carbonated joy

How to be a better human in three uneasy steps:

1. Live with honesty.
2. Live with humor.
3. Live with heart.

Live with Honesty…
WHAT? Wait a minute, You’re not perfect? WHEW! Me either!
The sooner we admit that the better.
Our refusal to just be honest about who we are is honestly killing us.
There is no normal.
There are just different shades of interesting.
We are all a little crazy.
We are all beautifully weird in our different ways.
Perfection is a facade, it’s a lie.
We need to value authenticity over appearance.
We all fall, we all fail.
We are blemished, we are broke.
The first baby step toward becoming a better human is to admit that you are, in fact, a human.
There is a tangible hope that is only reserved for the human.
There is a perfect hope that grows out of being honest about our imperfections.

Live with Humor…
Why so serious?
There is healing in learning to laugh at ourselves. It is a great medicine!
Do something everyday to crack yourself up.
A really fun part of being human is the tendency to say and do goofy stuff, embrace that, enjoy it!
Smile at self.
I don’t think it’s accidental that your body makes giggle inducing noises and smells, go with it!
Choose silliness over cynicism.
Get over yourself.
Look for the fun all around you.
There are so many things designed to make you snicker…
Llamas, linguine and looney tunes!
Look for the laugh.
Laughter is life giving.
The ability to find humor in the midst of hardship is one of the greatest gifts ever.
Make it a life goal to die with a face full of laugh lines.
Don’t take life so seriously!

Live with Heart…
An ingrown life never goes anywhere.
One of the earliest (and hardest) lessons we learn is to share.
We need to remember that!
Don’t be a jerk.
Don’t be rude.
Treat other people like you want to be treated.
Treat strangers like friends.
Treat friends like family.
Don’t be a bully.
We’ve already established the fact that you aren’t perfect, maybe you shouldn’t expect others to be perfect either.
Give grace.
Look for crazy ways to make life better for others.
Unleash a little kindness every chance you get.
Throw it around like confetti.
Give it away like its free.
Make compassion your passion.

We’ve treated being a human like it was all about biology. But, maybe it’s more art than science.
An uneasy art that is a chaotic collage of honesty, humor and heart.

Remember, when you were a kid and the entire world was within walking distance?
Those were simpler times…right?

We lived out in the country, four miles east of civilization…we liked it out there in the wild.
We had a bunch of rocks down the road from our house that we very creatively called “the rocks”.
We had a small swampy patch of about a dozen trees that we called “the jungle”.
There were dirt roads, ranches and land fills all within walking distance. The world was waiting and we could grab it.
We spent hours in “the jungle” building forts and daydreaming about escaping certain danger (lions and tigers and ticks, oh my!)
If we wanted far away adventure, we just hopped on our bikes and rode.
We made elaborate bike ramps out of boards and cinder blocks.
We spent whole afternoons popping wheelies.
We stomped around in muddy creek beds catching craw dads and tadpoles.
We were card carrying citizens of a nation called imagine.
And imagination took us wild places.
All within walking distance.
We went to space on a rusty swing set, narrowly escaping the planet tetanus.
We fought dragons and evil knights in a overgrown garden.
We were reckless pirates digging for treasure in a cow pasture.
We were Evel Knievel flying over snake river canyon on garage sale Schwinns (with banana seats).
It seemed that we heard a secret song undetected by grown up ears.
It was a song of promise and play.
We joyfully hummed along.
But, at some point the world gets bigger and more complicated.
You wake up and you realize that you haven’t popped a wheelie in decades.
You wade through a different kind of jungle every day and it’s dangers are real.
instead of space, you dream about getting out of debt.
You quit your day dream and start your day job.

But, what if the world has really always been a pretty complicated place?
What if we were just better dreamers back then?
What if we were just better at allowing imagination to take us beyond complication?
What if we could rediscover that nation called imagine.
What if we could hear the music again?
Maybe the secret to survival with our feet on the ground is to get our mind in the clouds.
Imagination is all about vision.
It’s seeing the unseen.
Where others see a small patch of sickly trees, you see a jungle.
Where others see an old two by four, you see a bike ramp.
Where others see obstacles and chores, you see opportunities for adventure and fun.

The world is waiting and it’s closer than you think.
But it’s best if you see it through the eyes of a child.
Reignite your imagination.
Let it take you to wild places!
See the unseen.
Take time to pop some wheelies.

I’m a LOUD dude.
I really can’t do anything quiet.
It’s how I’m wired.
That really bugs some people.
I’ve been hushed all of my life.
I figured out pretty early that there are people who try to turn life into a library.
They are self appointed noise monitors, their favorite word is “SHHHHH!!”
Hush is a weapon and volume is the victim.
I’ve been told…
Keep quiet…
get in line…
settle down…
Curb your enthusiasm.
But the problem is that sometimes,
you just gotta get LOUD.
Sometimes, you gotta get a little wild.
Excitement was never meant to be contained.
Joy was never meant to be controlled.
But the noise police don’t like that.
They declare a need for decorum.
They shout “Turn it down!!” (Irony at it’s loudest!)
The decibel deputies strut around with a need to judge joy and shut down sound.
The problem is we are created with passion.
And passion is rarely dignified.
We get LOUD about the things we love.
things like faith, family, food, friends or football.
Passion, by definition, must be proclaimed.
The noise police make sure things aren’t getting undignified.
But, when we spend all our time trying to control the volume of others, we lose our own voice.
We get LOUD about the things we love.
It’s important to acknowledge that LOUD looks different for all of us.
We all make our own kind of noise.
Personality paints passion.
We all have our unique expression of exclamation.
But, the point is that we got to give and have the freedom to express.
Be yourself OUT LOUD!
LOUD living is simply perfecting the art of being yourself.
It’s finding your voice, rather than stealing or snuffing someone else’s.
Love is kind, but it’s seldom tidy.
It’s LOUD!

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!
ALONE is an unnatural concept to the Eternal One.
It turns out God is a social butterfly.
The Creator is a relational being.
He has ALWAYS been WITH.
Father, Son, Spirit…ALWAYS TOGETHER.
Never ever alone…
UNTIL the cross.
The cross was the first (and last) place in the history of FOREVER that God ever experienced ALONE.
That is why it was so shockingly saddening.
The Son cried out “WHERE is my WITH?”
Christ experienced ALONE so that we can experience WITH.
Because He once felt the crushing despair of ALONE, He has promised to never leave us ALONE.
He created people to be WITH.
Not because He needed to, but because He couldn’t wait to share WITH with you!!
In Him we find ALWAYS TOGETHER.
He has ALWAYS been WITH us.
Any feeling or thought that we are ALONE is a lie.
We have to live with an awareness of WITH.
We can always choose to try to live WITH out.
God doesn’t force friendship.
Real friendship must be given with open hands. No agenda, no manipulation, just…you are my friend, let’s do life together.
we need to constantly remind ourselves that He is WITH us.
We tend to forget.
We fall back into feelings of ALONE.
We need to continually turn and trust.
Turn our face towards His.
Trust Him when He says, you aren’t ALONE, even when it feels like we are, especially when we feel so hopelessly ALONE.
We live faith to face with the Eternal One.
You have never been ALONE.
You never have been.
You are WITH.
Listen to the One who forged a friendship that is stronger than death with his own blood…
He whispers a promise to your lonely soul…
“I am WITH you always, even to the end of the age.”
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE REALIZE…
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!

With the Panthers going to the BIG game, I hear a lot of talk about bandwagons.
People are upset with the sudden supporters and Instant fans.
Evidently, fandom is color coded and the true blue fans are upset that there are green fans. (by the way, I actually have a Panther tattoo, does that make me a violet fan?)
It made me think…
Why wouldn’t you jump on a bandwagon?
It’s a lot more fun than a runaway train!
What is a bandwagon anyway?
I looked it up, a bandwagon is “a usually ornate wagon for a band of musicians especially in a circus parade”.
What’s not to love about that!!
Why wouldn’t you jump on a bandwagon?
The music is always better on a bandwagon!
There is color, there is confetti!
It’s fun, it’s exciting.
There’s usually a guy with a tuba…A TUBA!!
you never know what is going to happen!
It’s a party in motion, a good time that is going somewhere.
You get the best view of the parade!
Why wouldn’t we want to be a part of that!!
Why would we keep others from experiencing that?
Why wouldn’t we want everybody to hop on board?
When you act like you own the parade, it kills the party.
If you REALLY believe in a team or cause wouldn’t you want as many people as possible in the parade.
We have to be more concerned with invitation than initiation.
We lose a little control, but it IS a circus, right?
C’mon people!!
Join the parade!
Jump on board the bandwagon!!

“I wish that I could be like the cool kids
‘Cause all the cool kids, they seem to fit in
I wish that I could be like the cool kids
Like the cool kids” – Cool Kids by Echosmith

Sometimes it seems like high school never ends.
No matter how old you get, the laws of the lunchroom are still in effect.
It seems like there is always going to be the cool kid table.
The cool kids…
They make the rules and get invited to the best parties.
They never show up with food on their shirt, or trip when everyone is watching.
We mere mortals hunger for their approval and hang onto their every word.
We laugh at jokes that aren’t funny and try to emulate their every move.
We compromise chunks of our true self in hope that they will notice us.
They seem invincible while we feel invisible.
It never ends.
In every workplace or social environment it’s pretty easy to spot the cool kids.
The pretty ones, the popular ones, the ones who seem to have their act together.
They fit in, while the rest of us try to find our place.
They take center stage, while the rest of us look on from the background.
They live a charmed life, everything seems to go their way, right?

There are always going to be cool kids.
They got the memo that we didn’t get.
And so they walk alike, talk alike, dress alike.
It’s all very ALIKE.
The secret seems to be conformity.
Be ALIKE.
Choose cosmetic over character.
Walk the straight line.
Play the game.
If you MUST stand out, be sure that it is because you are superior in your ALIKE-ness.

But, what if the cool kids don’t have it as together as we thought?
What if they were a little more like us than we thought?
What if ALIKE is slowly snuffing their soul?
What if the plastic posturing leaves them with anatomically incorrect expectations and dreams?
What if they have the same hurts, doubts and insecurities that we do?
What if their masks are just prettier?

Maybe, just maybe, being a true cool kid isn’t about ALIKE, but LIKE.
Learning to LIKE yourself, and learning to LIKE the things that make you UNLIKE anyone else who has ever lived.

Maybe, the cool kid table is different than we thought.
Maybe, there is a spot for ALL of us at the cool kid’s table.
We just need to be ourselves,
and LIKE it!
What if the coolest thing we can do is realize that there is no us and them.
There is just a big multifaceted US, designed to be deliriously beautiful in our UNLIKE-ness.
That is cool!!
We take our seat at the cool kid table by learning to LIKE ourselves. (Some days that is harder than others!)
We also need to spread the LIKE to the people who are UNLIKE us.

DON’T WORRY ABOUT ALIKE,
LIVE LIKED!

We are all looking for the emerald city.
A shiny place where the grass is always greener.
A safe place where a well placed bucket of water can destroy our greatest foe.
A showy place where we have no problems because we are popular.

But, The curtain crashes down
And we realize that we’ve been lied to.
We realize that the yellow brick road is cheap spray paint.
We realize that self-manufactured, earthy wizards aren’t really wonderful at all.
It’s all a scam propped up to distract our munchkin minds.
We wrestle with wicked.
We struggle to shake off the flying monkeys that would carry us away.
We think that good will be good enough.
We feverishly click our heels together and we hunger for home.
But we need more than good.

We need a heart that has been made new,
We need a brain that chooses to believe the truth,
And, we need the courage to confess that we are lost in a strange land.
(A little dog to keep us company also doesn’t hurt.)

There’s no place like home!
We realize that when good proves vain and turns brown, grace is the richest shade of green.
Grace is the only thing that can carry us home like a hot air balloon.
The grace of a good King, rather than a cranky wizard.

Love helps us defy gravity,
Because everyone deserves a chance to fly.

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  I absolutely love this picture!!
  It’s pure joy in pigtails!!
  Look at that face!
  I got to say that I love museums, but I’ve never seen a kid make a face like that in a museum.

  I remember in the nineties, hearing that Emmitt Smith kept all of his touchdown footballs, he would tuck them under his arm and put them under lock and key.
  That means that by the end of his NFL career, he had 175 footballs (if I googled correctly) sitting around his house…
  memories under glass.
  That is fine, it’s his achievement, it’s his prerogative.
  This is America, you get to choose what you do with your success.
  In contrast, Cam Newton has given away everyone of his touchdown footballs.
  He runs over to the end zone and shares his moment of gridiron glory with a kid.
  That kid gets to take a football home where it will become much more than a football.
  It becomes a story, a forever moment, a memory to be handed down to future generations…that’s a pretty big deal.

  There a lesson there…We can turn our achievement into a museum or a moment.

  You can choose to store or share your success.
  If you store it, it becomes a museum.
  If you share it, it becomes a moment

  Sharing your success doesn’t cheapen it.
  On the contrary, it multiples it.
  It turns your success into someone else’s story.

  You can’t worry about what others think of of you.
  It’s interesting that between the two players, Cam is the one that has gotten criticized the most.
  Cam is criticized for what he chooses to do with his success!?
  He celebrates the moment, then he shares the moment.
  And, people can’t stand it.

  An interesting aspect of the human condition is that we are okay not taking a ball home as long as nobody else is taking a ball home.
  But, we get angry if someone else gets a football and we don’t, even if it is a precious little kid in a pink stocking hat.
  That’s sad.

  As a resident of the Carolinas, I’ve noticed that Cam’s attitude has become contagious.
  It has spread to the rest of the team, and to the fan base, and to the city, and to the two Carolinas.
  Something real cool has happened…
  the team has gotten bigger!!
  We can’t fit in a locker room.
  The team has literally passed the ball to the fans.
  And, the fans have ran with it!!
  Thank you Cam and the Panthers for sharing your moment with us.
  Your story is ours.

When he got older my Dad completely surprised me.
The man who never really seemed to understand my creative urges got creative.
My Dad started restoring and building Cushman scooters. Cushmans were really cool little motorbikes that were built between the 1930s and the 1960s. Dad and a buddy would collect old, rusty parts and build beautiful, shiny scooters. They would sell them after spending some time riding them. I really wish that I had one of his beautifully built bikes now!
He needed a project and building the motorbikes made him feel like a teenager again.
It awakened something that had been snuffed out by age.

Art does that, it awakens!

It taps into something deep in us.
It’s a family tradition.
It goes back to the very beginning.

Inherent within us is the need to craft.

And so we craft…

We craft
Words and wine
Drawings and donuts
Motorcycles and math
Cakes and cars
Paintings and pottery
Houses and hair
Sandwiches and sculpture
Music and macramé
Birdhouses and beer
Furniture and floral arrangements
Quilts and quiet moments
Legos and landscapes
Beards and bread

We craft.

We craft and the possibilities are as diversified as we are.
Pinterest is proof of that!
Art is meant to be wide open!

We get the ability to make from our Maker.
“In the beginning, God created EVERYthing.” (Genesis 1:1)

In the beginning God created…
God created EVERYthing, he carefully crafted palm trees, waterfalls, clown fish, coffee beans and You.

If you investigate, you will discover that in creating EVERYthing, God demonstrated a beautiful rhythm for us:

He created.
He called it good.
He rested.

Do you recognize the rhythm?
Craft…
Celebrate…
Chill.

That’s it! The simple rhythm of creation!

Notice that there is no criticize or churn in the rhythm of creation.

Many times we create then we criticize our own work. We second guess and compare. We view our art through the lens of unrealistic expectation. We feel like its prideful to celebrate. Its actually gratitude. It’s an awareness that the Creator has given you the gift to create and THAT is a VERY good thing.

Churning is different from crafting. It’s mass production. It’s frenzy. It is cranking out product as fast as you can and then cranking out more. The Creator doesn’t churn, that’s not his style. He crafts! Crafting is taking your time to create something totally unique.

Craft. Find a craft that makes YOU smile, chances are it will be contagious.
Celebrate. Acknowledge the fact that you crafted something good. That’s not arrogance, it’s appreciation.
Chill. Rest, let your craft feed your soul.

We craft.
It’s a family tradition.
It goes back to the very beginning.