Maximum Human Potential

I'm going to issue a large post today because today I have something to say. You know how it goes: some days nada, some days your cup runneth over. Well, today my cup is sloshing right over the sides. There will be some changes coming up with Thickskin and I want you to know where they're coming from. There has been a tectonic shift in my thinking that has been rumbling beneath the surface for quite some time and I think it's safe to say that much of it began with this man:


His name is Tiesto. To be precise, his name is Tijs Verwest but he changed it to Tiesto because it "sounds more magical" and I couldn't agree more. Tiesto is the number one DJ in the world and has been three years running. For those of you not into the DJ world, keep reading, the message is worth it. For those of you who are in love with dancing and DJ's then I needn't say more. My (one-sided) love affair with Tiesto had been long running when I learned that he would be coming to LA, my then home. With no ticket to a sold-out concert, I picked up the phone and sassily called his manager directly and left this message, "Hey there, it's me. Call me back on my cell would you? I have a quick question and need to talk." I left my number and hung up. Let me just be clear: neither Tiesto, nor his manager had any clue who I was. But my gutsy moved paid off and not only did his manager call me back, he gave me VIP access to the party that night with a promise to meet Tiesto personally. Outrageously impressed with myself, I stood back and gave myself a little shock and awe in the mirror.

The promise to meet Tiesto that night went unfulfilled due to some wardrobe malfunction or the like yet the very next day ringring went my cell. "Hey there, it's me." Pause. A laugh on the other end. "See how it feels?! It's X, Tiesto's manager. Listen, he wants to meet you. There's a big press conference going on at the Mondrian hotel this afternoon. Be there at 4."

I suppose I should tell you one very important part: I had made a bag for Tiesto. It was, and still is, the coolest bloody bag I have made to date! It's made of ballistic material (what they use in bullet proof vests), stingray (the sexy and exotic underwater glider), acid washed Italian cannibal leather (a Thickskin staple and yumyum gorgeous) and a guitar strap made by Ted and Kimmi at Kepur with 300 pound alloy clips doubling for a non-gripping shoulder strap. (Tiesto with the bag below)


I shimmied my way up to the Mondrian on the Sunset strip and jumped out of my car, quite literally, with excitement coloring every step. I made my way to the front desk and asked for Tijs. I was given the inter-hotel phone by Mike, a lush bellboy, and placed my call expecting to get XYZ hager-on who would be by the phone in Tiesto's packed pressed-out hotel suite.

WRONG. "Hello?"

Oh. My. ... "Tiesto?" My heart zoomed right passed tachycardia faster than a Aston hits 0-60.

"Yes."

"It's...It's...I'm the bag girl."

"Oh yeah, Cordila! I'm on my way down."

Now you listen closely and see if you can wade past the kiddy-crush I have on a DJ to get to the nut of this story. What was said once Tiesto came down is, in itself, irrelevant. What was important is what it felt like being around him. Here was man who was at once humble and self-assured. He was (and still is) at the top of his game, yes, but more impressively is doing what he loves. I have never in my life been around someone who was truly living their maximum human potential. It was as if he was using each cell of talent, each molecule of inspiration, each breath breathed was filled with an absoluteness that he was doing what he came here to do.

I left Tiesto later that afternoon (with an invitation to his New Year's Eve party!!) and I got in my car and I sat and I sat and I sat. I wondered to myself, "Am I living my maximum human potential? If I died today could I honestly say that I saturated the fullness of each breath?" I knew the answer was no. That was three years ago and the answer is still no. But I no longer am willing to meander in the discomfort that is comfort and pleasantry. So changes are coming to Thickskin. Boy are they ever! I want to be living my maximum human potential because any less is a disservice to myself and to you.

For a long time I thought living life to your MHP (did you follow that?) meant living out loud, being bombastic and explosive and exhausting every inch of your body. Yet Tiesto was not animation and action. He was not a tazmanian devil and spinmeister spinner. Tiesto walked softly and carried a big smile. And being around him was, indeed, magical.