By THIRSTY

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“I turned down a narrow street, with my hands fisted in my coat pockets, and my eyes fell upon a slogan someone had written into a block of concrete. I remember when I was a kid we would write cuss words into wet cement, and sometimes, if we wanted to feel important, our names or hand prints. This carving was not childish or indulgent in the least. I stopped for a moment and just stared at the writing. My eyes traced every letter of this statement as I read it over and over again. My voice sounded like a ghost’s as it said the simple and incredibly powerful inscription, ‘STAY THIRSTY.’ I felt like I had stumbled onto some kind of symbolic relic, a hieroglyphic the city kept secret just to be shown at the proper moments, when absolutely needed, and most definitely deserved. I felt blessed. I stood in place over this square and felt a small grin creep to my face. Gotta keep movin’. No matter what, gotta keep movin’.”

- From Ransom Notes, an unfinished novel by Ryan Licht Sang (2004)

In that small section of concrete, where Chicago's Schiller and Wells streets intersect, lies our manifesto, so inconspicuous that people walk over it every day, blind to the power beneath their feet. “Stay Thirsty” is more than an idea. It is a call to arms.

Based on the philosophy of Ryan Licht Sang, a shining young musician, artist and writer who passed away at the age of 24 in 2004 from Bipolar Disorder, “stay thirsty for life” is our clarion call to shine a spotlight on creativity in all forms from around the world. It is this inscription that has inspired our insatiable rock n' roll lifestyle since the founding of staythirsty.com in 2006.

Live the life. Discover. Be open. Time is short - “gotta keep movin’.”

 

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