Life Is Not a Dress Rehearsal – Misery Is Optional -- Do It Now!
Posted: Sunday, March 23, 2008
by Marty RicKard
For ten years I traveled and taught business skills to professional photographers. I also did private consulting.
Most photographers take acceptable portraits, but I soon learned that many lack business skills.
I had known George (not his real name) for years. He was in the front row at all the photography conventions, taking serious notes. He was a chubby, bald-headed guy with a personality like oatmeal.
Two things made George stand out at conventions: He always had a scab on his head, and he never had any money.
One day George called. "Please come to my studio and help me," he said.
I arrived, we had coffee and then went to work. His studio was nice, but dirty. Dead flies cluttered the front windows. Dead flies don't attract customers.
"I've got to clean my studio one of these days," George said.
The junk on his desk was one-foot deep.
"I've got to get organized someday," he said.
He warned me as we descended his dimly lit basement stairway on the way to his darkroom of the low beam that forced one to duck.
"I'm always hitting my head on that," he said, rubbing his scalp. "Someday I'll saw it off."
George's favorite word was "someday".
George soon learned that my favorite word is "today".
That afternoon we cleaned his studio, organized his desk, sawed off the beam. (It wasn't a weight-bearing beam.) I suggested he clean and vacuum his entire studio every week, more often if needed.
I watched him clean his desk. Ninety percent of the stuff was junk mail and other throw-away stuff. But he had no waste basket. We went out and purchased two large waste baskets. I suggested he spend a few seconds each day tossing the junk mail instead of allowing it to clutter his desk.
On his desk we found several envelopes. Anyone guess what the envelopes contained? Right, notes from seminars. Ideas he wanted to try in his studio.
"Someday I'll implement those ideas," he said.
"Your life is not a dress rehearsal," I said. "Do things now, not someday." It's easier to do something when it's fresh and when you are enthused about it. I suggested he implement at least one new idea each month.
George pumped my hand and smiled when I left. He seemed to have more bounce in his step. He was enthused. I wished him the best.
The following year, George gave a program to our state convention on how to organize a studio. It was good. George had lost thirty pounds, wore a new suit and had no wound on his bald head. He asked me and several others to join him for dinner after his program. He picked up the check. He was no longer oatmeal. He was more like snap-crackle and pop.
Marty RicKard Bio
Marty RicKard attended William Penn College, Iowa State University and University of Southern Mississippi, from which he holds a BS degree in journalism and photojournalism. He also has a Masters Degree in photography, in addition to the Craftsman, CPP, and A-ASP degrees. Marty spent two years as a technical writer for White Motor Company, and has worked for the Charles City Press, Mason City Globe-Gazette, and Davenport Times-Democrat. He was co-owner of the weekly New Sharon Star, where he was twice named Iowa Master Columnist for his article, which was syndicated in twenty Iowa newspapers. For more than a decade Marty's regular column appeared in the Professional Photographer magazine. He has been published in many other magazines and newspapers, including Writer's Digest, Writer Advice, Golf Digest, Resource Magazine, Picture, Range Finder, and Darkroom. In addition to his writing credits, Marty has won numerous photography awards, has lectured in 48 states, and has traveled internationally as lecturer and judge. He was one of thirty from the U.S. to participate in the first cultural exchange with China in 1986. He currently is a regular columnist for Lens Magazine, and a full-time writer of fiction and poetry. He is the author of two poetry books and one volume of short stories. He is an entertaining speaker.
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)hi marty, what a heartwarming story, and very well written. conversation is hard, i think, with all the caps and quotation marks. thanks fo a nice story, best regards, sue thomThanks, Sue. I loved your I KNEW YOU WHEN story. Best, Marty RicKard
Hi Marty, thanks for sharing this inspirational story! God Bless! TeresaDear Teresa: First, I have always loved your name. Teresa is spiritual to me for some reason, which I can't explain. I love the sound it makes. I love Sarah, too, so there you go. Second, thanks so much for your comments. It's a true story, but I could write a dozen about those I visited and nothing in their lives changed. I believe a teacher can inspire students, but can't motivate. Motivate comes from the Latin, movére, which means to move. I don't believe a teacher can move someone. It is up to the student to physically move his or her body, since almost all improvement requires movement. That is my disagreement with "motivational speakers". I prefer to call them inspirational speakers. If they inspire a student to move, they succeed. George moved. It's nice when that happens. Best to you, Marty RicKard
Marty, An inspiring story! Thanks so much for sharing it. It sure feels good when you can help someone like George. Take care.Dear James: Thanks for your comments. Best, Marty RicKard
Hi Marty, thanks for the comments regarding my name and Sarah's too. :-) I agree with you as a teacher. We can only share the information from our personal experience and knowledge, but it is up to the student to follow through and grow! I love it when the student teaches me! TeresaDear Teresa: You are so right. We never learn so much as when we teach. Best Marty RicKard
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