Last summer, Karolis, Dalia and I spent a day with amazing Vancouver filmmaker Angelina Cantada. She filmed an ordinary day in my family’s life, and has put it together into a beautiful short documentary.
Everywhere I go, people usually ask me: “How do you write without arms and legs?” “How do you get dressed without hands?” “How can you do stuff without arms and legs?” This video shows how I have learned to accomplish the tasks that I need to, with what I have.
Angelina submitted the video to the webseries www.ripplemakers.tv – “Ripple” is about regular people like you and me whose lives have had a positive influence on their communities. By virtue of who they are… by standing by their beliefs… by following their dreams… they create a ripple effect around them.
“Ripple” is a brand new web TV series that premiered on July 30, 2010. It is produced by Layaco Media filmmaker Carol Gancia. Layaco Media is a video production company based in San Francisco, California that uses technology and social media to solve the challenges of reaching your target audience. Here is what the webseries had to say about its “Josh” episode:
“One ordinary day in an extraordinary man’s life.” Filmmaker Angelina Cantada is convinced that spending a day with Josh Vander Vies is enough to change how one see’s life. Josh is quite an achiever—he’s an athlete, artist and motivational speaker who’s now working towards a law degree. The guy’s got big dreams. That he’s pursuing these dreams while living his life without arms and legs is simply one of those challenges that he’s overcome.
“I love the concept of Ripple—providing inspiration through ordinary people’s lives,” says Cantada. “Josh is a source of inspiration for me and I know he will be too for many of the viewers who will see this film.”
Cantada feels it’s awesome that Josh is living his life to the fullest and “that he doesn’t let his disability, or anything for that matter, get in the way of his goals and dreams.”
Do you feel that life has dealt you a bad hand? Snap out of it. If Josh can get over his problems, so can you. Watch “Josh.”
Click below to watch the short documentary. I would love to hear from you in the comments below.
