Our Five Year Anniversary!

It’s amazing to think that it’s already been five years. And yet it is also amazing for us to see all the things we have been able to accomplish in those five years. And we’ve got something important to say about it.

A note from Gabriel Giron to the world:

TODAY IS MY FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY… On this day 5 years ago (July 12th 2007) Kinetic Affect produced, performed, and launched it’s very first show called Word Weavers @ Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers Theater.

Kirk Latimer and me (Gabriel Giron) had no idea what we were creating but we trusted enough in ourselves to know that we were doing something special, something different. That even though people couldn’t understand what we were doing or how it would impact a community (to be honest, we didn’t entirely either) we knew we had to put this show on and share the things we had been holding inside.

And from this show birthed a movement to SPEAK IT FORWARD (the name of not only our first CD but also a non-profit organization we have since co-founded). And over the years we would challenge each other, make each other uncomfortable in what we were willing to share and help each other heal the parts of our pasts that we tried to bury along side the friends we had lost. We realized that both of us had/have the power to open the eyes of our community and in doing so, help bring people close together!

And so this frame now hangs in my hallway. The original poster, postcard, and the first tickets sold from each of the 3 days our 1st show ran. And like the scars I carry from my battle with cancer, it is a daily reminder to me…

…that if you believe in yourself enough. If you stop listening to what other people tell you that you should do. If you have enough courage. If you have someone who YOU believe in and who believes in YOU. That together you can achieve anything that you put your mind to and then far exceed everyones expectations (even your own). That you may not be able to change the WHOLE world in 5 years but you can definitely change YOUR world in a very short time and you can touch the lives of people who never thought you would amount to anything other than your past mistakes.

This is what I have learned from following my heart, from taking risks, from deciding not to go on to graduate school because I was already doing what I loved to do, and from trusting in someone who at one time I wasn’t even sure I wanted to be my friend. What we have been able to accomplish in 5 short years is unprecedented and we still have a lot of drive, a lot of heart, and a lot years to give to our community, our state, and the world.

Thank you to all our friends, our family, our community, our fans and to everyone who has supported us. We know how lucky and blessed we are to have accomplished all that we have so far and we could not have done it without all of you.

And a special thank you to one of the most unlikely and one of my best friends I have, Kirk Latimer, without your ability to challenge me and your hard work and dedication, none of this would have been possible. I love you. We should be very proud of ourselves!

Thank you all for reading this,

Peace,

Gabriel Giron
Co-Founder Kinetic Affect
Co-Founder/Executive Director,
Speak It Forward Inc.