Colin Harman

If you would have told me back when I was growing up and foreseeing my future in all it’s utopian potential that I would be living in a semi-small town in Central Virginia call Lynchburg, I would have had to laugh in your seemingly lying, time-traveling, future-knowing face. Alas, here I am and have been for going on seven years now (that’s one year in dog years).

I don’t think I would have ever chosen this place, but the people I have met and come to love, the experiences and sights, and the space to explore the person God has created me to be has been invaluable. I got my education here and assumed I’d be leaving post-haste upon graduation, and yet God had other plans and I’ve been working full-time at Blue Ridge Community Church for almost 3 years. It’s been a wild ride, living in many different places with a plethora of roommates, road trips to here or there, a handful of jobs, but somehow in all of it there is purpose. There is a plan for me.

I have spent time on the internet researching other areas like New York City, Austin, Oklahoma City, Dallas, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and so on. In doing so I’ve tried to peer into what God may have ahead for me, trying to look around the proverbial corner. I at time covet the creative communities like NYC and Austin. I read on twitter about the meetups with fellow creatives, cowork spaces, big design firms doing incredible work, the never ending lists of arts shows and galleries to explore, and yet here I am in Lynchburg, Virginia all the way from California. Here I am.

Am I missing out? Am I just treading water when I could be climbing to the diving board? Did I settle? Did I miss my true calling? Am I wasting my life and slowly becoming irrelevant in a non-stimulating town? Questions like this could flood my mind, if I didn’t have this one thing: peace from God. Call it what you want, but I know that for right now I am here for some purpose, and whether or not I know what that is or not doesn’t matter, because here I am. And for what it’s worth, I want to make the most of it while I’m here. This doesn’t mean I’m stuck, it just reminds me that though the grass may seem greener on the other side, there’s more I can do to water, nurture, prune, and better the grass I have between my toes right here where I am.

I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t where I am now, but I hope I can look back on “here” someday and say I am not the person I was then. I want to always be growing, not just getting better at doing the same thing over and over again, but growing. Moving ahead, failing at times, taking risks, putting it all on the line, but being able to look back and say I did my best for a purpose bigger than just me.

I could make the excuses that I’m not stimulated here or that I am not going to reach the potential of being the designer and creative that I hope to be in a place like this, because I don’t have the right people to push me, or I am not always surrounded by creative people that ‘get’ me. That’s crap. All that is just excuses. Anything worth doing takes effort, and nothing is entitled to me. I have to chase down the dream and have passion. I can’t wait, so I won’t. Starting now.

I will make the most of everyday, create, and press forward. I will fight through resistance that will always do everything in it’s power to restrain us all from moving forward in life. Let’s do this.

Well, it was about time for this place to get a more functional facelift. Nothing (that I am aware of) got lost in the transition, so let’s hope that remains true. I hope that with the new layout it can keep the focus on my work as well as my writing. Let me know if you run into any bugs or something that seems confusing or missing.
Looking forward to being on this journey with you guys.

There is something different that happens within us when we see or hear a true life story being told. I am so much more moved by something when I know that a real, tangible, human being actually experienced something like that. The emotions, the sweat, the heart racing, the adrenaline, whatever; It’s vivid. I can watch a TV show like 24 and it be some of the most intense things ever, but my mind knows that no matter how real it may seem, it’s not reality. Jack Bauer is just a name for Kiefer Sutherland and all his stunt doubles. Yes, I realize that there are in fact people that experience things like that, but not that story line or that person, etc.

However, I can watch something like Saving Private Ryan, The Pacific, or Band of Brothers and be crying at the end. It’s like I’m overwhelmed by the fact that people actually experienced conditions like that. I start to play out what would go through my mind in those situations, what it would smell like, the exhaustion, the heartbreak, the anguish, the pain. It seems impossible. Things that matter and are real move me. Enter, The Bridge.

The Bridge is a documentary about The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA. More so it is about the stories of the people who in the year of 2004 committed suicide by jumping off the bridge. It was inspired by an article in The New Yorker magazine in 2003 entitled “Jumpers” by Tad Friend.

I had no idea what I was getting into. The opening sequence took me. I couldn’t believe what I was watching. I hurt for them. Hearing the stories from those who knew them—so sad. Hearing the stories of their search for meaning, for value, for hope, for a purpose in life and yet it all lead to a single moment. It was indescribably bleak to literally watch the last moments of these peoples lives after hearing the stories leading to that very moment. It would be simple to write it off as a tragedy for “those people”, or they were sick or they had this or that, but it doesn’t change the fact that they are now gone. Hopelessly gone. What a juxtaposition to see such tragic things alongside beautiful imagery of the Golden Gate Bridge.

It made me thankful for my family, my friends, what I get to be a part of, and for the hope I have in Christ. Afterwards I sat for a moment wondering what God could have done in them. It seemed like they tried to find hope in everything else and each time came up empty. I don’t have much of a conclusion to any of this, because I think my brain is still processing through it, but it is definitely heavy in me.

I encourage you to see it, it’s intense. Goodness it’s intense, but it moves me in a way that makes me thankful for where I am, and thankful that I don’t have to choose what is next in my life. Each day as I take the next step He leads and orchestrates my path for His purpose. Giving up control is hard, but it has literally saved me from death.

Stories move people. I want my story to move people closer to Him because of what God’s done in me, not in spite of me and my failed attempts at trying to do it on my own. Often we as humans need to be saved from ourselves, and I know that often applies to me.

Watch on Hulu or Netflix.

I’ve been giving this list some thought over time, and though this is only a portion of them, but here we go.

1. Trendy Tattoos
If there is one thing about tattoos that makes my brain nervous is that 99.99% of them are born out of and defined by some trend. I think with enough experience you could train a monkey to identify what time period and under what conditions a person got their sweet tat. We’ve all heard a story like, “Oh ya, I was belligerent drunk one night and since that’s when I catapult into my high quality decision making mind-state, that was when I got my tattoo of Optimus Prime fighting the Ninja Turtles over who liked Chuck Norris the most on my lower back. I thought it’d be cool.” Wrong. Have fun explaining that one to your grand kids who are going to be asking you to tell them stories about the days when you “used to use paper.” Don’t be that guy or girl. And while we’re on the subject let me settle the bet for you: Forget Chuck Norris. Mrs. Pacman wins the awesome award 1000% of the time, don’t even bother arguing with me.

2. Mullets
It’s said that a mullet is business in the front and a party in the back, but it should be more accurately described as a face-to-face debacle you lost to an angry mexican gardener with a weed-eater. Let’s face it, mullets aren’t cool. You just need to choose a hair length and roll with it, you can’t just say “I choose both” and think we as society will accept that as a legitimate answer. You’re clearly not very good at making decisions, but is that really a character trait you want to flaunt on your head? For shame.

3. Not taking risks
Anything worth doing is a little risky. Think of all the companies that would have never started if investors didn’t take risks in a huge way? I don’t even want to attempt to fathom the amount of pop-ups I would have had to wade through during the process of trying to write this post had some big money millionaire not invested money in funding the start of Apple. Go do something scary. Jump off of something. Drive too fast at least once. Go do something you should only do in a group. Challenge yourself. Find out what is the max you can handle of something and then do it just a little bit more. Do something you would watch someone else do and say, “That guy’s an idiot for doing that.” It’s good for you, and it gives you a memory to look back on.

4. Not Traveling
Trust me on this one, I’ve yet to travel as much as I would like to, and it’s already becoming more difficult than I’d like it to be. There will never be a time in life when it’s more simple for you to drop whatever it is your doing and go. There’s so much more world than you’ve seen, and just because it’s more cozy in your room, or you know the streets around your town and that’s enough for you, suck it up and go explore. It’s worth it to have the adventures and to learn how other people experience life differently from you.

5. Video Games
I know logging in every late at night and playing the joint campaign until the morning sunrise with guys from Germany and Albania is totally awesome but winning that Tricidian 3-edged up-angled spirit sword is not only lame, but also dipped in a vat of real-life-friend retardant. The amount of time you spend playing video games is only that, time spent. Sure you can say it improves your “hand-eye coordination” but really it’s just going to melt your corneas and give you carpel tunnel. Your Xplay-Weestation-Box is not going to get you a job testing video games. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

6. Not Getting Married/Getting Married
This one could go either way. I think it goes without saying that “when you should get married” varies for each person. I have friends from high school that I know will never get married because they love WoW, Magic the Gathering, and beer pong too much to ever grow up and do something with themselves. However, in the same way I have friends who were ready to have a wife, 9 to 5 job, a house with a picket fence, and 2.5 kids as a package deal with their high school diploma. Make sure you are getting married for the right reasons for you, and not for anyone else. Either way it’s worth the wait/rush.

7. Inappropriate Internet Photos
This one doesn’t need much explanation, but no matter what you do with your life, you’ll never be proud of your lack of “facebook upload discretion” from the “good times” from your youth. Good luck explaining those same principles to your kids while those not-so-kodak moments exist forever frozen on facebook or the futuristic equivalent (remember Myspace? Ha). For your sake, your future kids, and my future kids, be wise, don’t be an idiot, and don’t be trashy. Period.

8. Smoking
Oh Tobacco and your manipulative controlling ways. You’re like the mother-in-law everyone dreads, yet people choose you. I bet you feel so cool when you exhale that smoke out of your nose. It won’t affect you right? And you know what isn’t that cool? Chemo and radiation. It’s not gonna feel so awesome when you can’t even get out of bed and your lungs (if you still have them both) are blacker than african sin at night in a cave. It’s also gonna be cool when you’re kids are stealing your last pack of Marlboro lights out of your glovebox with their stubby six year old fingers. That jank will kill you, maybe not ‘right now’ but it will, so cut it out.

9. Not Volunteering
Let’s get serious for a second—there’s something about selflessly giving of yourself that is written into the human nature of DNA. However, in our world of self-preserving pretentiousness that has turned us into time/effort/resource/money hoarding buffoons that can’t see past the end of our noses, doing something for someone else out of the pure kindness of your heart will never return void. I promise.

10. Tanning Beds
Many have lied to themselves and said “I just want a base tan so I can look hot in (insert article of clothing here)“. But let me be the first to tell you that it’s gonna be hard to say that when you look more like a dried shammy or an old leather briefcase in your 50′s. Prepare yourself now to not be an aloe vera dependent hot mess of skin cancer later. A little extra darkness now is not worth it.

11. Bad Credit
That Louis Vuitton matched luggage set is not an investment no matter how you spin it. Don’t confuse something you want with something you don’t need. Having bad credit will only make your life difficult in nearly every way. Frivolous spending, though promoted in our culture is not the way to happiness. Pay your bills on time, don’t buy useless crap you can’t afford, and for goodness sakes get a savings account that isn’t shaped like a piggy on your dresser.

12. Being Lazy
This one is nothing but a choice. I can’t think of one person that sits at home all day, covered in cheetos, watching infomercials about knives that can cut through shoes and exhaust pipes that is doing something meaningful with their lives. Do something people. Be passionate about something and do everything you can to achieve it. We live in a world that tells you to relax, do nothing, take time off, and don’t do more than is asked of you. While I agree there is a time for that in life, it’s no way to live your life. While you sit on your couch watching PBS trying to mimic the sound of a weasel’s mating call to impress your sister, I’ll be working on something worthwhile so I can make something of my life for a purpose bigger than myself. I challenge you to do something and do it better than you originally thought you could.

That’s all I’ve got for now, but I know there’s more spinning in your head.

What did I forget? What do you think will be regretted in the not so distant future? Do tell, I know you’ve got it in you…