Introduction

Anna Devere (Host): The next award goes to Pete Ohlin, who’s been selected to be the 2024 recipient of IDA’s But You Look Good Inspiration Award. Pete’s been chosen based upon his vulnerability and willingness to publicly share his inspiring story of living with the trauma and anxiety from the childhood loss of his sister to meningitis, which almost killed him in college as well.

Pete has used his passion and love for people, which helped him create incredible music that brings healing and peace for people living with PTSD, depression, ADD, ADHD, anxiety, and more. Let’s roll Pete’s video.

Pete Ohlin’s Acceptance Speech

Hi, my name is Pete Ohlin, and I want to say thank you to Invisible Disabilities, Wayne and Jess for this award. And I’m getting this award for the piano music that I’ve created that has helped people with all sorts of different things from anxiety to depression.

The Origins of the Music

And originally I started playing piano for my own peace. Then quickly it became, for other people in 2 Corinthians, it says that God comforts us so that we can comfort those who are in trouble. He comforts us in our trouble, so then we can help those in trouble.

I started playing piano in college for my own peace. And what I would do, I was at Colorado State University and I would walk to the piano rooms in the dead of night for my own peace, and I would play, and the piano rooms are really small, and so the strings of the pianos would reverberate off the walls and it really calmed me.

Impact and Collaborations

And that’s where I started. And then years later, I met, I had a friend who had struggled with PTSD. He was a Navy Seal, and he came to my house and didn’t know that I played all that much. And I started playing and he fell immediately at peace.

And so six months after that, he had a friend who was a lead singer of Little Texas back many years ago, and he recorded my first album called “Majestic Rain.” And we both agreed it was neat. We both agreed that a title track in the name of the album be called “Majestic Rain” is, which is God’s tears for his sons and daughters. And that’s how I got started in the recording. And I’ve recorded a lot ever since.

And then years after that album was out, I met another guy. He was an evangelist and a bestselling author in the Netherlands. And he came to a men’s retreat that I was playing for, and his wife had just passed and he decided that he was going to just sit there and listen and the depression just lifted off of him after months and months. And so he and I ended up going to the Netherlands and doing healing services all over the Netherlands. And that was another neat experience that I’ve had.

Advocacy and Family Challenges

But I wanna thank once again Wayne and Jess and Invisible Disabilities for what they’re doing. They’re doing practical things for people with all sorts of invisible disabilities in the state of Colorado. You can get the Invisible Disability logo on your driver’s license and they’re working on many other really practical ways of helping people. And I love that.

And in my own family, we’ve had autoimmune disorders, we’ve had anxiety, depression, we had a heart transplant in my son-in-law this year, severe asthma, COPD. There’s a lot of people that are struggling with things out there, so I thank Invisible Disabilities for what they’re doing. Thank you.