Sunbeams or Transformers – A Guest Post By Andi Cumbo

Andi is a good friend of mine that I met during my Messiah College days, I think in a Poetry writing class.  So today we’re guest posting on each other’s blogs – you can get the link to my post on Andi’s site in a second.

I’ve always been impressed by how passionate she is about writing, art and life. This guest post by Andi goes a long way to explaining why:

When I was a kid on one of those Saturday afternoons when life seems both empty and totally chock full of energy, I watched a movie All Summer in a Day (based on the Ray Bradbury story of the same name). In it a group of children lived on a planet where there was almost no sun.  It rained all the time, and  the kids never saw the sun.  As I remember it, this fact was translated in a gray-scape for the whole film.  Gray clothes, gray buildings, gray dunes and meadows.  Gray everything.  It was heart-breaking, even to me at 6 or 7, especially to me at that age.

But then hope came in on a sunbeam.  One of the children learns of a prophecy that the sun would shine for just fifteen minutes on this one day at this one time.  They planned for it, talked about it at recess, built grand stories about its coming.  Hope, here it was.

Then, on the day the sun was supposed to show up, one little girl was being picked on by the other kids during a game of tag.  She ran into a storage closet to hide; someone saw her, and they locked her in – just before the sun was supposed to come out.  She screamed at the door and pounded her tiny gray fists against it.  Then, she saw a slit of a window at the top of the room.  Hope again.

By this point in the movie, I was crying, I’m sure of it.  I still cry at every emotional moment in every movie, but this moment – a child denied the thing she most wanted in the world – this was unbearable.  How was I supposed to survive this?  How was she?

As it seemed that the little girl would die of despair, a ray of sunshine slid through that window and onto the ground near her hand.  She reached out and slid her fingers into it.  If this was a really bad movie, I suspect her hand suddenly glowed with color, but I can’ remember that.  What I do remember is the glory she took in that one sunbeam, in the thing she had been searching for her whole life.  Tears flooded her eyes, and she sat totally still with that sunbeam on her hand for the full time it was there.

I have never been able to find the name of this film (Help me out if you know it, please), but it has been archetypal in my life.  This nameless film and the little girl with a sunbeam on her hand has come to represent for me the joy we can all take in having even a sliver of that which we most desire.

Now let me be clear, what we most desire is not ever more money, or more prestige, or even more cake (although cake sounds really good sometimes).  These are just the things we can conceive of to make ourselves happier, the quantifiable, easier things that we settle for when we can’t or won’t pursue what we most desire.

What we really desire is to be most fully ourselves, to live into the fullness of the identity we have been given from before our birth.  We are the children of God, the people created in God’s own image.  We only need to live more fully into ourselves to find our glory.  This is our heart’s desire.  This is our sunbeam.

The other night I heard singer Lucy Kaplansky talk about her daughter Molly’s love of the moon when she was two.  Each night they would say goodnight to the moon, until the night when the moon was new and, therefore, invisible.  Molly cried and said she missed the moon.  Lucy assured here it would be back.

As children, we know what it is to long for something so desperately that our whole body hurts – the return of our parents’ from a night out, the Valentine from the cute kid in our class, the moon that lingers outside our window.  We know what we want, until we are taught to want other things – like the Cabbage Patch kid or the Transformers of my childhood.  People teach us these things because, well, they can give us a doll or a car when they can’t give us the moon.

Yet, when we begin to settle for anything less than the moon, anything less than the sunbeam that is our own selves, we deprive ourselves of our own joy and glory.  We lock ourselves in the closets of our lives and move forward, missing the ray of light shining from our own spirits.  We miss out on the hope that is our life. We miss out on God’s glory.  That’s enough to make me cry right there.

Please check out more great posts at Andi’s blog, and find out more about her.I’ve also got a post there today about why I feel my life right now is very imbalanced, and how that could possibly be a good thing.

I’ll see you all again Monday, so enjoy your weekend.  And find your sun beam.

10 Questions With Tyler Stanton

Last week I reviewed Tyler Stanton’s book “Everyday Absurdities.”  Today he has been kind enough to rejoin us (in written form) and answer ten questions.  Some of the questions are interesting.  Some of them are not.  Don’t judge me.

In any case, I give you the self-proclaimed “world’s most trivial man”.

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So Tyler, for those out there who don’t know you (I know there are only a few), why don’t you start off by telling us what you do and how you ended up doing that?

This one is hard. I always struggle with what to tell people what I do. I write. I act. I make comedy sketches with Tripp Crosby. I emcee Catalyst West. I don’t really know what to call that. Someone suggested “entertainer”, but I really have a hard time calling myself that. I usually just lie and say that I’m a kicker in the CFL. It’s easier that way.

I was on staff with Young Life for the past seven years and did all of this other stuff part time, but in January, I left that job and started pursuing this full time.

Why did you decide to write a book?

I wanted to have something to hand to people, instead of just telling them to go to a website. No one goes to a website. Well, I do. But not most people. Not only that, but I was trying to make some extra cash so I could justify having DVR and 28” rims on my Accord. I refuse to live a life without 28” rims.

What’s your favorite knock-knock joke?

The one that wasn’t told.

Okay, moving right along . . . I talk a lot on my blog about the importance of finding your identity – when did you discover your identity, what it is it, and what concrete steps have you taken to pursue that?

I feel like my purpose is to make people laugh. I’ve always wanted that, but didn’t realize until a year or so ago that it could be a full time thing. Doesn’t matter the medium. Could be videos. Could be writing. So, I took a step in that direction. I left my job and went for it. So far, so good (Note: I am knocking on wood with crossed fingers while clutching a rabbit’s foot and taping a broken mirror back together as I type this).

Who’s your favorite comedian and why?

Jim Gaffigan. Jeff Foxworthy. Larry David. Demetri Martin. I love their material because it is so situational. They find the humor in everyday things. They don’t have to resort to gimmicks or shortcuts. I love that. That’s the type of comedian I try to be.

For the aspiring bloggers and writers out there, can you tell us some keys to building a platform and getting your name out there?

Consistency. Luck. Guest posting. Relevance. And most important, great content.

It’s the year 2012 and human existence as we know it is about to end – which one of your blog posts do you put into a time capsule?

Depends. Is the time capsule large enough for a flash drive? You’d be amazed by how much you can store on one of those these days. Seriously. It’s like 8GB or something. That being said, I’d probably export my entire blog collection, as well as all of our family photos. Right now we have them backed up on two hard drives, but I feel like a third would really help my wife sleep better at night.

When I typed “Tyler Stanton” into the Amazon search, “Everyday Absurdities” was the first book on the list.  Directly underneath that was Best Foot Forward, a 1943 movie soundtrack by Lucille Ball.  Is there some connection here?

Besides the fact that my book is dedicated to her and that I have two other blogs devoted solely to that soundtrack, I can’t think of a single connection. Talk about random.

Is there anything you’d rather be doing than exactly what you’re doing these days?

No. Well, maybe. If I could be doing the same thing I’m doing these days and not have to worry where my next paycheck is coming from, that’s what I’d prefer.

I’ve been told by Bryan Allain that I need to add a picture of myself to my blog in order to personalize it – how did you decide to go with the current picture you have of yourself on your blog (the one with the stylish sun glasses)?  What recommendations do you have for me?

Funny you ask that. I actually went to your blog to see what you look like. You know, to see if you were normal-looking enough for me to follow through with this interview. I ended up having to go to your Twitter page to see your mug. Don’t really know what I was expecting, but that definitely wasn’t it.

Even though I typically abide by a strict Never-Trust-Bryan-Allain policy, I’m going to have to agree with him on this. People need to see your face. The reason I chose that picture of me was because it serves as a reminder to me and my readers not to take me too seriously.

Thanks Tyler.  Always good to get confirmation that other people have the same Bryan-Allain policies that I have in place. And the 28″ rims are sweet.  Suh-weet.

Thanks Tyler.  It was fun hanging out.  We’ll have to do it again sometime. 

As an aside, to those who continue to take offense to Tuesday’s Top 10 List of Snack Foods . . . seriously.  It’s snack food.  And gold fish DO rule.  As do Auntie Anne’s Soft Pretzels.  Now move on with your lives.

Tell Me Your Story

This week starts my foray into the world of guest posting – I’ll be handing over the link to to my post at Bryan Allain’s blog in a second.  Bryan’s a friend I met since moving back to Pennsylvania, and we like to meet for breakfast where I eat unhealthy food and he orders things like spinach and feta omeletes. He’s got a great thing going on at his blog, and I’m privileged to have my post about living in Amish country appear there today.

So since I’m already posting over on Bryan’s site, I thought I’d throw a few random thoughts your way:

1) The most visited page on my blog is the first post in the story of our move from a nice house in Virginia to my parent’s also-nice basement (but not ideal for 6 people)  in Pennsylvania.

2) The most contentious post was my list of ten of the all-time best types of candy.

3) Some time in the near future I will have, as a follow up to my review of Tyler Stanton’s book Everyday Absurdities, a list of 10 questions answered by the one and only Tyler Stanton.

4) on Friday this week I’ll be guest posting at my friend Andi’s blog, and she’ll be guest posting here  about Ray Bradbury, Transformers, and settling for less than the moon

5) I’m thinking about sharing a series of stories about people on their journey of identity.  If you or someone you know has an interesting story about a decision you made regarding what to do for a living, or  how you make time for the things you are passionate about, or how you traveled a fascinating life journey to get to wherever it is you’ve gotten, let me know.  Maybe I’ll blog about it.

Now get on over to Bryan’s blog and check out my post.  Make yourself at home.  He’s funny.  And if you like Lost, you’ll probably love his Tuesday Lost series.

But, as he likes to remind you, I don’t watch tv, so I wouldn’t know for sure.

Tuesday’s Top Ten – Snack Foods

I love Tuesdays: a day for us to put down our differences and agree that my opinions are always right.

Today I’ve assembled the Top 10 snack foods of all time. As usual, I’m sure you’ll bow to my list as the premier compilation of (in this case) snack food.  Just as everyone agreed with my Top Ten  ice cream list and Top Ten candy list.

Sort of.

Well, here we go – the top 10 snack foods of all time:

10) Chocolate Weetabix – it’s a UK thing, and it’s so good it kind of defies convention – is it a cereal?  Is it a candy?  Is it snack food?  It’s all three, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

9) Sun Chips – the flavor that radiates from these chips is where they got the name.  Genius.  And now they come in a compostable bag.  Since I recently started a compost pile, this is very handy (I’m not being sarcastic; I really did start a compost pile).

8) Smart Food White Cheddar Popcorn – the only drawback to these is that when you are finished eating there is a slight film of cheddar covering your fingers.  But any snack worth its weight in calories will have you licking your fingers when you’re finished, so this is not a big deal.

7) Andy Cap’s White Cheddar Steak Fries – I discovered these while living in Virginia.  They’re like french fries, but crispy, and they come in larger portions than what you would typically get at a fast food restaurant (not that I eat at those places . . . ever . . . not even once in a . . . well, maybe occasionally).

6) Pretzel Rods – the classic snack.  When I was a kid this was as close as I could get to even pretending I was smoking a cigar.

5) Wheat Thins and Easy Cheese – what could be better than small, thin squares of who knows what?  How about taking those small squares and covering them in the most completely processed cheese of all time, the kind of cheese that comes out of a metal tube and spits at you when there’s none left?  I know, sounds gross, but for some reason I love it.

4) Pita Chips with Spicy Hummous – probably the healthiest option on this list.  I should have put it at number one, if I cared about what people thought of my diet.  And because it’s healthy, I’ve probably also misspelled it.

3) Combos – I love pretzels, and I love cheese, and this snack does the combining for me.

2) Corn Nuts – this should be on everyone’s top 10 list.  Corn nuts are crunchy, taste like popcorn, and are made of nothing but corn, vegetable oil and salt.  Artistically simple.

1) Chocolate Covered Pretzels – I could eat these 24 hours a day.  Yes, I sleep a portion of that, but if you put a box of these beside my bed I will eat them in my sleep.

So, what do you think?  I know I shouldn’t even have to ask this question, but what have I missed?

Wandering Into the Gorilla Enclosure

Ads, a friend of mine from England, left some challenging questions after my post last week where the guy who gives bad names showed up and tried to convince me to get a job instead of trying to make it full time as a writer.  A few of Ads’ questions, which can be found in full in the comments of that day’s posts, were as follows:

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“Are there not some answers to be had from weighing up priorities and whats actually important?

Maybe the guy peering over your shoulder is giving some welcome guidance?

Just because you were looking for work, were you actually losing faith or adapting to the current situation in the most logical way?

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First of all, great questions. I love comments like these (unless they have to do with sweet tarts) because they really make me look back AGAIN and think through what I’ve written.

Secondly, I do believe in practicality. Many times the things we need are right there in front of our faces, and if we just slow down enough we’ll recognize them.

So in my situation, why shouldn’t I have continued looking for a job while I was writing?  That seems like a practical thing to do, right? Great questions, Ads.  I had to really stop and think about this.

The following are some things that I try to keep in mind when making life-direction-type decisions, and hopefully you’ll see why I’m still so angry at the guy who gives bad names, especially when I see how he deceives a lot of my friends.

1) What is my prime motivation? In the late months of last year and even the beginning of this year my prime motivation for finding a new job was to make more money and to be emotionally comfortable.  I already had enough income lined up to live off my writing for a few months.  More money is not inherently bad, but more money when it comes at the expense of time to fulfill my identity is ALWAYS bad.  Mr. Bad Names guy was playing off my weakness for more money and trying to divert my focus from writing.

2) Will the result of my decision put me in a place of comfort or a place of challenge? Most people I know who live their lives in a place of comfort for significant amounts of time begin to experience physical, emotional and spiritual atrophy.  What if you chose to live life in a place of complete physical comfort, like a bed or a recliner?  Your muscles would atrophy.  Same goes for your emotional and spiritual life.  If you choose comfort over everything else, all the time, those parts of you will grow thin and anemic.  As Anne Lamott’s father wrote, “a life oriented to leisure is, after all, a life oriented to death, the greatest leisure of all.”

3) Don’t make decisions based on lies. The voice in my head trying to persuade me to get  a job was basing his argument on a few key lies that struck a chord with me: your family is suffering (not true), you’re out of money (almost true but not quite), you can’t write full time and make a living (untested so neither true nor false), if you try to write for a living you’ll live in your parent’s basement forever (not true), a job would give you more security (not true – I know plenty of people in this economy who were unexpectedly laid off – working for someone else is one of the largest providers of a false sense of security in our world today).

4) Don’t make decisions based on fear. In my opinion there are two types of fear: healthy fear and unhealthy fear.  Healthy fear is based on facts and always motivates you to productive action (for example, you take a wrong turn at the zoo and wind up in the gorilla enclosure, leading you to get the heck out of there as soon as possible). Unhealthy fear is based on worries about the future that might not happen and paralyze you  (ie you take a wrong turn at the zoo and THINK you might be in the gorilla enclosure, even though you’re in the petting zoo, and just the thought of that situation makes you fall to the ground and curl up in the fetal position).

5) Seeking God and trusting his leading. This might sound a little hokey to any of you folks who are not Christians or who do not believe in God.  I apologize for that (you can just stick to the first four if you’re more comfortable with those). But for about 6 months before Maile and I decided to move to Pennsylvania we prayed and studied scripture and asked God what he wanted us to do.  Certain specific circumstances, as well as an overwhelming sense of his peace, led us to the decision that I should give writing a try for at least 6 months.  So when I started feeling doubt and worry about halfway through that time, I knew it wasn’t God talking.

Wow.  Really long post.  What do you guys think?  Am I nuts?  Are there things you try to keep in mind when making big, life-altering decisions?  Or do you just go with whatever the Magic 8 ball suggests?

Bryan Allain’s “Top Ten Reasons I Love TV”

For those of you who have never read Bryan Allain’s blog, do yourselves a favor and get on over there (after you read this post).  I met Bryan after we moved back here to Lancaster, and he’s been kind enough to mentor me through the blogging process.  We often meet up for breakfast and daydream about that next book deal.  I don’t think his is far off – he is a talented writer and perhaps the most humorous blogger I know.

So, without further ado, give it up for … Bryan Allain!

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I’ve met Shawn in person, and for those you haven’t let me assure you that he’s a normal dude. Having said that, let me also inform you that he and his wife (and their 4 kids too) have done something very not normal.

They’ve given up TV for all of 2010.

He’s talked quite a bit here at his blog about why they’re doing it and the benefits they’ve discovered from turning off the idiot box. And even though I understand it, I’m not sure I could ever do it.

Am I addicted to TV? No, I don’t think so. (Stop nodding your head and smirking) But there are some legitimate reasons why I love it. Cue the Top Ten music!

Top 10 Reasons I Love TV

1. LOST – Sure, this last season has had its ups and downs, but I have never in my life been so invested in a show that has delivered time and again. Characters that move me, intricate mythologies that puzzle me, and plots that captivate me week after week. If you’ve never seen the show do yourself a favor and avoid all they hype and talk surrounding the May 23rd finale so you can start watching the series from Season 1 Episode 1 this summer. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

2. LOST
– Just wanted to make sure you knew I was being serious in that first point.

3. Veg Time as a Couple – After a long day of work, house work, yard work, running the kids around, running yourself around, and settling 172 sibling arguments, sometimes you just want to sit on the couch and not think…together as a couple. And that’s what the TV does best.

4. Comedy – Writing humor is what I love to do, and TV helps me see the difference between old, tired jokes that go for the easy laugh (most Two and a Half Men jokes, for example) and some of the most brilliant comedy writing on TV today (30 Rock, Parks and Rec, etc.). Seriously, 30 Rock is killing it right now. Tracy Morgan’s character said something to this effect in last week’s episode: “But I CAN’T change, Kenneth! I’m like a chameleon. I’ll ALWAYS be a lizard.” Amazing.

5. Seeing how Your kids react to intense situations – There’s a new show on NBC called Minute to Win it where people have 60 seconds to accomplish a menial, yet difficult task. Right away our kids were into it, which was hilarious, but I couldn’t believe how different their reactions were to the intensity of the show. Kylie, our 8-year old daughter, couldn’t take her eyes off the screen as the seconds ticked down, but Parker, our 7-year old son, ran out of the room yelling, “I can’t watch!”. I guess I need to add “Learning how to handle pressure” to the list of future daddy-son talks.

6. The Local News – haha. Totally kidding. I’d rather watch YOUR kid’s Christmas recital than the local evening news. “Coming up after the break, 3 more depressing stories that will ruin your good mood and a hilarious video of a cat on the loose in the Park City Mall….and a look at that 7-day forecast that you can’t get anywhere else, certainly not on the internet.”

7. Quality Time as a Family – Don’t get me wrong, if ALL you did together was watch tv, you’d suck as parents. But it’s fun to have a couple shows that you enjoy together like the aforementioned Minute to Win it and America’s Funniest Home Videos (very underrated).

8. Live Sporting Events – You don’t need me to tell you why sports are great. You already either love them or hate them. I enjoy watching great athletes perform because I’ve tried to play their games and know how tough it is, and because I love seeing performers excel at what they do. And when you think about it, sports are the original Reality TV. Unscripted moments where people are acting and reacting to what’s happening around them. Which reminds me…

9. Reality TV – No, I’m not joking. I know Reality TV has been reduced to nothing more than a punch line recently, but amid all the crap (and there is A LOT of crap) there remains some good options out there. Survivor and the Amazing Race have their formulas down pat, and always give you a great hour of television. For people who love fashion, Project Runway is the best thing since sliced pant legs, and for folks who like to watch other people live boring lives, there’s always Big Brother. Have I mentioned that Erica and I have never missed a season of Big Brother? No? Good, let’s move on.

10. 22 minutes of sanity – There are times as a parent when you just need to catch your breath and make sure you’re not going insane. In those moments, it’s nice to be able to throw the TV on for the kids and gather your thoughts off the kitchen floor while they watch The Suite Life of Zach and Cody. Sadly, too many parents abuse this tactic and have kids who watch 3 hours of TV a day. But in small doses, TV can be a great way to keep you from going nuts.

So yeah, there’s not quite 10 Things I love about TV. Do you have anything you want to add to the list?

And let me say this too, for every reason I love TV, there’s a reason I don’t like it as well. I’m anxious to hear more thoughts from Shawn on how his TV experiment goes through the rest of the year, and interested to see if he comes back to the idiot box in 2011.

And have I mentioned this show called LOST…

(When Bryan’s not watching TV he’s usually writing about the humorous side of life, faith, pop culture, and living among the Amish for his blog, BryanAllain.com. You can also find him on Twitter at twitter.com/bryanallain.)