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In today's episode, I welcome Christopher Boorman! Christopher shares his most meaningful art-related story about learning to appreciate Bob Dylan and his music, and what that journey has led to, along with his own experience becoming a professional speaker. (Fun fact: the cover image for this episode is the logo for Christopher's speaking business!)
Get in touch with Christopher Boorman: https://www.facebook.com/BoormanSpeaks | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwiz0LWnWsYxyhy671sdmmg
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Episode 60 - Christopher Boorman
Lindsey Dinneen: Hello, and welcome to Artfully Told, where we share true stories about meaningful encounters with art.
[00:00:06] Krista: I think artists help people have different perspectives on every aspect of life.
[00:00:12]Roman: All I can do is put my part in to the world.
[00:00:15] Elizabeth: It doesn't have to be perfect the first time. It doesn't have to be perfect ever really. I mean, as long as you, and you're enjoying doing it and you're trying your best, that can be good enough.
[00:00:23] Elna: Art is something that you can experience with your senses and that you just experiences as so beautiful.
[00:00:31] Lindsey Dinneen: Hi friends, whether you are just getting started or you're a seasoned professional looking to up your game, I have an exciting opportunity for you. Did you know that I am actually the creator of 10 different courses online that range from ballet, jazz, tap. They also include a mindset detox course and two Stretch and Tone courses. So if you're looking to start a new hobby or get a little bit fitter, or you're looking to do a deep dive into your mindset, really perform a true detox, I have the course for you, and I would love to help you out with that. So if you go to elevateart.thinkific.com, you will see all of the different courses I've created.
[00:01:26] You don't have to step in a classroom to take your first dance class. I teach a signature 20 Moves in 20 Days course that allows you to learn 20 steps in just 20 days. It's a lot of fun. We have a great time together. And I think you're going to absolutely love the different courses. And artfully told listeners get a little something from me. So if you go, you'll sign up and use the promo code "artfullytold," all one word, and when you do so you'll get 15% off the purchase of any and all your favorite courses. All right, listeners, enjoy that. Again, it's elevateart.thinkific.com. See you there.
[00:02:11] Hello, and welcome back to Artfully Told. I'm your host Lindsey, and I am excited to have as my guest today, Christopher Boorman. He is a Christian speaker originally from Queens, but has been spending a lot of time in Connecticut. And I'm just so excited to hear from him and learn from him. So thank you so much for being here today, Christopher.
[00:02:34] Christopher Boorman: Thank you, Lindsay. It's a great honor to be here. Thank you for that.
[00:02:37] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh, of course. Well, I would absolutely love if you would share just a little bit maybe about your background, how you got involved with art. I know you have a very particular story to share, which I'm excited to hear about later, but also maybe just start with a little bit about you.
[00:02:52]Christopher Boorman: Sure. Well, as you mentioned, I was born in Queens and when I was nine years old, my parents moved to the suburbs of Connecticut. Thankfully they took me with them. I still consider myself a native New Yorker though. As you can hear, I don't have the New York accent. But I like to say that I still have that New York attitude, and over the last 20 or so years I've spent in the financial services IT world testing computer systems for upgrades and bug fixes. And over the last five years, writing specs for system improvements. And while I'm looking for my next gig in the gig economy, I'm starting a side hustle as a Christian speaker, and I am a huge fan of music, always have been. In particular, I have been a Bob Dylan fan for well over 30 years.
[00:03:45]Lindsey Dinneen: Very nice. Okay. So I'm sure that there is quite a bit to unpack there, but yeah. So I'm curious what, since, since you didn't spend-- well, obviously you spent, you know, your first little bit of life in New York,-- but so you, you consider yourself still having that sort of mindset. So I'm curious what you mean.
[00:04:06]Christopher Boorman: I... New York is probably considered, but at least by some the the capital of the universe. It is, you know, it's one of the largest cities in America. It is home to, cultural institutions, you know, like Radio City Music Hall, the, the Museum of Art and, it, it just feels like almost like being part of royalty. Being from New York, I always had such an awe of the city, even as a young kid, going with my father to work around Christmas time there. They would have a special treat. You could bring your kids into work. Going into downtown Manhattan and seeing those skyscrapers, everything just seemed larger than life. I mean, it was New York. I mean, it was the place to be. It's the place where everyone wants to go to strike out on their own, find fame and fortune, especially in the arts. Christina Stanton, she moved to New York to start a career in theater.
[00:05:07]Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. It is such a cool place to be. I have only ever-- well, the longest I've been there has been three weeks-- but it was very cool to just be a part of that incredible community. Yeah.
[00:05:23] Christopher Boorman: I think part of it has to do with-- I always like to say-- context is everything. Growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut proved to be very difficult. I got along with my classmates fine in Queens, New York. There was never any problems, but it wasn't until I moved to the Connecticut suburbs that I started being bullied in school for whatever reason. And as you probably know, children don't need a reason to bully each other. They just, maybe it's because that was the new thing. Maybe because I was scrawny. And those first few years were extremely tough for me. And sometimes we tend to look to the past with rose colored glasses. And maybe that's why I appreciate New York so much is because my first few years in Connecticut were very different.
[00:06:12]Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, sure. Ugh. Yeah. Sorry to hear that. But yes, I, I-- that makes sense to me, at least the stark contrast from the-- from Queens to Connecticut. That makes sense. Well, yeah, so I know you have been a Bob Dylan fan forever. I would love if you would share a little bit more about maybe how you got connected with his music and sort of what inspires you.
[00:06:35]Christopher Boorman: Sure. Ever since I was a young kid, even in Queens, I loved music. I loved singing songs in church, singing songs in school. I loved listening to the radio when I was in the car with my parents or when my mom had the radio on in the kitchen as I was preparing for school. So I was, I was a young child in the late seventies. So I grew up on the Mellow Gold singer/songwriter, soft rock kind of music, because that was popular at the time. Well, that and disco, but when my family moved to Connecticut in the early eighties, we got cable TV for the first time. And from my nine year old self, that meant MTV. And I loved it. Years ago, I read an article that described MTV as the original iPod shuffle, because part of the enjoyment of MTV was wondering what they were going to play next.
[00:07:38]And so between MTV and the local pop radio stations, I was exposed to a bunch of different newer artists. This was not the late seventies music that my parents enjoyed. This was early eighties music. This was music for my generation and it was a stark contrast to what I had grown up. So I spent hours and hours and hours-- I mean, basically every free moment --watching MTV. You know, even if I had it on in the background, doing my homework, and I just loved watching the videos and the creativity that went along with the music. It was a perfect pairing. And one music video that particularly captivated me was "We Are the World."
[00:08:26] Now for your younger listeners, "We Are the World" was a song written as a fundraiser for relief for a famine in Ethiopia at the time and it was created in one all night recording session. I believe it was in February of 1984. So this was right after the Grammy Awards and it included a who's who of pop and rock artists past and present, or present at the time. Think of Billy Joel, Hall and Oates, Huey Lewis, Tina Turner, Willie Nelson, and the music-- the list just goes on. And beyond the purpose of it-- which was noble, it was charitable-- it was also a great song. Yeah, it was co-written by Michael Jackson who in the early eighties was kind of on a winning streak, and being a music fan, even as young as I was at the time, I could identify just about every singer that was featured in that song, except for a few.
[00:09:30]And one of the few singers that I didn't know at the time was this guy who didn't appear to be singing at all. I mean, he looked like he was talking his way through the lyrics and you know, everybody's heard that the parodies of the Bob Dylan voice, you know. "This is a choice we're making." Now keep in mind, I'm nine years old at the time. And I think "Who is this?" I mean, he's got to be somebody. I mean, he, he didn't just wander into the recording studio off of the street-- and I mean, well, maybe he did, I, I have no idea-- and I was just so confused and curious. Well, being nine years old, you're, you're at that age, and you're taking piano lessons and eventually I got the sheet music to "We Are the World." I thought, "All right, let me go through all the list of names on the sheet music and whatever name I don't recognize, well, that must be him."
[00:10:24]So I go through the names and I say, all right, this guy is either Harry Belafonte or Bob "Dye-lin." Well, later on I, later on, I find out it is pronounced Dylan, and I later learned that he's the guy who wrote "Blowing in the Wind," the Peter, Paul, and Mary song. Oh, okay. Fine. That's a good enough song. I still don't see why I should care about this guy or why anyone else does? Well, the following summer "Live Aid" happens July 13th, 1985. I didn't have to Google it 'cause I remember it. It was the biggest concert in history, benefit concert or otherwise there, there will never be a show like it. You can't do a show like that today and you never will.
[00:11:16] And I remember the whole thing like it was yesterday, it was a nearly 24 hour concert on three continents and MTV carried the whole thing. And I was glued to that TV all day long. I got up early on a Saturday to watch the show 'cause I didn't want to miss it. One of the locations was Philadelphia. I believe it was, I think it was the JFK Stadium, and the grand finale of the show was everybody was going to get on stage and sing "We Are the World," but just before that, the penultimate act was Bob Dylan. I remember watching and he kicked off his set with a song I didn't recognize. And then he followed it up with another song. I didn't recognize. And finally he concluded his short set with "Blowing in the Wind." Okay. I recognize that one, but he sang it in that same talking voice of his, you know, "The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind." Yeah, I still didn't get it. I still didn't get why this guy was so popular, but I saw the way the crowd was reacting to him. There was an entire stadium full of people, 50,000, 55,000, everybody in a hushed reverence.
[00:12:45] And I saw who was backing him up. It was Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood from The Rolling Stones. Now I certainly knew who they were and I know that they don't, they're not going to back up just anybody just 'cause they ask. I mean, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood all at the top of the music pyramid, at the top of the food chain. And then I noticed Dylan's placement in the line. He went on just before the grand finale. It wasn't Madonna. She played earlier. It wasn't Duran Duran, wasn't even the reunited Led Zepplin. I understood who Led Zeppelin was. I understood them getting back together was a big deal, but they, none of them went on before the finale and each of them was arguably more popular than Dylan was at the time.
[00:13:35]And so based on all of this, my 11 year old brain just came to the conclusion, "All right. I don't get it, but this guy has to be important in some way." And so I filed it away in my head and fast forward a few years later, I'm in high school and a classmate lends me their cassette copy of Bob Dylan's "Greatest Hits" and I listened to it. And I, then I said, "Oh, yeah, I get it now". " Like a rolling stone, the times they are a' changing. It ain't me, babe." Subterranean, homesick blues, and I thought, "How does this guy write so many great songs?" And maybe it's because I was a little bit older, a little bit more cynical, a little bit more world weary as world-weary as you can get it at 14 years old. I understood Dylan's voice better. It was the exact opposite of something that was polished, something that was fancy and perfect. Dylan's voice is very much imperfect and flawed. Just like me. And that's probably when I became a big fan. And so I started to read everything I could about him.
[00:15:05] And of course I started buying the albums and eventually I owned them all and then some. I haven't listened to them all, but I own them. And of course it becomes a full-blown obsession. And now I can't understand why everyone doesn't like Bob Dylan, as much as I did. And actually my appreciation for Bob Dylan inspired me to pick up a guitar again. And for about 10 years, I was in a local band called Red Embers. We actually have an, an album on iTunes, and I'm very, very proud of that. And of course, I started going to the shows whenever Bob Dylan would come into town. My first Bob Dylan show was at The University of Hartford in 1997. And since then I've seen him about 65 times give or take. I stopped counting. And I've seen him in five different states. I've seen him in clubs, arenas, even baseball park.
[00:16:12] And I remember one particular show in November of 2000. It was in Kingston, Rhode Island at The University of Rhode Island. Bob played a song called "10,000 Men." And, you know, you could be forgiven for not knowing that song. It was released on an album called "Under the Red Sky," released about nine years prior, in 1991-- an average song from a below average album, but he had never played it before and he hasn't played it since. He only played it that one time. And I was there and that is my claim to fame.
[00:16:55]Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. Oh my goodness. Well, first of all, I love that song, "We Are the World." I think it's just such a beautiful song that just unifies and brings people together. And I just have always appreciated the story behind it and what it was intended for, and then just watching the video is just so cool. And, you know, it's since been remade, you know, of course, but it's just so good. It, there, there's nothing quite like that song. I think it is really powerful. So I could totally see why that was sort of the catalyst for your quest to know who Bob Dylan was and, and go from there. But oh my word, you have seen him-- so I'm so impressed with how many times you've been able to go and see him and yeah, how cool, so unique. And I also love it.
[00:17:53] Christopher Boorman: I personally funded Bob Dylan's 401k plan.
[00:17:56]Lindsey Dinneen: Fair enough. Well, you know, everyone needs one, so there you go. But also cool to have gotten that, that pretty unique opportunity to hear that one song live and, like you said, your claim to fame. But oh my goodness, so interesting. So I'm, I'm curious, are you-- obviously you've gotten a chance to really follow what he does, but have you also found out more about his life? Is it part of-- like is your respect for him, is it solely based on him being a really fantastic artist? Or is it also like who he is as a person? Or I'm just kinda curious, you know, all of that, about all of that.
[00:18:42] Christopher Boorman: That's a great question for me. And I think it comes down to a personal decision for everyone is, "Do you separate the artist from the art?" And, and for me, I don't. I take it as a full package, because the arts for me is an expression of the artist. It comes from the artists, it is a part of them. And so for me, that can influence either positive or negative, depending on what the artist is like as a person. I, I remember reading that Bob had actually become a Christian in 1979 and he was ministered to, or discipled by, one of my favorite Christian artists named Keith Green, who is probably the only Christian artist that I really listened to. And Bob actually recorded three gospel albums, and being a Christian myself, those-- while not being his best-- I think it resonates with me in, in a very unique way. Then I would say " Shot of Love," the third and final gospel album, is my favorite of the three and probably one of my favorite Bob Dylan albums. I, my mom-- she, who was just wonderful-- I, she said, "Oh, wouldn't it be great if you could meet Bob Dylan."
[00:19:56] And I explained to my mom, if you're the kind of person that goes and sees Bob Dylan 50 or more times, you're the last person that Bob Dylan wants to meet. His security team might want to meet me. Bob does not. Insane. He was asked in an interview, you know, "What do you think about the fans who, who follow you around and see you multiple times every tour?" And he said, "I think they need to get a life." And I don't take that too seriously. And I can understand why Bob would say that. But there's an old saying, "never meet your heroes." And we, we see that quite a bit. I was kind of shocked to hear that Ravi Zacharias, who was a great Christian apologist, who passed away a few months ago, came out after his death that there was some sexual harassment in his past. And it certainly surprised and saddened me, but you know, artists are flawed human beings just like their fans. But I do, if there's a long, drawn-out way to answer your question, but yes, I do consider the artists as part of the art and it does contribute to my appreciation for them.
[00:21:08] Lindsey Dinneen: Sure. Yeah, that makes complete sense. So, yeah. And so I, you know, speaking itself is an art form, I think. And so I'm, I'm interested to hear more about what you're talking, what will, what you're doing now, and that is trying to build up this maybe --currently side gig-- but maybe it could be full time of being a speaker. And so I'm curious. What kind of speaking are you doing? Is it motivational? Is it funny? Is it, yeah, I'm just kinda curious about what your next step is.
[00:21:41] Christopher Boorman: I would say that my specialty is teaching, which is not necessary thoroughly motivational. Others are much better than I. I prefer expository speaking, teaching particularly, you know, maybe Christian apologetics or history news, which is not to exclude motivation. I think the more I learned about Jesus, the more motivated I am to follow him. I attend a Thursday night a Bible study at a local church and occasionally I will do a lesson, and whenever I do, you know, people always seem to get a lot out of it. They always seem to appreciate it. And I've been told that, that I have a gift and I'm the kind of person who doesn't believe in himself until someone else does. I have to hear it from somebody else. And I have to probably have to hear it a couple of times before we actually start to believe them. Yeah. Anything that's complimentary about me and so I said, "Okay, you know, maybe I can do something with this gift of speaking and do something other than just go around telling people how they can double their sales in six months, you know, to do something of real value to people, something that would -- I hate to say change people's lives, 'cause I'm not the one changing their lives. God's the one that changes their lives-- when maybe I can reach people in a way that maybe somebody else could not".
[00:23:08]And so that's where I'm at right now. And I, and I took a chance. I said, "All right, I'll, I'll start a YouTube channel, you know, and just upload short little sermons to it and see if anyone, to see if anyone cares." Yeah, it's it's taking a step, you know, it's trying, you know, if this is meant to be, then I've got to make the first move, however small. It's not just going to be dumped into my lap. I got to start something, take that first step. And, and even just taking that first step, even just in the trying is a victory of sorts.
[00:23:46] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh, absolutely. Yes. Every step towards your next goal is definitely a victory. So, yeah. Kudos to you. And so I'm curious, are you, are you hoping to do this professionally in a sense of becoming like a pastor, or are you thinking more sort of-- I'm just curious to know where, where you would ideally like this to take you, if, if it's meant to be.
[00:24:14]Christopher Boorman: Yeah. If it's meant to be, a friend of mine at the Bible study, he kind of jokes. He says, "You know, maybe someday, you know, Pastor Chris." And that just sounds at this point in my life, at this point of me trying to make something out of this speaking career, that is just so overwhelming. Just hearing those two words next to each other, Pastor Chris it's, it's overwhelming. Who knows? Maybe someday. I, I certainly would not say no to it. Obviously. That's not something that you can just send in an application and get an interview, and great, you're hired. I mean, there's, there's some school involved and it takes a couple of years and it takes a couple bucks to get there, to be appropriately educated.
[00:24:58] That's not to say I would shut the door on that. But if it does happen, it's not going to happen tomorrow. Maybe in the meantime, I can just be a guest speaker on maybe, maybe if the pastor goes on vacation and they need somebody to sub in and give a sermon in a local church for one week, or maybe at a religious group. You know, like the, I dunno, the rotary club or something like that, and just be a traveling itinerant pastor for a few years while I'm going through that education to become a full-time pastor. That's, that's one path that I see.
[00:25:36]Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah.
[00:25:37]Christopher Boorman: Ultimately it's up to God and then he's going to direct my path, and I've learned that it's best that I just get out of God's way. When I try to do things myself, I generally screw it up and royally.
[00:25:50]Lindsey Dinneen: Well, don't we all? I mean, it's helpful to have a guiding hand, for sure. Yeah. Yeah, well, I'm sure there are some of our listeners who would love to connect with you and, and yeah, watch some of these YouTube videos that you've created. How could they connect with you?
[00:26:11] Christopher Boorman: Sure. Just go on YouTube and type in Christopher Boorman Speaks and that's Boorman with two O's, and they can find my YouTube channel and enjoy some videos. And I'd love to, for people to stop by leave a comment, say "Hi."
[00:26:27] Lindsey Dinneen: Perfect. Excellent. Well, great. I absolutely love your story. It's so unique, just the way that, you know, you explored this artist's work in such an interesting way, like how you were inspired and then, you know, where it kind of led to, and just being a lifelong fan of Bob Dylan. That's pretty cool. So thank you for sharing that really interesting story. I just, I'm so-- I love that. I just love the fact that you were inspired and then you continued to pursue sorta that passion. So thank you for that. And I'm excited for you in this new endeavor too, and speaking, and you know, of course wish you the very best. I'm, I'm rooting for you, but I would love if it's okay with you to ask you the same quick three questions that I ask all of my guests.
[00:27:19] Christopher Boorman: Absolutely.
[00:27:20] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay, perfect. So first of all, how do you personally define art or what is art to you?
[00:27:26]Christopher Boorman: Generally speaking, I would say art is some kind of documented experience or a worldview that is intended to evoke either thought or emotion in the observer.
[00:27:40]Lindsey Dinneen: Ooh, I like it. Okay. And then what do you think is the most important role of an artist?
[00:27:46]Christopher Boorman: Well, for me, the role of an artist is to share their art. It's to share with other people how they see the world, to share how they feel about the human experience. I hate to sound trite, but I'm reminded of that question, "If a tree falls in the forest and there's nobody around, does it make a sound? So if you're creating art and you don't share it, then are you really an artist? You, you might have a hobby and that's just fine. You can make art for yourself. But I think for it to be art in its truest form, to be an artist, art needs to be shared, it needs to be enjoyed.
[00:28:30]Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. And then my final question, and I'll define my terms a little bit, is-- do you think that art should be inclusive or exclusive? And by that, I mean, referring to inclusive as an artist who puts their art out into the world and provides some context behind that, whether it's a title or program notes or the inspiration, just something to kind of help the viewer along. Versus exclusive referring to an artist who puts their work out there and doesn't provide context, so it's left entirely up to the viewer to decide what they will.
[00:29:07]Christopher Boorman: Sure. Well, of course either is acceptable. But based on my personality type, I'm more of a right brained, logical kind of person. So I prefer inclusive. I would say one of the goals of a work of art is to provide some kind of understanding of the artist and what they're trying to say. So if a, if a work of art is particularly bleak or complex, then I think some context is very helpful. It's certainly helpful for me. If I'm being asked to make up my own meaning for a work of art, well, then, "Who's the artist here," you know? What's the difference between this work of art and a bunch of random words and shapes and colors or sounds. Yeah. Either way. I'm the one ascribing meaning to it. So I prefer some context, especially for more complex works.
[00:30:08] Lindsey Dinneen: Sure. Yeah. That makes complete sense. Okay, well, thank you so very much for being here today, Christopher, I really enjoyed your stories and our conversation, and I wish you only the best in your future speaking career, whether that be as a pastor or like you said, sort of like an interim sort of role, but, but good for you for, for starting it and, and for your YouTube channel and all of that. And I'm just excited to see where that goes. So yeah, kudos to you and thank you for being here. I really appreciate it.
[00:30:43] Christopher Boorman: Well, thank you, Lindsey. This has been a great honor and a pleasure for me. Thank you so much for having me. I had a great time, and success for your podcast.
[00:30:52] Lindsey Dinneen: I appreciate that so much. And thank you so much to everyone who has listened to this episode. And if you're feeling as inspired as I am right now, I would love if you would share this with a friend or two and we will catch you next time.
[00:31:07]If you have a story to share with us, we would love that so much. And I hope your day has been Artfully Told.
[00:31:17]Hi friends. I wanted to share with you another podcast that I think you're going to fall in love with just as I have. It's called Harlem with a View, and it is hosted by Harlem Lennox, who was a previous guest of mine on Artfully Told and a dear friend. Just because it looks easy doesn't mean it is. There is so much that goes into the work of your creative. She wants to know how the artists got into their line of work, what inspires them, but most importantly, what keeps them going? She'd asked them about how they make it through the blood, sweat, and tears. She wants to know what it's like to live this creative life: the good, the bad, the ugly, and even the magical. So she goes behind the scenes with creatives, from different genres and she explores their history, their take on life and talks about the business of art and the dedication of making art. She has a brilliant, brilliant platform. I think you will fall in love. I highly recommend that you search for Harlem with a View. Thanks!
