Kevin Tumlinson's Blog, page 11

choiciness

This morning, despite hitting snooze a couple of times, I actually managed to get myself pulled together and out the door a little earlier than usual. I decided to detour from my route a bit and drop by Starbucks. This always takes me about 12 to 15 minutes out of my way. Sacrifices must be made.

On the drive out of my neighborhood, down a long, heavily populated street, walled with nice homes and manicured lawns and well-groomed trees and medians, I had a chance to see the full moon. It hovered slightly to the right of the line of the street, and it was an enormous, shining disk in a slowly brightening blue sky.

It seems so long since I've left the house in daylight on a work day, so maybe the slow sunrise made things a little more special. Or maybe it's the crisp, cold air, the cloudless sky, the light breeze. Before I climbed into my truck I heard owls in the distance. I heard leaves rustling in the breeze. I felt the chill of the air, and it made me feel pretty good. 

I worry about things, sometimes. All the time. And it's tough to get out of that habit. Because worry, fear, anxiety—these are killers. They're sins. Maybe not the kind you're used to, like lying or sexual immorality or stealing. They aren't the sins you normally hear about in a church sermon. But they represent a choice you make, sometimes on a minute-by-minute basis. And that choice tears you down, makes you useless and pointless. God doesn't want that for you.

This is one of the things I struggle with, pretty regularly. It's what I'm struggling with right this second, actually. There's a fear, trickling down my esophagus. A worry that's starting small but threatens to widen. An anxiety that is slowly sinking its claws into me. "Will I turn off my readers? Will the people I know roll their eyes, turn away, think less of me?" See that? Fear and worry and anxiety that I'd NEVER feel about anything else I'd say or do, but for some reason fear when I'm talking about my faith, about sin, about God.

And that's a choice I make.

So I'm making a different choice. This morning is beautiful, and that's a gift. Every moment is beautiful, and that's also a gift. And right now, I'm choosing to be dead to the sins of fear, worry, and anxiety and alive in Christ. I'm asking God to show me how I can server him better. I'm asking for wisdom, for a light on the path to righteousness and love. I'm asking how I, wretched sinner, can make a better choice.

thanksitude

Zig Ziglar said, "You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want."

That's kind of profound if you start breaking it down, thinking it through. It's Biblical, actually. All throughout the New Testament, the command is to "love others as you love yourself," to "do unto others as you'd have them do unto you," to make yourself a servant of others. So Zig's advice has been around for a while.

I try to live that, because I've come to believe in it wholeheartedly. I think it's making all the difference in my life. I certainly have more friends than I've ever had, and I have a lot more prosperity in my life than I had just a few short years ago. It's a good rule to live by.

And there's a correlating rule that I think is equally important: When someone helps you, thank them.

That's a tough one for me, believe it or not. I'm not always quick with the gratitude. But it can make a huge difference in your day. Just getting a quick note, "I got an email from someone you referred to me, and I really appreciate it!" That makes you feel pretty good. And if it makes YOU feel pretty good, it's a good bet it will do the same for someone else.

So I'm going to commit to that. Even with small things. Someone opens a door for me, and I express real, genuine gratitude. I'll thank the person checking me out at the grocery store. I'll thank the person taking my order for lunch. Not the perfunctory "thank you" that comes kind of automatically, but a real, heartfelt "thank you!" that comes autoMAGICALLY. 

I'm convinced that's going to make a big difference in my day, my week, my life! 

By the way, thank YOU for reading this! It means a lot to me, because readers are my goal. And I hope, in some way, this touches and inspires and helps you. Because that's also my goal. 

the silence of the ponds

Because Doctor Who, that's why.

[image error]"Hello Amelia."

dor-a, the ever-exploring

I made this joke at the flea market a few weeks ago, and decided it was about time the world got to share. Lemme know what ya think!

[image error]"Ancient spirits of evil, transform this exploring form, into DOR-A, the EVER-EXPLORING!"

"atlas shrugged" and the public school system

 

The public school system could be the single finest example of the culture and society written about by Ayn Rand in "Atlas Shrugged." Disenfranchise the teachers who make the system work. Hand all power to the entitled masses--students and parents who want everything, right now, without having to work for it. And don't you dare try to enforce a system of discipline, in any form whatsoever, because it might hinder the child's "natural development."

What we have is a system specifically constructed to shift any and all responsibility (and blame) onto the one person most powerless to effect change in the system.

Teachers are continually asked to give above and beyond--in their time, in their money, in their passion. When problems arise, they become the scapegoats for a system geared entirely to preserve test and campus scores and reputations for schools and school systems.

It takes only one unfounded complaint from a student to end a career. One female student claims a male teacher has touched her, one student claims a teacher has grabbed him, one student claims that a teacher said something inappropriate, and that teacher no longer has a career, with or without any poof. They may even face criminal charges. They may lose some of their rights, in the name of a thankless job with ridiculous hours and demands, that pays them practically nothing for their efforts.

I was never much of a proponent or supporter of unions, but today, in the climate engufling public shools, it's absolutely vital to be a part of one. If you are a teacher, you NEED the union. It will sometimes be the only thing standing between you and ruin. And even with the help, you may still suffer injustice and unfairness. But join. It's worth the money you'll pay. As things continue to detirorate in the public school system, you'll eventually find that you need more help than you would have thought possible.

gun control and other one liners

Let's say for a second that somehow "better gun control" becomes less of the undefined boogeyman-esque tirade it is now and becomes an actual thing. At that point, you can be reasonably sure that a whole bunch of guns will go into hiding. Now you have a ton of guns floating around with no one monitoring them at all. Ammunition? Takes ten seconds to research how to make bullets online. You can even find a recipe for making gunpowder (planning to regulate seagull poop?). 

You're not taking guns from people. Mostly because they have a gun, and they will stop you.

And if you think that seccession or civil war is just some rightwing-nut-job pipe dream, you've likely never actually read history or news stories from outside the US. 

So basically, this isn't anything worth debating or arguing about. Which, of course, means it's one of the five favorite things that everyone loves to debate and argue about endlessly

Carry on.

marketing tip for photographers

Marketing tip for photographers: Show your work to the client in a very public place.

Starbucks will work.

This morning, I was sitting in my local Starbucks, surrounded by Christmas cheer and non-fat lattes, tappity-tapping one of those story things I seem so fond of. I saw a woman come in, wave to another woman, and then the two of them took a seat.

Woman #2 was holding a bag that she emptied onto the table between them, pulling out a book and a small, nice-looking, flat “gift box.” The box was filled with large prints of a young girl, probably around three or four years old. The book was a VERY nicely done portfolio of those shots and more, all large and in glorious color, and very impressive.

Woman #1 cooed and awed over every shot, and absolutely loved the presentation. And I heard Woman #2 thank her and tell her that she’d send a code in an email that would let Woman #1 order any size or quantity of prints she wanted.

It was a great presentation. And when the two said goodbye and parted, a third woman stepped up and asked, “Was that your work?”

“Yes,” Woman #2 smiled.

“Could I please have your card? I’m actually looking for a photographer who can take pictures of my kids!”

Woman #2 had to go to her car to get the card, but when she returned she handed Woman #3 a small envelope, about the size of a Christmas card envelope.

“Oh, you have a whole little packet!” Woman #3 said.

“I keep a big box of them in my car!” said Woman #2. “Every time I show my clients their photos while we’re at Starbucks I end up being asked for a card, so I put together this little packet.”

I’m pretty sure that’s a photographer with a new client.

Word of mouth has always been the best form of marketing. Get some good buzz, and people find you. That’s the best way to sell your product or services. Make a friend, and that friend wants to support you. I can’t think of a better way to market!

humanity in the face of horror

People will do horrible things. They will dehumanize others. They will tear down all the good they can find. They will gun down children.

But what they won't do, what they can never, ever do, is define humanity. Because humanity is good. It's about building something that lasts. It's about helping people fight the evil things people do, overcoming the sickness in the hearts of people. Humanity is crying about the hurt its seeing right now. 

And from this, a lot of humanity will go forward and do something. They'll make the hurt have meaning. They'll heal the wounds and point to the scars to say, "That happened, and now we will always remember."

Because that's what humans do. They take the hurt and heal it. They take the evil and destroy it. They build something that makes the world better, and they do it in memory of those who died in horror.

Look at every human near you, right now, and love them the way you love yourself. Forgive them like you would want to be forgiven. Give them everything they need to feel human in the face of inhumanity. Horror will always happen. It's the enemy. It comes for us. But we will always fight back. And humanity will always win.

ducks & doobies you read

If you watch this video, a bus full of orphans will be saved from a river. 

wintery wonder wordslinger

Brrrr. Just ... brrrrr. 

Winter is coming. Oh yes. Actually, it's already here. And so is my new novella ebook, "Getting Gone." Get it today! Watch this first, though.