Here is Why

It popped up on my phone last week. “7 YEARS AGO” the notification read. I don't usually pay much attention to Google notifications, but this was a picture of my friend Nate by a beautiful lake in Utah, and with it came a ton of memories. Seven years ago we had gone to Utah, hunting for elk and fishing for trout. We had backpacked back in aways, to get away from the trucks and four wheeler hunters, and had found a couple of lakes with some of the most beautiful trout ever. 

If you have been following along and reading my blogs, or if you are a new follower of Keen and Bright, and you're wondering why my writings are mostly about hunting and fishing or experiences with people, let me explain.

I do love making glass! As a career it's rewarding. But I also have a life apart from the glass world. And that world is filled with hunting and fishing and canoe trips. I really love the outdoors and being immersed in them. 

Even though we eat all of the meat we get, I would never peg myself as someone who just hunts for meat. I'm out there for so much more! 

It's often when I'm out there that I feel the closeness of God. It's where I can think. It's where I can process things. It's where I can get away from busyness. It's where I can ponder about my life.

For me it's much more than just trying to get away and being alone or just living for myself and what I like. It's more about sharing the beauty, the mystery, the love of God with others. It's what brings me joy! That often happens when my stories connect with others, whether that's through writing or actually living in the story itself. My story can't appeal to everyone. It doesn't have to. But for those of you that do find them appealing, I hope that they encourage you to take some time to think about your story and what brings you joy.

My love for the outdoors, for God's creation, for people, spills over into my work and my writing.  You'll see it in my antlers and fish.

In fact, I'm writing this as I sit in my treestand. It's my first sit of the year. 

Hopefully you've felt it when you've interacted with Jenelle and I, whether that was at a show or blowing glass at our house, reading a blog, or wherever. Our hope isn't that we become a big and prosperous business, but instead, that we stay small and stay connected with the people around us. Of course we need  to make a living and to survive, but there is so much more to life than survival. And so much more to life than glass. Most of those things can't be bought.

    Those of you who have been to our house to make glass probably remember the experience. Sure, it was fun making something from glass. But the bigger joy was probably making glass and sharing the time with your family or friends or even people that you didn't know. 

And that's how it is with us. We value experiences and the people that we share them with.

That's why my stories aren't all about glass. Mostly they are about our life and the people that we share it with. 

I hope that somehow that can spill over into your story too.

After all, what good is a story if there's no one to share it with?