Physical Things

Having months to pondering anything and everything has lead my brain into some strange corners. The darkest of them won’t be shared here, and many haven’t even made it into my private journal.

One thought that kept popping up is my love of physical things. Not random junk or shiny objects for the sake of being shiny, but rather quality physical things that last and I have an emotional connection with.

For instance, ever since teaching has become my primary employment, I’ve wanted a new messenger bag style briefcase for work. But, I told myself that I’d wait until I had worked hard enough and done a good enough job that I was made an actual full-time professor before I got one. That way, it would be done to celebrate an accomplishment, and I’d always be reminded of it.

Now, the last thing I need is another bag. As a photographer and avid traveler, I have many since one can not merely ever find the perfect bag. That is a fact! :)

Similarly, I’ve always celebrated major promotions, book launches, or other career milestones with the purchase of a high-end spirit. I still get all warm and fuzzy when I remember how surprised I was to return home from seeing Content Rules in a bookstore for the first time, and my wife surprised me with a bottle of Macallan 25.

Earlier this year, just before the world was flipped upside down, Wheaton offered me my dream of being a full-time Instructor of Business and Management. After working hard, I had reached my goal. I could finally buy my new briefcase.

I never found the right briefcase, and then we, along with the world, evolved into online teaching for the rest of the semester. The need for a briefcase was no more. I hope that come this fall I will need it and find the right one.

Earlier this week, my wife fixed a 3D Printer that I had brought home from school. It wasn’t working and was just sitting in our lab collecting dust, so I received permission to liberate it. My plan was to get more comfortable with the technology but hadn’t had the focus to figure out the puzzle of making it work.

It is now working, and I’ve printed out a few things. I’ve always loved castles, and thus I printed out a little castle planter that could go on my desk at work. It would work to show my students what could be done, and plus, I like having plants in my office, and I took an offshoot of a jade plant we have so that it could grow on campus.

Another physical thing that I made and will cherish. A simple thing, but a physical one that will always have memories associated with it as long as it lasts.

This is also why I started selling postcard prints. To give my photography a more physical presence in the world. Yesterday, I wrote out the first batch of orders and will mail them today. I hope that their arrival will bring a smile to the faces who receive them—something new and physical in their world.

I don’t have an inspirational message or a lesson for you to learn. As the water of the shower fell on my head this morning, I found myself writing this post in my head.

When my brain wanders, I write. Hope you are well.