“Reach for the stars!” said the note written with bubbly handwriting in my high school yearbook. Written by a cheerleader, no doubt. There I was, in 1982, imagining extending my arm and trying to grab a constellation. It seemed futile, impossible.
That cheer should’ve been slightly less ambitious, more obtainable in a real sense… like, “Jerry, see that fly buzzing around the top of the ceiling? If you put your mind to it, you could snatch him in your hand… just think of the satisfaction you’d glean! Just start with the fly and we’ll take it from there.” Yeah… something a bit more tangible for a kid raised in a subdivision on classic rock and lawnmower fumes. (Even the Round Tuit that Mom gave me didn’t seem to work.)
Through the ups and downs of the past quarter century I’ve figured one thing: DOING is the key to success. Do one thing, and it leads to another Done thing. One success builds on the last. You get used to Doing and suddenly being lazy seems sort of boring.
As a freelancer its easy to get in a rut, especially when most of my daytime conversations are with the dog. One recent journal entry was sounding pretty grim. I was struck by how many 40-somethings I’ve heard of keeling over (see previous entry). I was comparing myself to all the other photographers in the world. I was thinking about how I never reached for the stars like the cheerleader said to. “Sink or swim,” I scrawled. “I could croak tomorrow. Everyone is dying at late-40’s. I am not immune. Die Happy or Sad. Heaven or Hell.” (Oh jiminy, do I hear an intervention at the door?)
Well, the writing helped, because the next day I DID something. I published a website that was more than a hobbled-together affair. For years I had made excuses to everyone as to why my website was not happening. I finally got my hands on a template that allowed me to put it together—I’ll save the tech talk…basically the template is a godsend. Check out my new site here!
So I’m all happy about that for a day or two, then I get this email from Photoshelter (the web site I used while jerrymann.com was “under construction”). I was chosen as one of 20 photographers to be featured on their homepage in a slideshow in June! I spent the next 3 days clicking on their site, waiting for my one photo to show up (I’ve never won a photo contest before). My 30 days of fame were extended into July a few extra days, but have finally run out. But you can always see my galleries at my Photoshelter page: click here.
So that was nice… I then decided if I could accomplish those things, I could certainly move the 400 pound sandstone slab from our back steps. That’s what the video is about. They did it with the pyramids, so…. That turned out to be the easy part. I spent the next week digging out roots and clay soil, laying under the steps to repair the masonry (yeah, underneath. In the creepy, dark area), and rebuilding the brickwork under the bottom step. The main goal was to relevel the sandstone, and that was accomplished 2 hours and 27 minutes before our Solstice Party began.
One Did leads to another Done. The next amazing feat was taking our yard from construction zone to party zone. Never fear! Aim high! Reach for the stars! Or that little old fly.
