How do I identify myself?

The Wheel of Dave

I was asked to make a 10-minute autobiographical presentation for the introductory session of a The Dolan Company‘s internal leadership fellowship called Dolan Leadership Institute. That is when I created The Wheel of Dave, a tongue-in-cheek “family heirloom passed down through the generations” (yes, I am the 5th Dave Rhea in my family).

The three spokes of the wheel that is Dave Rhea are the three elements of my life I chose that accurately describe who I am, what motivates me and how I became the person I am today.

With my two incredible boys, Campbell and Cash

Father
First, before all else, I am a father. As you can tell by this picture, there is no mother. That is because I recently went through a divorce.

One of the positive things that have come from this recent development is that it has enabled me to re-focus on being a very effective and attentive father to my two boys. The divorce has, in fact, made me a better son, brother, friend, Christian and employee. It is a strange setting for so much personal development. Then again, marriages don’t fail because of an adequately healthy environment.

So now, 50% of the time, I engage with these boys directly – 100%. I have nobody to defer to or fall back on, and I have nobody questioning my fathering style. In that regard, it is an incredibly awesome experience. Being a single father to these little guys is by far the most important thing in my life – and I enjoy my time with them more than anything.

As an aside, in DLI we were asked to give away a book that explains something about ourselves. I chose to give Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys.

Multimedia journalism is one of my greatest passions

Storyteller
It is hard to narrow down how I see myself as a creative person. I am a musician, a writer, a videographer – those are what I am most creatively passionate about, in all those cases I am acting as a story teller. To creatively tell a story is one of the oldest forms of entertainment and education. So I take a bit of pride in being a good, multidimensional story teller.

Vaughan & me with Stone Temple Pilots guitarist, Dean DeLeo, at Cello Studio in Hollywood, CA.

Being a professional musician was the most fantastic voyage of my life, both physically and creatively. I had two record deals, which enabled me to tour all over North America. Luckily, most of that journey was with my brother, Vaughan. I was living every kids’ dream: I met interesting people, saw incredible things and all the while I was a there because of at least a certain level of success at being able to creatively express myself.

You can hear a great radio show about me in the music industry at http://www.jdaverhea.com/dave-on-npr-the-story/.

I have written for Blade magazine for 7 years and now I am a Field Editor.

The writer aspect of me as a story teller is the most traditional. I didn’t grow up wanting to become a journalist, I wanted to be a writer. Jack Kerouac and Hunter Thompson were my rock stars – and I saved my allowance not to buy a guitar, but to by a typewriter. I have long characterized being a writer as like a marriage. The payoff is in longevity. Work hard for a long time and you get your reward. Music is like an infidelitous fling. It’s hot and fast and exciting. It burns bright – but briefly. Luckily in my marriage metaphor – writing took me back after my music mistress failed me.

See all my videos at youtube.com/user/jdavidrhea

My “day job” is as managing editor for online products at The Journal Record, the statewide daily business-focused media company in Oklahoma City. It is owned by The Dolan Company, a fantastic company for which I am glad to work.

Video is my newest love. When I am able to find a story, shoot and edit the whole production, it is the most satisfying way to tell a story. I have produced segments for the newspaper and for our television media partners.

You can check out my YouTube channel for all my videos featuring a who’s who line-up of OKC’s finest personalities.

OKC's Memorial Marathon

Runner
Running seems to take on the form of a lifestyle, and it is not surprising to me because it takes such a time commitment. You can’t really be a successful runner by going to the gym for an hour three times a week. You have to dedicate the time and the energy. You have to change how you eat and sleep. Initially there is a lot of pain, which I previously blogged about. To be good, you have to do certain things that manifest themselves in somewhat of a lifestyle change.

The benefits are incredible. I know in my case, it has shed fat off my body – like I would have expected. But the surprising thing has been the alleviation of back pain. I spent many years touring with a band and it really did a number on my back. Then, transitioning to a career that mandates a lot of desk time, it started to be a pretty chronic problem. Since I started seriously running, my back pain has gone away.

Meditation: All throughout growing up and now having become a adult, I had all along wished I had the self discipline to meditate. I know that it would help calm my mind that is so often flying off in 100 directions. I know that the most simple act of stilling the mind is so profoundly therapeutic. Then one day on about mile 8 of my long weekend run I realized that I am meditating. Through running, I can isolate myself and go through this inane, repetitive movement – that that frees my mind.
So for these reasons, running has become part of how I identify myself.