the next day to an apologetic neighbor. Just in case it wasn't the neighbors dog, that night I set a live catch trap. The next morning I had a large raccoon in my trap. I apologized to my neighbor and thought my troubles were over.

Yesterday I noticed that some of my chickens were missing so I set the trap out again expecting to catch another coon that had moved into the area. I hadn't improved my fences or coop and so my chickens were still vulnerable to attack. This morning I was surprised to find a skunk in the trap. So after years of allowing my fences and coop to fall into ruin, it has allowed predators to take advantage of these weaknesses in the borders and many chickens have been lost. I've been lazy. I have known about these vulnerabilities and I have done very little to strengthen them. My flock used to be very productive. We were getting so many eggs that we had to sell the excess.

The egg production of my flock was so great that the sales from their eggs actually paid for all of the feed they consumed and allowed us to enjoy eating eggs for free. During these good years I neglected to spend time and resources on protecting the producers. Now we barely get enough eggs to eat for ourselves, let alone sell. My chickens live scared and fly into the trees in my yard at night to avoid being eaten. They don't even sleep in the dilapidated coop anymore because they sense the danger.

I hope after reading this story you can draw some parallels to compare America's borders to the borders of my chicken flock. Compare America's once robust economy to my once robust egg production. Maybe think about who the dog, raccoon and skunk might represent. Who was I in this story? Was I not the government? Did I fail to protect my flock by not fixing my fences? Is our government failing to protect America's flock? I considered what I should do with the raccoon and the skunk who had come in and murdered bird after bird after bird. What should we do with those who come into our country and commit crimes? Food for thought...

America Will Suffer a Lot Before She Gets Better

Went to Endodontist Dr. Jon W. Jenson today to get a couple of retreats done on two of my front teeth that had developed infections at the root tips. These teeth died when I was a teenager and were crowned back in 1997. He told me that I would feel a pinch while he gave me four shots of novacaine. His assistant asked if I wanted some laughing gas to calm my nerves. I declined and said, "I can do this."  I had been suffering a dull ache caused by these infections for who knows how long and I was committed to go through this ordeal if it meant that I would get better.

I know it sounds odd, but I was welcoming the temporary pain and discomfort, because I believed that this treatment would lead to less pain and greater comfort in the future. To get America back to greatness is going to require short term and possibly even some long term pain. We're going to feel a few pinches, but the end goal is the same as my desire to get my teeth fixed. The first thing we have to do is remember God's hand in our lives. The second step will be for us to strengthen our individual selves and nuclear families. From these areas of strength anything is possible. These efforts won't be in vain if we give it our best effort.

Infections have been festering in all aspects of American life for years. I just hope that we can treat the infections before they become untreatable. Dr. Jenson prescribed me some anti-biotics and said if my face starts to swell, to go ahead and taken them. The idea is for my natural defenses to move in and kill any bacteria left in the infected area. He gave me a lot of reassurance and based on his experience, he thinks that my success rate of a full recovery is high. What about America's success rate of recovery? America is only as good as her people.

We have to care about each other again. We have to love each other through sacrificing our own time, energy and resources to boost each other up. The closer we get to God the easier it's going to be for us to discern when a politician is lying. Even when what they are saying is the truth, if we don't know the intent of their hearts, we can be led astray if they don't actually stand behind the truth in principle. Another thing we can do to fight the decline of America is to live upright lives. We can stop overusing alcohol, drugs, pornagraphy, music and multi-media from consuming our lives to the point that we can no longer function at a creative level of productivity.

Music is a wonderful thing, but it is also very powerful. Music can evoke strong emotions which release chemicals into our bodies that can either uplift us or depress us depending on what the lyrics or melodies inspire us to think about. When music overpowers our ability think for ourselves, then it's time to unplug the player. Same goes for television, movies, internet and any other thing that slips us into a state of stupor. I love all of the creative arts, but to save America, sometimes we have to turn the drugs off to get to work.

Just like the teeth in this xray are anchored in my jaw to allow me to use them to chew and tear food, righteous principles are what anchor America through times of adversity. Without a solid foundation built upon correct principles such as humility, kindess, service, forgiveness, charity, virtue and justice America will never be great again. It's easy to talk about what needs to be done, but if we don't "DO" something, America will lose it's anchors and become like a loose tooth that doesn't work and has to be extracted. I really love my teeth and wish I had taken better care of them in my youth. I really love my country and hope I can take better care of her.

The American Song is a way that I feel like I can contribute to our society in an effort to make positive change. I appreicate anyone who takes a minute to read my blog posts and I hope my thoughts can inspire you to take action. I am trying my hardest to get the song recorded, but it's a process and anything worth doing is worth doing well. America is worth doing well. We are a country of laws and without obedience to these laws order is lost. Laws that don't work can be discussed and reversed if need be. Lets be smart about the methods we use to save our country. Lets avoid killing each other in a bloody civil war if we can. We can do this!

America is Going to Die if We Don't Fight To Cure Her Infirmities

Today I met up with Michael Dowdle to lay down some guitar tracks. Afterward I asked him what he thought about the song and we began a conversation about America and her struggles. He said that his biggest concern was for his children and grandchildren and what their America would look like. We talked about what changed America from the powerhouse that it used to be to the limping country it is now.

I wondered aloud how we could roll out tens of thousands of war machines to aid in winning World War I and World War II and yet now we can't even enforce the laws of our land or defend the borders of the country. He said that the generations of the great world wars had "conviction through affliction". I think Michael makes an interesting point with this rhyming phrase. The greatest generations had were children during the first world war and then teenagers through the great depression.

They had a very real, first-hand experience with adversity by first witnessing their parents' country suffer and make it through and then they themselves experienced the sting of Pearl Harbor.  These struggles really brought our people together and united us in a way that nothing since has. The attacks on New York in 2001 brought us together for a while, but faded away, because the threat stayed in foreign lands. Michael thinks that it's going to take something bigger to unite us again and I agree.

We are so divided right now. We need unity more than ever. Family units have been destroyed by infidelity and a lack of the morality that held the families of yesteryear together. America has been overrun with "stuff". I grew up with a grandfather that kept everything and when stuff broke he didn't throw it away--he fixed it. This throw away tradition has led many of us to not truly appreciate the process that industry requires to produce goods. We take for granted and have nearly forgotten the hard work and focus an idea requires to go from the raw materials to a finished product.

By becoming a consuming nation, rather than a producing nation we don't have to wait for anything. We can just go buy it at the store without a thought for the blood, sweat and tears it took others to provide it for us. This includes food and services also, not just products. We must return to the fields of toil and the factories of industry, not to prove that we can work hard, but so we remember the production processes of what we eat, what we wear and what we use.

The American Song is the calling card to all Americans to stand up and get back to the basics. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the finer things in life that have made our lifestyles so convenient, comfortable and easy, but what if it all comes to a halt? What if we have some global scale catostrophes that disable communications, transportation, food production, clothing production, electricity, water, etc.? Are you prepared? Can we pull on our boots and survive? Will we be able to feed ourselves? Will we be able to keep ourselves warm in winter and cool in the summer? Will we be able to protect our wives and children? Will we be able to defend ourselves from a domestic or forgeign enemy? Will we be able to treat, cure, mend and heal our sick bodies? I don't want us to suffer some horrible, debilitating experience before we remember and humble ourselves. Isn't the power within us to come together before destruction is upon us?

Tomorrow I'm going to an endotontist to get a couple teeth retreated for root canals that I had done nearly 15 years ago. He has to go back in and treat dime-size infections that are at the root tips. He's using the latest technology in anesthesia, tools and technique. If our way of life were to fail, I can't imagine what I would do about these infections that are threatening to destroy bone in my upper jaw. We can't afford to lose the advances and progress that our civilization has made, because we're too lazy to care about the direction we're headed.

Michael Dowdle used a word to describe the attitudes that the newer generations have toward life. The word was, "apathy". If a person is apathetic, it means they have a lack of concern, enthusiam or interest. Does this not describe how many Americans act toward the issues facing The United States of America?  There are so many preaching doom and destruction around every corner, but I hope we take a different path. I hope we start caring for our neighbors. I hope we start caring about our wives and our children. I hope we take a moment each day to remember our creator and humble ourselves to empower ourselves with the strength of His arm rather than the strength of our own.

The more Americans I share this song with, the more I realize that we share the same fears, concerns, problems and ideas on how to solve them. Sometimes I hesitate to write about God for fear of offending somebody, but when our nation is at stake, everybody seems to start caring less about offending and more about defending. Lets keep the faith and move forward with love in our hearts for our fellowman and a hatred toward all evil that seeks to destroy what we've built in the last two centuries. Let the song I wrote reignite our national pride and individual determination to make a difference in ourselves and the communities in which we live.

The American Dream Doesn't Just Happen

Today I went and met up with Cliff Maag at the Record Lab in Provo, Utah. I worked with Cliff before on this same song, but today started work on the new pop version. We laid down scratch vocals and guitar following a click track. The click track allowed me to keep time as I played guitar and sang the lyrics. These tracks will give the musicians a format around which they'll be able to lay their tracks. The next step will be to lay down some guitar tracks and then on to bass and drums. Something interesting happened at the Record Lab.

Just after we were wrapping up the scratch tracks I was introduced to Cliff's son Ryan. I asked him if he would be willing to listen to the song and if he would maybe share his thoughts on its marketability. He didn't even wait for the song to finish before sharing enthusiam for the project. He, Cliff and I carried on a wonderful conversation about our concerns for our country and Ryan looked me straight in the face at one point and said, "I love my country....I really, really love my country." It might not be word for word, but it wasn't what he said that impressed me--it was how he said it.

It was like he wasn't just saying it to be patriotic, but it was like he was a literal part of the American body and could feel the weak and hurting parts of that body. I could feel the pain in his heart in his words and a sense of worry. Cliff said the same things. He was deeply worried and concerned for his country. Neither of them held back their praise for the song or for my desires to get it out into the world to inspire others to start standing up in whatever way they can. An American dream lives as much as we share it with others. I believe that the more I share this song, the more momentum it's going to get.

The power of The American Song incites patriotic conversation. It creates a space for Americans to voice their concerns, fears, joys and frustrations. I really enjoy the dialog that this song inspires. It starts off with talk about problems, but then turns to a problem/solution kind of conversation. This song just might become the song of summer 2016. It might just become the song of the 2016 presidential contest. I really hope it does. I hope it becomes a part of the America that I love. I hope it touches the hearts and minds of others and that it moves our nation toward a better balance between the people who govern and the people governed.

My favorite part of the music business is the creative part of producing a song. There is nothing funner than starting from scratch and being a witness to the creative process. It's one thing to write a song, but to actually bring those lyrics to life with instrumentation and vocals is absolutely fun and amazing to me. It's also very frustrating and tricky when trying to find the right balance between the words, the music and the feeling I want to create. I am rarely satisfied with my work. I just hope I can do this one to the best of my abilities and hope it's good enough to send out into the world to become the anthem of the revolution. Whatever that revolution might be for my fellow Americans.

Proud To Be an American

Have you ever had American pride well up in your heart while tears streak down your cheeks? I have this happen each time I see a return soldier hug his kids. All I have to see is a picture of a combat soldier caring for a foreign child in a country we're at war with to feel this pride fill my heart. Maybe not pride. Maybe it's love for my fellow Americans who risk their lives to make my life safer. The American Song I wrote is for the brave men and women who serve in the armed forces of the United States of America.

My hope is that the lyrics and melody of the song increase their belief and determination to continue the struggle for what they're fighting for. A reminder of what makes America great so that when they walk on foreign soil those reminders bolster them up to brave the long days and nights of being away from home. I've seen a lot of soldiers who have come home with missing limbs. I always point them out to my kids so that they know what a hero looks like. I tell them that a hero is someone who lays down their life for others. 

Heroism isn't something that people are given, it's something that happens in a moment of conflict when all thought for oneself is transferred to the well-being of others. This is why most heroes don't consider themselves heroes, because they didn't do the heroic act for their own glory, but for the sake of another human being. I've never served in war, but I have had a life or death struggle with two people who sought to take my life for a few possessions. I know what it feels like to fight for my life. I know what it feels like afterward when distrust of my fellowman heightens my sense of awareness toward strange or suspicious activity.

This was only one experience. I can't imagine the effects of day to day life-threatening experiences would do to a soldiers nerves. The trauma that followed my experienced lasted for several months afterward, but has since faded away into memory. While I still keep a steady eye for the out-of-the-ordinary, my trust in the goodness of humanity has returned. I feel for the soldiers who are still suffering the post-traumatic stress of harrowing experiences that shook them to their cores. It's a weird feeling you get when someone verbally threatens or literally attempts to kill you. 

I'm grateful for the freedoms that I enjoy each day, because of the past heroes who laid down their lives that I might live free. This gratitude is what I believe American pride is all about. I'm proud to be an American who loves a nation so rich in the history of the search for freedom. I'm disgusted whenever I hear of someone who wants to remove the liberties my country provides for me and my family. I will fight to defend them, because I've seen what happens to people when these liberties are taken away. They suffer at the hands of their controllers. 

Keep the faith my fellow Americans. Keep being grateful for what we take for granted each and everyday. Never forget the captivity of our forefathers. Those who fought for independence from a tyrannical government who wanted to enslave us with taxes too heavy to bear. Be ever suspicious of a government that overburdens her people with heavy taxes, suffocating regulations and non-transparent laws. These threats are all around us and our eyes have been blinded, our ears have been deaf for way to long and our voices mute for fear of retaliation. 

Even writing this blog I feel cautious. Why? Because I've seen people and organizations targeted by government agencies and administrations whenever they rose up against overt oppression and suppression to freedom of thought, freedom of religious beliefs, freedom to keep and bear arms and freedom of speech. I'm am only one man, but we are a republic of libertarians. We are a people armed with a love for God, a love for our families, a love for our communities, a love for our freedoms. I don't want to lose anymore ground. 

Patriotism is the movement that reminds our elected leaders of the content of our hearts and minds. We have a right to free assembly to voice our grievances with local, state and federal governments. We have a representative governing body that must represent the people and not their own selfish desires. When a politician becomes a servant by the people, of the people and for the people, that politician is to be a hero for those men and women and must stand up and fight for them when their rights and liberties are threatened. 

Listen to The American Song and be reminded of what patriotism feels like, what the power of self-reliance feels like. We need patriots and heroes more than ever right now. We need them to speak up and be heard. We must keep our feet down and push against the powers of darkness in high places that threaten to devour our righteous laws and throw away our liberties. There is no grey matter. There is only black and white, right and wrong, good and evil. If you think their is grey area, then you have been deceived by the father of all lies and he has dragged your soul into the bitter chains of wickedness. These chains can only be broken by the grace of God. 

If you're wallowing in the mire, then you will be useless in the battle that is raging for the restoration of the American Dream. If you don't have control of yourself then you are good for nothing. Regain control over your appetites and desires and let the goodness of God temper them. Once who have come to God, He will show you how you can help save yourself from spiritual bondage. Once free of that bondage you can continue on to escape from physical bondage. It's never too late to start. 

We are only as strong as our people. As our people live clean, upright lives our families, communities, counties, states and ultimately the nation will once again thrive. Without this change we are doomed. No man can save a wicked nation, but a wicked nation repented can be saved by God and that saving grace restores the nation to greatness. Not greatness of men, but goodness, because their hearts are one in Jesus Christ and greatness is simply the byproduct of that relationship. 

Are There Any American's in the Crowd?

When I ask this question I visualize a big crowd of people hearing the question and then everybody taking a step back leaving one person standing out in front of the crowd. This visual means that not one American in the crowd voluntarily stepped forward. I've often wondered why America hasn't turned the tide of negative news stories yet. When will the time come when we as a people find more solutions to our problems than finding problems to our solutions? Here is my answer.

The average everyday American doesn't have the time. We're too busy. Too busy trying to survive. Working our fingers to the bone to pay our mortgages, our credit cards, our car payments and every other possible debt we've put ourselves under. I say under, because debt has a crushing effect on a persons ability to mobilize and respond to the collective problems of our country. The majority have their own problems to worry about and don't have time to think about America's problems. That's what our elected representatives are supposed to worry about right?

Anyone who has noticed the state of our union knows that we're in trouble. America is going off a cliff going 100 miles per hour without brakes. As I watch the political environment of the candidates running for the 2016 presidential election I sit back wondering how a president can make any difference. A president is only as good as the multitudes of controllers that hold the strings to that office. As history and reality expose themselves, we see transparently how the presidents of the U.S. are often puppets to big business, special interest groups and secret combinations that conspire to undermine the American Dream for everybody and instead provide the dream for only a few.

The American dream is for everybody, but how does an everyday American take the leap from merely dreaming the dream to living the dream? The process, timing and fulfillment is different for everyone, but the common thread is that we all want a better life. My dream of getting The American Song out there will probably happen, because how big that song gets will depend on my persistence and determination. If I give up then it will stop. If I keep going then it will keep going. I can't do this alone. 

I love America and the lyrics in The American Song are about the things that I love about her. The verses cover the things I love and the choruses are geared toward motivating and inspiring others to think about the things they love about America and stand up to defend them. Once I finish recording it I'm gonna film a music video for it. After that's finished I'll release it on my website along with the music video. I'll have the song available for download and then I'll just promote the hell out of it. I'm gonna push into every social media outlet I can get it on. I'll try to get it in as many news outlets as I can before our next President is elected. This is all easier said than done of course.

Shaming American Exceptionalism Is Wrong

Is there anything wrong with being proud to be an American? Seems like more and more American's talk bad about the country these days. Many of our elected representatives seem embarrassed by America's awesomeness and downplay her divine role in the world by apologizing for anything and everything her people have ever done wrong. Everytime these cowards do this, they mock each and every life that has ever been laid down for the cause of freedom. No nation in the history of mankind has ever experienced the freedoms that America enjoys save the people of Enoch.

These freedoms came because of the goodness of Americans. This goodness came with the Judeo-Chrisitian values taught throughout the world by followers of Christ. Argue that all you want, doesn't make it untrue. Even John Adams recognized that the Constitution of the United States of America was a document written to govern a righteous people when he said: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

The only way America will ever fall is if her people fall into iniquity. When more than half of the population choose evil rather than good, this will be the beginning of the end for America. I don't think we've reached that point yet and my hope is to that we never do. The main focus of The American song is to remind people of what makes living in America awesome. If we remember the little things on a day to day basis, we can keep on the straight and narrow stearing our lives toward the greater good for everyone.

I know that I'm not alone when I worry about the evils that threaten to destroy us. I read news stories everyday of horrible people trying to divide and tear apart the American people. The easiest way to conquer a people is to divide them. Turn them against each other and they will conquer themselves. The majority of Americans are too smart to fall for the propoganda that much of the media pushes on us from day to day. Let me give you an example of the steady calm that lies in the hearts of most everyday Americans.

The media is always trying to sensationalize drama out of the everyday conflicts between white people and black people to the point of blowing the divide between us out of proportion. It's like the media is bored and feed on the drama machine. They print headlines that seem to push their conflict-equals-drama-equals-ratings-and-sales-agenda into our minds. It's like they WANT us to fight and hate and riot and war one with another. News organizations that do this are evil. It's one thing to report the news, but something entirely different to slant the news or color it in a light that is meant to incite hatred, division and war.

The majority of level-headed Americans see through this nonsense and choose instead to love their neighbors each and every day. That's what makes America great. When mothers and fathers teach their children to love their neighbors children like they love themselves these enemies of a free society have no power over our hearts and minds. We're a great country, because our people are grateful. We are a powerful country, because our people are humble before our Creator.

The good news is that we are above the serpents head and while he might have power to bruise our heals from time to time, we were given the power to crush his head. Stay strong my fellow Americans. Remember the captivity of those who choose to live lives of wickedness. Remember that those who try to control others are evil and those that strive to control themselves are good. My American dream is to get a song out there into the world to lift up the hearts of those who still love America and live everyday to make her a better place than she was yesterday.

How Do I Make My American Dream A Reality?

It's like I just opened a 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. I thought I had a real clear picture of what my dream was, but now, as I go through the pieces that make up the big picture; I feel overwhelmed. Which piece comes first and which piece goes second? It's easy to dream. It's not so easy figuring out the steps I need to take to make the dream a reality. This project is more than just hoping my song goes big time. I also want to take advantage of our nations current political environment so that the life of the song plays out at the same.

There are no accidents. The American Song is all about standing up for America and there is no better way to do that right now than to get out and vote in the next presidential election. In the U.S. only 60% of eligible voters turnout to vote during a presidential election. That means 40% stay home? I want my song to get to the 40% who don't vote. Here's what I think:

I need to record the song as quickly as possible. Then I need to produce a music video for the song. Then use that video to promote the song. I'll try to get radio programmers in my local area to play the song on the radio to see if people like it. It's going to have to be a grass roots campaign that slowly builds momentum, because I don't have millions of dollars or a major music label that could buy the song popularity.

Will people like the song? Will they listen to the song and tell their friends about it? Will they share the music video? If the song or video suck then the dream is gonna fall dead on its face, but the song doesn't suck. Do you understand what I'm saying here? It's one thing to commit to a dream, but an entirely different animal to push myself each day to promote the dream. Timing and luck has a lot to do with how well a person fulfills their American dream. Is it the right time for this song? I think so.

It's been interesting to see all of the potential presidential candidates throw around their ideas for America. They too have their dreams and they too are trying to make their dreams a reality. America is an amazing country, but she seems to be coming apart at the seams right now. We hear about illegal immigration, shooting sprees, bomb threats, attacks on our everyday rights and freedoms and all kinds of news stories that create a sense of anxiety in our minds and hearts.

I've watched a lot of World War II documentaries and movies lately and I'm blown away by how amazing the American resolve was, to get something done during that time period. This wasn't very long ago folks. Millions upon millions of people died in that war. America went into the war not even being ranked in the worlds top ten economies, but emerged as a superpower. How? I think it was because of the goodness of her people. Just a decade before the war we were suffering the effects of the Great Depression. That suffering humbled us. That humility is what laid the foundations for our strength: Strength of character, strength of family, strength of community, strength of state and strength of country.

Millions of Americans served the war effort both directly and indirectly. Hundreds of thousands paid the ultimate price to protect our lands, families and freedoms as well as those lands, families and freedoms of our foreign allies. I am in awe at what our ancestors accomplished during that time. Their courage and determination in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds somehow makes the obstacles I face seem small in comparison. They won a war and all I'm trying to do is win a hit song.

What Difference Can I Make in America?

Next Wednesday I'm meeting up with a guitarist named Mike who is going to help me lay down guitar tracks for "The American Song".  I've worked with Mike before on guitar tracks for a different version of the song and he did a really good job. I just kinda outgrew that version, because I believed I could do better.  To date I've created four different versions of the song trying to find the right balance between lyrics and melody. The four versions fall into these four genres: Country, Rock, Folk & Pop. I like the pop version the best, because it really grips a person to the point they begin physically feeling like standing up and shouting out to show their patriotism for the U.S.A..

American pride is a facinating phenomena that occurs when we're reminded of the things that we love about living here. The lyrics of this song are full of these tender reminders that a only true patriot can't help but feel greatful for. I think it's these sentiments that build in a persons heart throughout the song to the point where it actually affects their physiology with the release of hormones that incite a rising up if you will. It's definitely a call to action song that instills a driving feeling that awakens the patriotic faculties of and gets you going.

There are a lot of American themed songs that hit our heart strings, but not all of them make a person want to get up and change the course the country is heading. I believe this song has that element. It's what I've been trying to achieve since the songs inception. I even remember where I was when the song came together and I was overcome with a feeling of utter love for my country.  I was in the living room of a single-wide mobile home that I was living in at the time in my hometown of Fallon, Nevada. It was kind of a personal moment for me where I felt I had finally written a song that had real hit potential. I think I even called and sang the song to some of my family members.

After 9/11 my mimi (grandma) encouraged me to write a patriotic song and so began my quest to do just that. I began brainstorming the things that I loved about my country and coupled with the sadness in my heart for the attack on the twin towers the lyrics poured out into song.  I also felt a fear of losing the things I had grown so fond of. I wanted the song to be about these things, but to also be about inspiring other Americans to think of the things they love about America. I remember performing the song one time in Boise, Idaho and having someone come up to me saying that at first they felt offended by the song, but then realized as the song progressed that it embraced all Americans from newly arrived immigrants to generational patriots.

The song will probably mean a lot of different things to a lot of people, but as long as it inspires action then that all that matters to me. The problems America faces are astronomical and I've often felt hopeless. Hopeless, thinking about how big the problems are and how small I feel when considering how to resolve them. I think most Americans feel the same way. I mean, what can one person do? While pondering this question I have come to the conclusion that the thing that makes America great is each individual person. Each person that strives to do what THEY do best is what makes America the greatest nation on earth.

America provides each of us with the freedom to explore our greatest potentials, because there are laws that protect us to do so. When we declared our independence it was written that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among them are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness". Unalienable means that these rights cannot be taken away from us, because they were not given to us by Man, but by the Creator.

While considering how I, being only one person can make a difference in my country, I realize that what matters most is DOING something.  I think that's where most of us fail. It's easy to think of something to do, but it's much harder to actually DO that something. So I wrote a song and now I'm trying to share it with my other fellow Americans.  Is it enough? I guess I'll find out.

My American Dream

Hi,

My name is Cody Sorensen and I have an experiment that I would like to conduct regarding the idea of the American Dream. The question I hope to answer during this journey is this: "Is the American Dream alive or is it dead?" I want to find out if it's still possible in the United States of America for an individual to dream up something in their head and have that dream materialize.

My dream is to take a song that I wrote and get it to be #1 on the radio in the U.S.A. before the next presidential election.  I know this is a lofty goal, but they say that a person can succeed in this country with an idea and a lot of hard work so why not me? Does hard work really pay off the way it should in America? I believe that it can, but you have to start with a good idea and then never give up. I think my song is a good idea.

The song is a patriotic song that I wrote in 2001 while I was trying to process the thoughts and emotions I felt after the twin towers came down in New York City, New York. It is now 2015 and I've rewritten the song several times and changed the melody over the last 14 years to bring the song to a level that I believe is good enough to fight for the #1 position on top 40 radio.

I've also studied a lot about the music business during this time to get an idea of what I'm up against. This studying has lead me to understand that it's not going to be easy to get a song to #1 on the radio. The most important thing I've learned is that it can't be done alone. I need other Americans to believe in my dream too. There are a lot of things to consider and execute such as recording the song, promoting the song and selling the song, but the most important thing to bring this dream to life will be converting other Americans to rally support for the song.

I'll be honest, it's a little scary putting a dream out into the world for all to see. What if the world makes fun of me? What if I'm persecuted for the song I release? What if I'm criticized? I probably will be, but I think it would be worse to keep the dream to myself. Dreams that stay in our heads are only dreams, but the ones we allow to venture out of our heads have the potential of changing the world.

I hope my song inspires others to take action. America is strongest when we work together. I don't really care if my song tops out at #1. What I really care about is that I just have what it takes to follow through. I don't want to give up half way through. I don't want to give up before I start. I just want to finish what I start. I like to think out loud, it helps me process my ideas and that's the purpose this blog will serve. It's also my way of sharing my process with those who might stumble onto my project.  My hope is that you'll follow my story as I strive to share it with you.

I plan on using every tool out there to share this adventure with those who might support it. Social media is a very powerful tool that can really make the difference when someone is trying to make their American dream come true. I hope others share my story and spread the word about my song. If you'd like to volunteer to help spread the word, please contact me and we'll chat.