Just Chilling On a Hard Drive

My family had the privilege of attending another Twenty One Pilots concert about five weeks ago. It was the beginning of their tour immediately following the release of their most recent studio album, Breach. Breach immediately shot up the charts, becoming the #1 album in the world. Rightfully so, as it's brilliant!

Fast forward a month, and I received a notification on my phone that Twenty One Pilots just dropped a new video. What?!?! Turns out, they had just played one of their new songs live for the very first time.....and they released a video of the performance on YouTube. It's called Downstairs and it's amazing! Side note, my kids were extremely bummed Tyler and Josh didn't perform this song at the show we attended.

Fan or not, I highly recommend you give it a watch. It's stunning. Deep at its heart, it's a worship song. It's raw with emotion and cuts you right to the core. I firmly believe this song will grow in its legacy and one day be considered one of their finest works.

Here's a fun fact about this song. It's a demo they recorded 14 years ago. At the time, it was a concept called "Korea," and neither of them gave it much thought; so much so that Tyler, the band's frontman, deleted it from his computer. It was trash. It was worthless. However, Josh had a gut feeling about the incomplete demo, so he simply stored it away. Earlier this year, they decided to dust it off and see if it had legs. That birthed something so special. Today, and for years to come, millions of people will be blessed with this song.

14 years "just chilling on a hard drive," as Tyler put it. That song could have died with them. It could have been taken to the grave. Not one other person in the world might have ever heard it. But then, in some form of beautiful serendipity, they were nudged to finish it and release it to the world.

How many of us have beautiful ideas just chilling on our proverbial hard drives? What are you holding onto that could make a difference in the world, but without action, will someday end up buried in the ground with you? I think about this idea a lot......probably too much. It's one of the motivating factors for me to podcast, write, and create. I'll be dead soon, and when I am, I want to leave the world (and my boys) something of value. If I were to die today, 432 podcast episodes and 1,200+ blog posts would be left behind, equating to 115 hours of audio and eight full books. My body will eventually rot, but hopefully something I leave behind will linger and make an impact long after my departure.

I (and millions of others) am so grateful that Tyler and Josh had the fortitude and courage to finish Downstairs. Someday, I hope people will be grateful for something I left behind. Lastly, I hope countless people will be grateful for the things you leave behind. Please don't waste this opportunity. Please don't take it to the grave with you.

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