By Cory James
Welcome!
If you’re reading this then it means, in some way, I’ve prompted you to use your most valuable time to come check out more about me; my life, my story and what I’m working on creating.
So what is all this?
For that, Thank You!
Great question. This is the beginnings of an idea that started with a feeling. A feeling of wonder and hope.
In 2021 a recently discharged Marine drove his car from Twenty Nine Palms, Ca to Tampa, Fl, to live in a state he had only visited growing up. My parents had sold our home in Chicagoland and moved with my siblings to Tampa, Fl in 2018. I am really grateful for my time in Tampa, it was only seven months, but it was the perfect landing/launching pad. I really got to reconnect with most of my family and spend lots of time on the porch in the sun.
I started to look at the concepts of ‘strength’ and ‘growth’ differently, and also started to integrate flexibility into my personal fitness routine. Tampa is also where I really confronted the question, “Who was I outside the Marines? And what was I going to do?”
Under some ‘frames’ I REALLY knew who I was; I worked hard, got things done, was dependable, always willing to embrace the suck, and whatever else life had to throw at me.
In other ‘frames’ I was a machine gunner with no gun, and frankly was relived to pass the torch on to the next generation. But had the whole world waiting for him and no structure or plan to usher it in.
That was the start of my healing journey
and my quest for answers.
I left Tampa to pursue photojournalism in Chicago and live with longtime friends, it was really nice to return to my part of the Midwest. While in school I had an incredible professor, Sam Roe, I owe him many thanks for the integral role he played in my life at that time. In May, the end of the school year, while I was feeling burnt out and questioning my choice of major; Sam gave me some advice that’s stuck with me since. We were talking about the end of the year finale, a passion project, I picked veteran mental health and suicide. What he told me was, you don’t need a degree to be a journalist, you’ve just got to have a story to tell and a way to tell it.
That inspired a cross-country road trip to interview men I served with in the marines, to talk about leadership, overcoming struggle, our unique paths and ultimately had a goal of men’s mental health. I Filmed these on the camera I had access to at the time, and they’re up on my YouTube now.
The gut driving force for this was I knew I needed to get out of the city, and felt the call of inspiration on the road. I packed up what camping equipment, and other useful things I had and some clothes and packed my car full and headed east.
I intend this website and my other platforms to be a place to hold that story. As are all things, this is and will be a work in progress, so stay tuned for the journey. I’m working on expanding my portfolio, but if there’s an image that catches your eye, feel free to email me about it.