Story & Lesson Highlights with Conner Cherland of Highland Park

We recently had the chance to connect with Conner Cherland and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Conner, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What battle are you avoiding?
I’m avoiding telling my parents that I don’t want to do an additional vacation with them in December. I love seeing my parents, but I’m exhausted. They’re retired and do fun things all the time and are really comforting to be around, all good things! But I don’t want to travel more than I need to for the next couple of months. I’ll see them at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I don’t like saying no to a nice invitation.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I was born an athlete, not an artist. Parents met on the volleyball court, and taught me to play their position. My work is singing at weddings and I cry at most of them. I write songs and perform them in Los Angeles while trying to make more friends. I’m reading a lot of Phil Stutz and The Big Book to add some new mental and spiritual tools to the repertoire.

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
I remember being a kid and seeing Tarzan for the first time and feeling jacked. I tried walking on my knuckles for a while – not with a closed fist – like how Tarzan actually does it in the film on his middle knuckles. Movies made me feel that way a lot as a kid, like I could do anything. I made Lola Bunny (from SpaceJam) my imaginary girlfriend for a time. Possibilities were endless back in the nineties.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
The fear that I’m actually a bad person pretending to be a good person. Christianity has a few intense trapdoors if you were raised in the non-denominational circuit. The doctrine of “total depravity” is a rough pill to try to spit up if you decided to swallow it as a kid. I talk to my therapist about my constant need for external validation because I feel I need forgiveness for existing at all. It makes you timid, and they say luck favors the opposite.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Whose ideas do you rely on most that aren’t your own?
I’ve listened to more Dr. K (@healthygamergg on YouTube) than I know what to do with. He’s taught me how to interact with my mind, and brought me to a place where I felt comfortable enough to see a real therapist. Now that I have a real therapist, I notice a lot of his thoughts creeping in and disrupting old patterns. A recent mantra has been “the point of life is not to avoid conflict” – an important reminder for a people pleaser like myself.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I’d like to be remembered as someone who honestly tried their best, and expanded what “their best” could be. I’d like to make some songs that touch a lot of people, and be a lifelong friend to a smaller number of people. I’d like to have become wise, and confident without the rigidity.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://connercherland.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/connercherland/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/connercherland
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@itsconnercherland
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/connercherland
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/album/4CXkEe7rNzOK6ypB9vFj38?si=MxfjBZM-TdSB_dZuryWdKw

Image Credits
Photos with beetle mask: @josiefarrior
Photo of me singing: @openfolkla