I am on the road to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to attend the funeral of my Aunt Ann on my father’s side of the family.
I did this drawing imagining her on earth and in heaven at the same time, which we all are at every moment.
You are finally finished with your 5 day dosage of ‘Take Your Medicine!’ week.
Last summer we watched ‘New York Med’. It followed doctors, nurses, & patients at 3-4 hospitals as they go through various aspects of their lives and medical procedures. I remember one of the Drs. saying that the number one indicator for a successful recovery was the love and support the patient had from family and friends. With no support there was a lower chance of the patient having the physical and mental courage, determination and attitude needed to recover well. People can do it, but support made it much easier.
Years and years ago a friend of mine had her husband in the hospital for an extended stay. She would visit once or twice a day, but not stay long at all. When I asked why not she said she couldn’t do anything for him so why stay. I asked if just being there helped him? She said she was there twice a day many days and that was enough. I remember having the feeling he was going to have a long recovery.
However, most of our friends and family aren’t in the hospital, right? But many of them still are hurting or afraid or doubting about something in life. Maybe it’s a break up, a big life transition or something unexpected and frightening happening. Why should our response be any different? It shouldn’t.
We should give physical and verbal support. We should pat them on the back, hug them and kiss them. We should whisper, say and yell if I have to, that we believe in them and that they can make it through whatever the hard thing is they are in the middle of.
And most of all we should do what we can to help them make it happen. but it all starts with just being there.
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Drawing, quote and commentary by Marty Coleman, who was the beneficiary of great support in the hospital and is still grateful 40 years later.
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I have often times in my life had a twitch or some other ailment that just won’t go away. I then, finally, go to the Dr. to see if it’s eyelid cancer or just a twitch. So, the medicine man (or woman) looks me in the eye and says, ‘It’s just a twitch.’ There isn’t anything for them to do about it so they just send me on my way. They did nothing to help stop the twitching at all and yet, the twitching is gone by the time I get to the car. What’s that all about?
Maybe it was the doctor mollifying me, or entertaining me with an intellectual explanation, or distracting me like a person getting scared when they have the hiccups. Whatever the reason, their technique often works. No medicine, but a healing technique nonetheless, right?
Has this happened to you? You know, where you go from Dr. to Dr. and nothing helps, then it just ups and heals itself out of the blue? It’s such a mystery when that happens, isn’t it. But I have to admit I like it!
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Voltaire, 1694-1778, French wit
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Question: Where did the saying, ‘Fit as a Fiddle’come from?
Answer: It first appeared in 1616 in ‘Englishmen for My Money’ by William Haughton, “This is excellent, i’faith; as fit as a fiddle” Fit meant appropriate, as in fitting or proper, as a fiddle fits perfectly with a fiddler’s pose. It did not originally refer to one’s fitness, that came much later.
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It’s about time day #3 of Medicine Week showed up!
Why do we want to be healthy and live a long life? It seems pretty obvious, right? I mean, who doesn’t want both those things. But have you ever really stopped to ask yourself what you are doing with the health and years you have? Are you redeeming them for something or are they both just for their own sake?
I understand health for it’s own sake. After all, being healthy feels better than not. Being fit feels better than not. We don’t really have to defend our desire to be healthy beyond that, do we. It’s its own reason. But is it the only reason? Is it the ultimate reason?
I remember when I got divorced and started going to the gym to get back in shape. I looked around and wondered, what are all these people going to be doing with all this fitness they have? Then of course I had to turn the question back to myself. What was I going to do with it all? Obviously I was getting in shape to be more attractive to the opposite sex, since I planned on dating.
But besides getting a mate, I thought farther down the line, what other reasons were there? I wanted to be in shape for that mate into the future, for my kids into the future so I could travel to visit and support them, so I could teach people, so I could help others, so I could be of service to whomever would need something from me, so I could enjoy life and sha
So ultimately, for me, it then and now comes down to one essential thing. I want to be in good health so I can love the best I can. That is the whole of it. That’s why I want to live a long life as well.
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Drawing, quote and commentary by Marty Coleman, who is fit as a fiddle. But how fit is a fiddle anyway?
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Where did the saying, ‘Fit as a Fiddle’come from?
Come back tomorrow for the answer.
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There is no cure for it being day #2 of ‘Take Your Medicine!’ week.
People spend a lot of money, time, effort, emotion, worry on trying to change things that can’t be changed. But it is also true that many people settle for things always staying the same when they could change if they just put out the effort. I have seen it in a friend who stayed in an abusive relationship saying ‘There is nothing I can do about it.’ What she really said was ‘I am afraid to make the move (take the pill in medical terms) that will be the cure.’
But there are also situations where people want a cure for something that isn’t really a problem. If the treatment is no big deal, teeth whitening for teeth that are already pretty white, for example, then no harm, no foul. But what about a treatment that could be dangerous, to ‘cure’ something that is more based in a self-misperception or a greedy sales pitch, than it is in reality?
I have seen it in a friend who had a face lift while still very young with no visually significant signs of aging. But they were convinced that because they didn’t look like they did at 25 they need to get the procedure done. I thought the natural aging process should be ‘endured’ in that case, because the ‘cure’ didn’t seem to really be a cure and the ‘disease’ didn’t seem to really be a disease. The dangers however seemed just as significant as if the disease was life-threatening.
And then there are those who could be cured if they actually would go to the doctor. Many people die every year because they refuse to go to a doctor. When they finally get sick and do go, it’s found they have a stage 4 colon cancer that could have been treated if found in time. Instead they die.
I had a physical 7 years ago and kept putting off getting another one because I felt healthy. My wife Linda’s mother died of colon cancer and Linda went to get a colonoscopy shortly thereafter. I didn’t. Finally, this past year I did get a full physical. And luckily no cancer, no heart problems, no signs of anything negative as of now. But why did I wait 7 years? I don’t know, but it was stupid.
And we are left with those for who there truly is no cure. I am not saying there might not be a cure, but it is not likely to happen in their lifetime and they will go to meet their maker with the issue they have. It will never be taken away from them.
We watched the Bachelor TV show this past season and one of the most compelling stories for me was of one of the contestants, Sarah Herron. She was born with only half of her left arm. She will never grow an arm.
Sarah Herron from The Bachelor – 2013
A future Sarah, in 10 or 100 years, might be able to, but this Sarah will live all, or at least most, of her life just as she is, with half an arm. She tried a prothesis for a while as a child but didn’t like it and instead just got adept at using her half arm to do what most people do with a full one. It was obvious from watching her that she is willing and able to do most anything, even compete in a Roller Derby match.
This is true of many others who are not going to be cured of whatever it is that has befallen them. Some do endure, but many do much more than just endure. They prosper in the face of pretty daunting barriers. They have more than a small mark to complain about, they have big issues that will never go away and yet they overcome, they endure and the prosper. If they can, then you can, whatever your issue.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who is never going to be without burn scars on much of his body, and is not just fine with it, but happy to have them.
Quote by Robert Burton, 1577-1640, British scholar, author of ‘The Anatomy of Melencholy’, which might explain why he would write the quote.
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A kid won’t usually say being sick sucks. they more often will say it’s no fun. Why is it no fun? Because they are used to having fun and aren’t now. They have something to compare it to. What about us adults? If you don’t have fun in your life, then being sick isn’t that different than not being sick.
Obviously, it’s not easy to have fun when you are sick or taking serious medicine. Even the most fun people can get way down due to an illness. But they don’t stay down for long. Even in the hospital they will find a way to have fun, maybe by being sassy with the nurses or cracking some jokes with their grandkids. But at the root they do so by realizing the fun is in the attitude, even in the midst of the sickness. And guess what? It’s pretty well proven that that attitude in turn actually helps the person get healthier. But if you can’t have fun when you are healthy, you certainly won’t be able to when you are sick.
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Drawing, quote and commentary by Marty Coleman
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Yesterday I posted about speaking at Social Media Tulsa and included 2 photos, one a camera phone pic, the other a DSLR photo and asked which one was which. Here are the two photos and the answer.
The top photograph was taken with my iPhone, the bottom with my Panasonic G1 camera. I did the same minimal manipulation on both. The iPhone image I converted to sepia and slightly adjusted the brightness and contrast using the Photoshop Express App in the phone. It took about 2 minutes to take, process and post. The G1 image I did the exact same thing, but did it on my Mac Pro desktop after downloading from my camera.
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In addition to my Napkin Dad persona I am also the owner of MAKE Studio, photography with an emphasis on personal portraits. In that capacity I spoke last week at the Social Media Tulsa conference on ‘The Compelling Image in the Age of Social Media’.
Frontispiece of Presentation
One of the points I made is having ‘just’ a cell phone does NOT mean you can’t take a good head shot. I took these photos of Jami Henson, who attended my session at the conference, right outside the main ballroom. It took a total of about 10 minutes to get 20-30 shots using the two cameras.
Now you might be able to discern the difference between the two images at the large size, but the truth is most social media uses, especially head shots are going to be much smaller. They are used as icons, profile pics and in other reduced size situations.
My point is not whether the DSLR photo is better, of course it is. But it is so much better in social media digital circumstances that you shouldn’t get the best out of what you have available? Can you put up something other than a grainy, ugly, badly lit photo of yourself at a party? Yes, you can. And you can do it with a cell phone if you need to.
If you are interested in experiencing the entire hands-on presentation/workshop for your company or group, please feel free to contact me.
Update 3/25/13:
So, ready to find out the answer? The top photograph was taken with my iPhone, the bottom with my Panasonic G1 camera. I did the same minimal manipulation on both. The iPhone image I converted to sepia and slightly adjusted the brightness and contrast using the Photoshop Express App in the phone. It took about 2 minutes to take, process and post. The G1 image I did the exact same thing, but did it on my Mac Pro desktop after downloading from my camera.
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© 2013 All rights reserved – Marty Coleman | MAKE Studio www.martycoleman.com
I compel you to look at Photography part 2.
You are in the crowd at the edge of the red carpet at the Oscars and a famous star with a snake tattoo, a bizarre dress that is sure to put her on the worst dress list and some god-awful makeup walks by as the crowd around you whispers terrible things about her. But you? All you see are earrings that rock your world. Everyone else hates them but you love them. You take a quick pic of all of her because that is what you are supposed to do, but then you focus in and take a photo of what you really love, her earrings.
That individual photo might seem to be about a Star’s earrings but do that again and again and again, wherever you go, and people will realize it’s also about you. They will see who you are. You will have your own identity, your own point of view, your own visualization of who you are and what you love in the world. And everyone else will know who you are as well.
And there you have the secret of how to find a compelling image, by having the courage to follow what compels you. It’s as simple as that.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who design her tattoo for her.
Quote also by Marty Coleman, who designed her earrings too. However, she is to blame for the makeup, which I tried to talk her out of.
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I am speaking this week at the Social Media Tulsa Conference. A link to the conference website is below and you are invited to attend. My topic is ‘The Compelling Image in the Age of Social Media’. This week I am drawing some images that will introduce various areas I want to cover.
This one applies whether you are posting your photo to social media sites or not. It’s about focusing less on documenting the dry look of what happens and focusing more on capturing the compelling feeling of what happens.
This can happen in one of 2 ways. You can choose to focus on something that, in it’s very look, visualizes a feeling. The drawing above is an example of that. The bloody foot and sock after an ultra marathon tell more about the feeling of the event than does a simple photo of the participant raising a medal with a smiling face. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with photographing that smiling face, but if you REALLY want to express the feeling, you might consider looking at what conveys that feeling. Is it the sweat on the brow, the person pouring water over their head, maybe the bloody sock? Investigate how the feeling is visualized in the moment and capture it.
The other way it can happen is by the technique you use to take the photograph. I once took a series of photos at one of my daughters’ birthday party. We had a pinata set up and I took a number of photos of the kids at the party swinging at it. In most of the photos my flash worked as you would expect, it froze the action. But in a few I purposely set the exposure of the camera much longer, so the flash went off but there was a trail of action that was in the photo as well. Those were the images that gave the feeling of the girls having fun, swinging at a pinata. The feeling was in the action, not just in the frozen moment. Learn what techniques you have available to you to help get across the feeling.
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Drawing by Marty Coleman
Quote by David Alan Harvey
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Just between you and me, this post is about privacy.
I once got in a bit of trouble for showing a naked picture of myself to someone. We had a conversation about my burn scars and how I had had them so long I didn’t really remember what I looked like without them. Later I came across a long ago photo, taken in high school, of me about to go skinny dipping by jumping off a boat into the water. It was the last photo I remember that showed my body with no scars. Since I was facing away from the camera and my wiener wasn’t showing I thought it would be no big deal to show it to this person. I was wrong. And that was just a single printed image, not a digital image that is traveling around the world at a million miles a second.
Imagine being Prince Harry at a party in Vegas? That was a bit more exposure than he wanted, that’s for sure. Even his sister-in-law, the Duchess of Cambridge, sunbathing miles out in the middle of nowhere, got photographed with her boobies exposed. Luckily for both of them the public had their fun and then left it alone. Seeing Harry’s fella and Kates bosom is trivial and inconsequential.
But think about the rape case in Ohio that just was at trial this past week. If it weren’t for social media in images and words, the rape would likely never have been found out and the victim would not have had justice done. Two young men were found guilty in large part due to twitter, youtube and other social media engagements that allowed a trail of evidence and memory to be fitted together. Social media helped find the truth.
Social media imagery is everywhere. If you do something bad, especially in a group, there is a very good chance it will be exposed beyond the borders of the party or event and you will be found out, and that is good. But if you do something good and innocent, like skinny dipping, there is also a chance of being exposed well beyond the borders of the swimming hole and that might be bad.
Morals of the story? 1. Be careful with your image, naked or otherwise. 2. Use the images you have to make things better when you can.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Pete Cashmore, Founder of Mashable.com
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