YOU WERE MEANT FOR AMAZING THINGS...

Welcome to entry #1 for my new blog! For those of you who don't know
me yet, let me begin by telling you my name and a little about myself.
My name is Kimberly (Matthews) O'Neal but I go by Kim.
Some of you know me as the manager and merch person for a great band
called "Sleeping At Last."
I have been blessed to travel with the band as their tour manager and
have maybe even met some of you at shows across the country. I LOVE MY
JOB!!
I would like to begin by saying that this job is something that I
never ever imagined would be a part of my life. Many people have
assumed that I must be a musician as well since my sons are. Nope!
Believe me....if I showed you....you would see what I'm talking about
immediately. : ) I am blessed to be surrounded by beautiful music
made by others. So how did "Sleeping At Last" start and how did I get
this great job?

Here's how it all began......

My sons started to express an interest in music when they were in
their early teen years. This didn't stand out any more than
skateboarding, rollerblade hockey, basketball, drawing, ice hockey or
any of the other countless
interests that they had over the years. My sons are Ryan O'Neal and
Chad O'Neal. Dan Perdue joined the band late in high school and
became my honorary son. This is why I refer to us as the Sleeping At
Last family.

The music began when Ryan decided (at about 12 years old) that maybe
getting a guitar would be cool.
To be honest, I pushed this idea off for about 6 months because I was
sure it was just another whim. But then, Christmas was upon us and
Christmas lists were being thought about and there it was
again.....Ryan wanted either a guitar or a skateboard. So I, being a
wise woman (not) gave him a choice but told him he could not have
both. I should also mention that they both cost about the same. The
skateboard was a custom version. I naturally assumed that he would
pick the skateboard. I'm sure you're wondering why I would be leaning
away from the guitar. It wasn't the noise. It was the thought of the
guitar sitting unused on his bedroom floor and then imagining him
standing on it and pretending it was the skateboard he didn't get.
For those of you who don't know Ryan very well.....he loves to create
things. Starting when he was a little toddler, he was always drawing
or making things out of stuff he had. I have some of the cutest
things that he made for me over the years. Along with the memories of
these things.....Ryan has a few scars from his work. You would be
surprised how sharp a table knife can be when used to carve a small
basketball hoop out of a an old mini race car tire. : )
So....it would not be a surprise to see a guitar used as a mock
skateboard. When I look back, he was always creative with music. I
just didn't put it together. I can remember seeing him (at 3 years
old) sitting on the floor after hearing a song and he would get his
little toy piano out and sit there playing it over and over until he
could play it just right. So, I should have known. Well, he chose a
guitar for Christmas that year as you might have guessed. The
skateboards came later.

The year that he asked for the guitar was a busy one. Where do I go
to buy a guitar I wondered? I don't think
Guitar Center (the place that would become my second home over the
next several years) was open just yet. So I went to a little music
store, asked what would be a good choice for him and brought the new
guitar and an amp home. I hid it pretty well, or so I thought. A
year or so later, he came clean and told me that he had not only
searched for it, but found it and would play it whenever I was out
until Christmas came that year .
I never knew but, I will say that I wondered how he knew how to play
it right away.

From that point on, Ryan loved music and not long after that....a
band was formed. There were several through the years until "Sleeping
At Last" was born.

During this time period, Chad had seen the movie "That Thing You
Do" (remember that?) and his interest in drumming was born. He was
always drumming on something before this, so it was no surprise that
he would love drumming. I got lots of comments about my being insane
from well meaning friends and family wondering if I realized how loud
the drums would be. Have to admit, I did worry about why I wasn't
worried.

So, where do we get a drum set (before I knew that the proper name was
kit)? These can be quite expensive and again, I though it would
probably become the dusty thing that got hammered on whenever they had
friends over. Chad has also always had a strong sense of
perserverence so I should have known that he would work at it until he
got it and he did! A friend of my husbands is a professional drummer
and therefore has lots of drum kits. He offered to let Chad borrow
one with the idea that if he liked it, we could buy it from him. Up
until then, Chad had been using a big yellow plastic garbage can that
we used for storing dog food in. So this was a welcome change. We
agreed and he threw in a few lessons. Chad loved it and before long
he was playing in the band with Ryan.

They started to play shows (sometime I'll tell you about the first
one) and pretty soon they were in need of some help with booking etc.
I started helping a bit since I'm a little more knowledgeable about
business. Then came Billy Corgan and Interscope Records and my career
was born. I still have to pinch myself sometimes. I feel very
blessed to be able to do this.

So why a blog....
I have had many conversations while at the merch table with many
hurting people and people that had questions about the band or
questions about how they can follow their dreams as well and I
thought that maybe this was a way to possibly reach more people than I
can one on one. I have been honored by people telling me their hurts
(of all types and sizes) and the high point of the day for me is if I
can help someone feel better or more hopeful than they did when they
first walked up. The reason that this matters to me is because I too
am one of the hurting people. I know what it's like to be so hurt and
to need an answer or a kind word but not be able to get it. My goal
is to hopefully make that difference for someone else. My life has
been a roller coaster of ups and downs and I'm hoping to offer help.

It is said that when we are stuck in a bad situation or we need to
move toward something better.....it is easier to take the steps if we
are reaching for something else that is a sure thing and good. I
agree! But what if there isn't something that is a sure thing or
something good and happy to reach for yet? Then we need to reach for
the new and good with faith.

That is what this blog is about.......it's about leaving the sad,
hurt, bad, unfair, etc to reach for the good and happy new life we are
meant to have (whatever that means to each of us individually).
That is why I am calling it "YOU WERE MEANT FOR AMAZING THINGS"
because we are!!!!!
Thankfully I have a connection to the song writer who has graciously
allowed me to use his lyrics for my blog.
Thanks Ryan! : )

I plan to address personal as well as band topics. I get lots of
questions about band management etc so this will be a part of this
blog as well. Whatever amazing things you were meant for.

I would love to hear from you with any questions or hurts that you
would like to share with me. I plan to answer questions that are
emailed to me both privately and if the writer approves (without names
of course) through this blog as well.
You can email me at:
capturingwishes (at symbol) aol (dot com)

There will be stories, thoughts, exercises, questions answered, rants
(yes, rants.....how honest can change be if we don't acknowledge the
problems) and observations.
You may agree with some things and not with others. I don't claim to
be perfect and I'm on this path too so....please join me. My hope is
that this blog will bring hope, humor when needed, help and fun.

Warning: I also intend for it to be real and honest. Yes, that means
not perfect. It's a very vulnerable spot to be in when you share
yourself openly. But, I'm willing if it can help. If you know me-
you know that I'm the same person in private that I am in public. In
other words....this is me.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I know it's long. Not sure if
my future posts will be long or short... we'll see...........

Love,
Kim