Sigöldugljúfur, Iceland
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?
Me and my Mom, May 2022
Great question. This is the beginning of an idea that started with a feeling—a feeling of wonder and hope.
On November 27, 2021, I had just been discharged from the Marines and packed up my car to drive to a state I had only visited a handful of times, but a place that my family now called home. I was leaving my home of the last four years in Twenty-nine Palms CA, to step into the complete unknown,but finally having agency and control over myself and my life.
My parents had sold our home in Chicago-land and moved with my siblings to Tampa, FL in 2018. While I landed back in my families house I was able to shed a lot of the weight I no longer needed to carry. I also doubled down on the things that I knew worked.
I started a routine with my younger brother, waking up early and getting a workout in before school or work. I also started trying to pick up the habit of reading. At the gym I started thinking about functional movement and strength, incorporating more stretching and attending a few yoga classes.
I was able to pause, and it was only seven months, but it was the perfect landing/launching pad I needed. I really got to reconnect with most of my family and spend lots of time on the porch in the sun.
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 relieved to pass the torch on to the next generation. But felt as if he had the whole world waiting for him, and no structure or plan to usher it in.
I left Tampa to pursue photojournalism in Chicago and live with longtime friends; another stage of healing for the parts of me that got left home when I joined the Marines. While in school I had an incredible professor, Sam Roe, I owe him many thanks for the integral role he played in my life. In May, 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, to advance men’s mental health. I filmed these on the camera I had access to at the time. You can find these interviews under the “Road trip Interviews” tab or on my YouTube channel linked above.
The gut driving force being, I knew I needed to get out of the city and felt the call of inspiration on the road. I felt the call to start a project without having all the answers or a plan. I packed up some clothes, what little camping equipment I had threw it all in my car 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 and we can get it ordered for you!
