I say this every year.

Every year since that 2am stumble across words that changed everything.

Each year, words, no matter how carefully chosen and crafted, fall far short of what they are trying to explain.

There are some people who are vast in skill, generous in heart, infinite in genius. Their works are known, their kindness has affected many. They are, they do – SO much.

Still, there are people who are… more. So much more. Not to just one person, nor even to just a few, but to so many reached in an endless ripple effect.

They are this ‘so much’ not for a specific reason, nor by any means of measure, nor in any specific way. They just are.

It is not because they say a certain thing or do a certain thing or look a certain way. They just are.

Their very essence radiates, it encompasses, it reflects, and affects.

You can read or hear or see their work, their words, their skill, their ethic, and you can think you know.

Until you are in their presence.

That is when you realize that some souls transcend what we can describe or praise. Even for ourselves, even to ourselves, we may never be able to even inwardly articulate it, and surely not aloud, as if describing something separate, that did not affect and become part of us, change us.

It is why I am certain I cannot find the words. Perhaps I should just quote posts from years past, but even those, had they been fully accurate then, by now I know how inadequate they are. Now I know more. And still I cannot find the words.

Eoin Macken, I have seen how your work affects people. It is a reach, a touch, that surpasses the greatness of your novel and the characters that come to life in it. It is separate from how much you make people feel and see and understand through your portrayal of such a diverse range of characters on screens small and vast. It is beyond how your showed people their own vulnerabilities and strengths while sharing the stories of those in Mozambique. It is beyond your wit and charm, your clever candor, and bold brilliance, in interviews that makes you dear to people who read and hear your words and thoughts – not just by what those vehicles of process open their eyes and hearts to, but by your sincerity, your passion, your humility, and all the intangibles that I cannot find words for.

I have handed and sent your book to many people here in the States, and in countries quite far away. Young and old, affluent and homeless. The response always goes beyond how wonderful the story is, how vivid the characters, how much they could relate, or how much it made them remember and understand of their own youth, and finding their space, their home within their own skin. That is all said in many ways, by many people. The one thing everyone thus far has said to me is – it made them feel. Maybe not what the story was portraying. Somehow….just as in all you do.. by words scripted or personal, by film recorded or acted on, by photos taken or posed for…somehow… you made them feel. When people feel, they can be more, do more, reach more, feel more, and that flows forward in life to all they touch in their path. The ripple effect is endless.

Just by being who you are, in all you do… you make more and more people feel… and not be able ‘to find the words.’

Happy Birthday Eoin. May your day be as radiant as you are, and may your year to come be everything you desire it to be… and then some!

photo source Photo Journal on Twitter, February 2017

For anyone who has not yet read Eoin’s debut novel ‘Kingdom of Scars’, you can procure your copy here

If you have not yet watched ‘Leopard’ click here for purchase options.