Monday, April 2, 2012

500!

Five. Hundred. Posts.

Interesting.

Better make this one worth it...

So, some 'photo recap' for you, again.


That's my neighborhood on 'Earth Day'. Yes, the lights are still on. What struck me about this was one question; "What does this say, if anything, about the culture of my city?" I'm not *saying* I know what it says, nor what that might mean, but I have a pretty good sense. The reason this is important to me is because, in my line of work (as a Pastor and a storytelling Producer) I need to *know* my audience to some degree so that I can *know* how to reach them.

What scares me about this picture is that it suggests that some in the culture of my city are too busy, too successful, too 'sophisticated' to care about a movement that many others around the World do care about. I worry that these actions are saying "I'm above this. I think any mass movement is manufactured. I don't care. Leave me alone in my fancy house, bought with my fancy job, outside of which my fancy car is parked." What worries me about that kind of attitude (if it in fact exists) is that it suggests that the people in my culture aren't very in touch with their 'need' and that makes telling them stories (either entertaining, or life-changing ones) very difficult, 'cause if you think you 'have' it all, what need have you of a good story?


Ahh yes. Mastering a recent episode in one of our series. This one was painful. Why? Well, when I saw the name of this guest on the booking sheet I immediately *knew* this show would suck. I just *knew* (or thought I knew) that he wouldn't have the depth needed to make the particular show in question 'work'. I tried to push back, tried to fight it, but--for various reasons--had to cave.

All this time later, mastering the show, I was proven right. This particular episode is not going to be one of our best. Honestly put, it sucks. So why did I do it? Well, I had to. And sometimes, if you're going to 'make it' in show-biz, you have to do things you don't want to do in order to get to the next step. Not a popular thing to say, not something the 'unrestrained artist' in you wants to hear, but the simple truth.


And on a lighter note. My littlest boy, Sammie, got upset this weekend. For no good reason, he put his head down on the couch and began to weep. Moments later he lifted the pillow and, realizing what he'd done, showed us what you see above. He immediately burst into a smile, all sadness forgotten.

We (I) can learn from him. Sometimes you're just sad for no good reason. That's normal. That's okay. But when life offers you a way out, a way to begin to smile again.

Take it.

T

1 comment:

Ken Harris Realtor said...

Hmmm, let me see if I have this right. You are upset that the lights were not turned off for an hour. How about the fact that you drive an SUV and a minivan (hardly a planet saving hybrid) you have a pool and a hottub, which uses a lot of hydro (again not very green). So what is more important, doing the right thing for an hour a year or 365 days a year. How do you know if they were even home to turn off the lights?