UGHHH what ISSS THAT?! My child looks at me in horror as I go to hug him, take his book bag and ask him if he’s had a nice day today?!
He entered my classroom (temporary for the day as I’m a sub now) and looked at me with the most disgusted look, which is saying a lot when it comes from a 4th grade boy! I looked down in total confusion. “What?” And then I saw it… the stickiness. I was hit with the gunky, stickiness again! My hands were covered in some kind of purple fur that can only be described as a collection of all the debris and kinder germs and leftovers of “lovable things” (pencil shavings, glitter, leaf crunchies, crayon shavings, pipe cleaner fuzz, and mystery items) on my fingers! All thanks to the sticky staying power of the purple glue sticks!
No matter how many times I wash my hands, I always leave the classroom with that purple gunk sticking to me, AND THEN other stuff sticks to me. I don’t know what they put in the glue of THE purple glue sticks, but it is like no other! That stuff has a tacky staying power like no other and it’s a favorite amongst our kinders.
Here’s the deal with the purple power: It’s pretty first and foremost! Who doesn’t like the color purple!
AND….You can actually SEE it when you glue something down! Plus, BONUES…once it’s down on something… it is DOWN! Hence the furry mystery finger garden I now had growing on my hands!
That’s when I realize, I need to be more like a purple glue stick in my own life! It’s tenacious! It doesn’t give up. It keeps on going no matter how much little it has left to give, it somehow just keeps moving on up that tube and giving you more. I mean it really exceeds expectations!
I think sometimes in life when things are going well it’s easy to get sucked into that momentum and feel like we are on top of the world and this is what success should feel like. But we forget that success is more like a roller coaster! We have highs and we have lows. There are going to be these times when the ride takes us a little lower. That’s how we gain the speed we need to truly get back up to the top again.
This is where that sticky purple glue stick comes in! I mean seriously, I can’t believe I’m taking lessons from a darned purple glue stick either but go with me on this!
It’s when the ride drops that you realize whether you really love what you are doing and your going to “stick” with it. Or are you going to get off that ride and cap that glue stick and walk away because things are tough and you are just done.
Are you the one working with that purple glue stick that once it goes down it’s down there forever no matter how you treat it? Whether it gets shoved at the bottom of the book bag, thrown around, stepped on, or rained on?! That purple glue stick that got everything around it sticky because it has THAT MUCH staying power?!
It’s no secret that I’ve been in this photography game for a long time and if you’ve been with me on this journey, you know I’ve been up and down. I’ll let you in on a little secret: When things are good, I’m ALL IN! I’m excited and inspired and I work hard! But in the past, when things have been slow or even when they have been super great, sometimes I get panicked and I loose my sticking power. I’ve been a regular glue stick. Or rather I HAVE been a regular glue stick. Anyone could have come along and for any reason in the world, they could have picked me right up off the page and tossed me away. Any obstacle could distract me, and it has before.
NOT ANYMORE!
When I looked down at my furry little, kinder-fyed hands that day I realized something! That purple glue stick is magic!
SO HERE’S THE LESSON:
It’s just a glue stick, not really all that different from the other ones. It doesn’t do anything different: it sticks things to other things!
But: it’s purple so it’s pretty! It makes it easier for it’s users to see what they are gluing and where it they are putting it!
IT IS INCREDIBLY STICKY! I don’t know what glue formula they are using but it’s different than the others because once it is on, the stick factor is like super glue! You will collect stuff on your body if it gets on your fingers. I am living proof of that!
So I realized I WANT TO BE THE PURPLE GLUE STICK!
I want to make it easier for my clients because I’m also a busy mom and I get it! I get that the days are chaotic and beautiful and messy. I get the last thing you think of during the day is scheduling a family photo session… but you still want one. In fact, you need one. And I can help you do that! I can take that stress and pressure off you not because it’s literally my job, but because I AM YOU! I truly know how to help you because I am living that life with you!
I also want to be the purple glue stick because man do they have sticking power! THEY STICK to everything but more importantly, THEY STICK WITH YOU! I mean like literally the glue sticks on you but for me, I want to be the one that sticks with you like a family member. I don’t want to just be that photographer that shows up to take your portraits, sends you the gallery and then maybe hopes or wishes to see you again. HECK NO… that is not me! I WANT TO BE THE ONE THAT YOUR KIDS ASK, HEY WHEN CAN WE PLAY WITH BROOKE AGAIN! And most of my clients kids ask that!
I want to be the photographer that shows up for our big lifetime events! I want that because that’s who I am. I am picky about the clients I take. I am a mother first and my time is precious. My kiddo is getting older and I value every second I get to spend with him. So when I leave my family to capture the memories of other family’s, those family’s absolutely have to be people that I know would fit into my close circle.
So when you book a session with me, understand that you are stuck with me…. for life! I am that purple glue stick!
I want LIFETIME CLIENTS, clients that turn into friends!
That purple glue stick has staying power and you know what, so do I!
You know what I also realized about that purple glue stick: It just never gives up!
You can turn it and turn it and there always seems to be more left in that tube! It can pop out of the tube and yet it still works! It never dries up. Somehow the purple glue just always stays in the game.
I want that! It perseveres. It “sticks with it” if you will. (see what I did there)
Too many times I’ve let myself take a “breather” or stepped back when what I should have done was pushed forward. Not anymore.
PURPLE GLUE STICK FRIENDS! It just never gives up!
So I guess from here on out you might just want to call me purple or glue. Maybe that will be my new nickname instead of B. Maybe I’ll just start gifting out purple glue sticks, who knows!
Either way, I want you to remember: we can learn a lot from that tiny tube of purple gooey goodness.
Stand out, Stick to your people, and Never give up!
