Luke Higgs Photos

So last week I went to Seattle, Washington to attend the AVP tour event. AVP or the Association of Volleyball Professionals is the highest level of competition for beach volleyball in the United States. I had the opportunity to get an all-access media pass and take pictures of the qualifying and opening round of the event!

I got to Seattle a day early and explored a bit. Picked up my rental car and went to Sammamish State Park to see the AVP stadium set up, then I went to Alki Beach Park to see what type of "beaches" Seattle has; I was disappointed in the size and color of the beach but was stunned to see mountain ranges while sitting on the sand. I headed to Kerry Park where I got this picture of the Space Needle, then went to the waterfront to check out the downtown area of Seattle!

I had a very generous friend that let me stay with her while I was in Seattle. She was an incredible host in showing me the post work Seattle lifestyle. We went out one night and had drinks on a rooftop bar during the sunset. People in Seattle were very patient and relaxed despite them being in a busy city!

I'm not much of a city person but I loved the rooftop living that Seattle had to offer. The weather was beautiful, but was constantly reminded that this is the best time of the year to be in the city.

I got to witness the best players in the country compete on the "sands" of Seattle. You can see some of my pictures on my Instagram post or under the sports section of my website!

I ended up leaving the opening round in the afternoon on Friday to go to the airport. Took a flight from Seattle (SEA) to Phoenix (PHX) at 5 pm then had a 5-hour layover in PHX, leaving at 1:15 am on Saturday ending up in Charlotte (CLT) at 8:30 am and drove straight to coach a Beach Volleyball Camp in Columbia, SC. I went 40+ hours without sleeping but survived!

Seattle was a beautiful place, and I will be going back very soon to spend more time there. The people made this trip special; from the creative director of the AVP who helped me get a media credential, to the players that were awesome with interactions with the crowd, to my friend and her roommates who went out of their way to make my short time in Seattle one to remember. Thank you

Hey everyone,

I figured I would write a couple blogs about my adventures and journeys because when I describe what I'm doing to people, they think I'm crazy. I hope I can share some insight about life to help someone out there, and you all can laugh at how awful I am at writing.

I left early morning on June 1st to fly out of Charlotte, North Carolina to Phoenix, Arizona. Once in PHX, I went straight to Little Miss BBQ which is countrywide known barbecue restaurant. Its one of those places where they cook their meat all night and are open the next day until they’re all sold out! I stood in line for about 25 mins, and the friendly staff told me that this was the shortest line of the day. When I started getting closer to the counter, items kept getting crossed off the list.

I ended up getting the Prime Rib, Chopped Brisket, Ranch style beans, and Jalapeno cheese grits. Let me tell you, I fasted for 20 hours to have this meal, and I still haven’t eaten since and its been close to 12 hours. My mouth is still salivating looking at these pictures.

After Lunch, I went to downtown Phoenix and had some coffee and walked to Comerica Theater to get my tickets.

Then I walked to Chase field where the Arizona Diamond Backs play. Since they open the stadium 2 hours before the game, I decided to grab a cheap ticket and check Chase field off my bucket list (One of my bucket items is to visit every single MLB stadium). So I watched both teams take batting practice and only the first inning of the game because I had to walk back to the theater to watch Jordan Peterson speak.

So I always travel with my camera, and I had to do work on my computer, so I have a backpack full of electronics and books. So that's a "no-go" when going into a theater, especially with the controversy that surrounds Dr. Peterson from most mainstream media.

But I worked my charm, talked to head security and was escorted throughout the whole theater to secure my bag at the control panel and then was escorted to the VIP check-in where I told them my story of flying in to see Dr. Peterson and then taking a red-eye back to North Carolina after the event. They told me to tell Dr. Peterson that and he would appreciate the commitment.

Okay, so who is Jordan Peterson? Well, if you're coming from my Instagram page, you know that I post a lot of quotes from him and "Rules" that has created. This speech was part of his book tour, "The 12 Rules of Life: An Antidote to Chaos" where it was the #1 book on Amazon for over three months. Here is a short description from his website, "Renowned psychologist Jordan B Peterson’s answer to this most difficult of questions uniquely combines the hard-won truths of ancient tradition with the stunning revelations of cutting-edge scientific research."

Whatever you have heard about Dr. Peterson that is negative is not true, with today's media every company or website is going to title their article that is interesting. His core principles are essentially - take care of yourself first by bettering yourself each day and then taking care of your local community, and then if we all do that, the world will be a better place!

Dr. Peterson is a person who is so intelligent that it is hard for him to articulate what he's trying to say to the crowd. There is no criteria or schedule he follows, and he picks a subject or one of his Rules then goes for about two hours. Each show of his tour is different, and all depends on what train of thought he goes on. He opened saying that he was going to talk about Rule #10 Be impeccable with your word. But he ended up talking about what we aim at is what we see and everything in Rule #7 Do what is meaningful-not what is expedient, where he talked about creating value in this world.

Below are some of his main points in chapter seven that he covered in his talk that I find will help you the most.

“Meaning is the Way, the path of life more abundant, the place you live when you are guided by Love and speaking truth and when nothing you want it could possibly want take any precedence over precisely that.”

“Strengthen the individual. Start with yourself. Take care with yourself. Define who you are. Refine your personality. Choose your destination and articulate your Being.”

“Life doesn’t have the problem. You do
If your life is not going well, perhaps it is your current knowledge that is insufficient, not life itself. Perhaps your value structure needs some serious retooling. Perhaps what you want is blinding you to what else could be.”

“The Sermon on the Mount outlines the true nature of man, and the proper aim of mankind: concentrate on the day so that you can live in the present, and attend completely and properly to what is right in front of you- but do that only after you have decided to let what is within shine forth, so that it can justify Being and illuminate the world.”

After the show, there was a VIP event, which was more than 30% of the crowd…. You line up, say “thank you for basically changing my whole reality” smile, then walk away. No autographs, no talks, just a good firm handshake and Dr. Peterson has to small talk with people who admire him. This man’s words and values changed my life, and I flew out across the country and bought the “VIP” packet which was not cheap, all to shake his hand and take a picture. I understand his popularity and the man needs to get paid, but it was very hard not to break out and tell him everything that was absolute chaos in my life that now I have complete control of! I’m just a little salty right now because it’s 1 am here, and 4 am at home, and I’m getting kicked off my flight and put onto the next one that isn't until 5 am.

So Luke, what did you say to him? I told him, "Thank you for saving me." Dr. Peterson said, "Well Luke you look good and how are you doing now?" I told him, "I'm doing very well, thank you, sir." Then we took the picture, and he shook my hand and said, "Onwards and upwards Luke." All under 30 seconds.

I've read "The 12 Rules of Life" almost three times now, and each sentence is so densely compact that I find some new knowledge within each time I read it. This is one of only two books that I highly recommend to everyone in my life!

Click here to buy it now!