Last year I photographed Cody Deese of Leadnext.org during his speaking tour. This guy is passionate about God and helping to lead the next generation to make a difference for God in the church. A few weeks ago I meet up with him again for a photo shoot for his new website. Cody is a guy with a passion for God, his family and empowering the next generation to seek after God’s face. Definitely  take a peek at his site.

Photo Background: Through conversations with Cody one word became clear, he is a man of singular focus. Because of that I didn’t want to photograph him in front of a cool wall or anything distracting. Just him and his eyes.

$7.27 at Amazon.com

There are more “self-help” books than you can poke a stick at and I can poke it like the best of them. The problem doesn’t lie in buying these books because they can be insightful and give you a moment of objectivity. The problem is we are lazy and a little gluttonous in that we buy and read, buy and read, buy and read the same books over and over. We don’t create anything new other than new profit for the book sellers. The new addiction is finding the right book to solve the ever growing hole of, “if i could just . . . ”

And as a result we think we need more books, more information and more time to organize our thoughts in such a way that we can finally execute our grandest idea yet. But we’re stiff. Stiff from rigor mortis because we don’t have accountability and we don’t take initiative other than buying another book. Without accountability we don’t have to confront the truth of our laziness and without initiative we blame others for our lack of accomplishment.

Seth Godin’s thesis in POKE THE BOX is “create it and ship it.” We must get away from just writing ideas down for the purpose of only becoming dormant and rusty. Poke The Box reminds us that we are accountable to humanity to take initiative. What good is it to think of meaningful ideas if the world doesn’t get to see them? How many people do you think thought of Facebook before the Winklevoss twins shared it with Mark? I think there were plenty. Good grief you should take the time to read the story about Sara, the Spanx Empress on how she created an industry from what millions of women were already doing. How many times have you mentally kicked your self in the shins when you found out that someone else cashed in on the execution a your dormant million dollar idea? Your thoughts, dreams and desires are all waiting to be awaken by you. All you have to do is take the initiative and poke them or rather poke you in the shoulder.

Poke The Box is about getting you to act now and move your ideas to the do-or-die date of shipping them out to the world. So dust off your journal of dreams and magnificent ideas and set a date that you are going to ship it and share them with the world.

Richard St. John gives the 8 secrets of success in 3 mins at TED. Enjoy.

What else can you say.

How did it make you feel when you first saw it?

It seems that every where we go and the people we speak to always bring up the topic of debt. A few years ago I spoke to a multimillionaire on the topic of debt. In case you were wondering, he does know me and my name. He told me that one of the few things that made him so successful was the fact he didn’t have any debt. It gave him the freedom to buy deals and the freedom to not have to worry about a company coming after him as well as the additional interest that he would be charged. In fact, the only reason purchasing anything on a credit card would be a good ideas was if there was a guaranteed increase in value by 10 times the sum of the original purchase price and the total amount of interest that you will pay when you pay it in full. In short, when you pay it off in full did you gain more money than you paid to have it?

Well, this isn’t the thesis of my post. What it’s really about is the fact that I paid off another debt! So rejoice with me! I’m a little aggressive (in the words of Dave Ramsey GAZELLE INTENSITY) about paying off my business debt because the fact of the matter is that the more debt my business has the less opportunity I have to take care of my clients. I don’t think this is talked about very much in the business or at least in the photography industry as much as it should. Maybe I’ll pick up that subject later but for now. I’m rejoicing that another debt has been paid which means more opportunity to add value to my customer’s experience.

For the past couple of years now I’ve traveled over to Rutledge Ga. to photograph the campers of Camp Twin Lakes. This usually happens in the summer so it’s really hot, humid and just one long day (mostly because of the drive). Every time I go I am so encouraged by the kids. If you didn’t click on the link for Twin Lakes:

It’s a not-for-profit organization that offers year-round recreational, therapeutic, and educational programs for children facing serious illnesses and other physical, emotional and life challenges.

I cannot express to you what a great opportunity this camp gives parents and disabled children. Children with disabilities often do not have the opportunity to go to summer camp to walk the trails, conquer the ropes course, or even travel on a zip line.  Well Camp Twin Lakes does and our story begins at the top of the climbing wall with the zip line. Camper  Alex (not her real name) was the next camper in line to go down the zip line. She walked up the steps to the top  and as soon as she got to the top in the open air she started crying. She was crying because not only the height but also because there were no walls to keep you from falling. Everyone (including myself had to latch into ropes to keep you from falling off. Heights really don’t bother me but the first time I got up there I was a little disoriented too. To put it in perspective. It’s easy to walk on a board that is a foot wide 6 inches off the ground it’s not so easy because of your perspective at 10 feet even though it’s the same piece of board.

At the top there were two camp counselors who encouraged her. This was her time to conquer her fears and they were going to be beside her the entire time.   She cried and cried and then said she wanted to come down but one of the counselors reminded Alex that her goal for the day to was to go down that zip line. It took some time but she got strapped in and went down screaming for joy the entire way. In fact, I saw her after that and asked her if she had a good time and if she was glad she did it. SHE DID!

Making sure the helmet is on right

You can see all the ropes needed to keep her secure

You can see how high it is

A little encourgement can go a long way

Won't be falling with this many ropes

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

Thank you to photographer mike colon for passing this story along
You know I have been sitting here for more than an hour trying to put words together about this story of a Father’s love for his son. I mean the father is willing to hurt his body for the pleasure and betterment of his son. Every time Dick speaks about his son it is with the words that describe Rick competing. Dick even said that he lends his arms and legs to Rick so that he may get the pleasure of running. We emotionally bond to this story because we all know that love and relationships are about creating an environment in which the other person becomes better. In short, the main result of love is the “betterment of the one being loved.” If you disagree then please let me know.

Every time I read, hear and see these stories I am reminded that humanity was created in the image of God evidenced in our capacity and desire to love. Conversely, it is also evidenced when love is taken away such as when the doctor advised Dick to just let nature take its course with Rick and let him die in a forgotten building. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Oh, don’t forget to visit Team Hoyt for more information and what this duo is doing.

Here’s a focus on the Ironman: