Daniel @daniel@campduffel.social

It's astonishing how many find this a difficult concept.

https://youtu.be/35y3AxBHMeY

@parker manmade horror within my comprehension

Thin morning clouds over Gale Crater on Mars, spotted yestersol (Sol 3817) by the Mars Curiosity Rover

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Kevin M. Gill

#Mars #MarsCuriosity #Space #Science

So here it is. My first ever 8x10 pinhole camera image taken on an. ISO glass plate yesterday for world pinhole photography day. This is a 4 hour exposure of the sun's path on 30th April 2023 as seen from my deck in Portobello Dunedin New Zealand. Developed under a safelight using adonal at a 1:50 dilution. #pinholephotography #NewZealand

Out of nowhere, a memory popped into my head and the more I think about it, the more inspiring it is.

My dad died pretty suddenly when I was 17. I am blessed to have lots of happy memories of him.

Recently, I've been thinking about how much joy he got from listening to a vinyl single made by his mate, V (name redacted for reasons that will become clear) at some point in the 70s.

Let's just say that the other five of us in the family weren't huge fans. As soon as that record came on, we'd find somewhere else to be. But my dad would be lost in the music, whole body moving in time with it.

For me, even the titles of those songs (yes, there was a B-side) makes me think of 12-string guitars with rainbow straps, untidy beards and booming laughs. For my dad, those songs probably made him think of time with his mate, who he hadn't seen for years by the time I heard him play the record. And he genuinely thought it was great music.

Why does this inspire me now?

I write books. I'm often tempted to feel down about sales numbers or about the fact that I haven't really done anything that has gone viral.

But I doubt V ever signed a record deal. I'm not sure even if he even sold the entire run of his single. But my dad bought one. And he loved it. It meant a lot to him.

It doesn't matter that V never played on Top of the Pops or Hit Parade. He had one fan in Scotland and his music meant so much to that one fan.

I'm pretty sure that if my dad and V met in heaven, my dad would ask V to sing those songs again.

I'm tired of trying to attract the crowds. Hoping for a bestseller is not a healthy strategy.

From now on, I work for the few:
- For the people I love and who love me,
- For the people my work touches,
- For the people who will keep coming back to my work, even if everyone else has cleared off,
- For the God who loves me and gave Himself for me.

Today, sing your song, bake your cake, write your book, do your talk, shape your pot, not for the faceless crowds but for the few who really matter. And for you, because you matter too.