Fighting the Good Fight

It started one day as I was sitting around my room listening to "The Mission." A thought entered my brain, "What if there was an Echelon project that included every single last person. A project that didn't have an boundaries or restrictions and that anyone could take part in no matter what country they were from, how old they were, or how long they have been a Mars fan." There have been so many amazing Echelon projects out there, but none like this. I wanted this to be as different as possible. I wanted to bend over backwards and bleed to get every single last person that wanted to be apart of it a chance, no matter what. Too many times in my life was I held back because of restrictions. I wanted this project to be a way to fully capture the essence of The Echelon and give the amazing people I call family a chance to express themselves to their peers, the band, and the world. The feeling of being a small part of something bigger needed to be captured visually. People needed to know even if they would never understand. It was a dream of mine. Day after day racing ideas would flood my mind. I would often burden my friends with my thoughts, and my enthusiasm to make this happen. It wasn't until I met Molly and Ziggy, two girls who I now know are my soul sisters, that I knew this could really happen. They not only encouraged and grasped the idea, but they inspired it to flourish. The Echelon discovered it, fell in love with it, and grasped it as there own. This is their project, their stories, their heart and soul being woven together as words in a blog entry or being captured on film or in a photo. These are the stories of the most amazing men and women to ever exist. They are stories of heartache, loss, war, and triumph. They are the brave and the beautiful. They are the creative geniuses who will never fully grasp how amazing they are. They are the people whose very existence I owe all my inspiration too. They will prove to the world that 30 Seconds to Mars is more then just a band. The Echelon are more then just a fan base. These CDs are more then just music. This is our hope to go on, a family of millions, and the soundtrack to our lives.

If your on the outside looking in, you may be confused, intimidated, scared, just plain lost. The Echelon may appear alien to you, not making much sense and from a completely other planet and breed of life. And maybe we are, just a little bit. But one look into the core of our souls, which we willingly pour out in our words, and you will see we are just like everyone else. The only difference is we aren't afraid to be afraid, and we don't care what you think about us. We will live our lives, and dream our dreams until our hearts stop beating and then our legacy will continue to inspire others. Because if anything is true about the Echelon its this: We will never fade away.

-Seraphina, Chicago