(un)COMMON PEOPLE Joel Timothy & Co

“Joel?”
“Yes! James? Good to meet you!”

The first time I ever laid eyes on James was when I opened the door of my home prior to recording this podcast with him. The experience was a new one for me, being the very first time that I knew no more than a person’s name before having them on the show. James is a friend of a friend, and someone I was told had an interesting life. He reached out to me on his own to express interest in being on the podcast, and I was happy to honour him by having him over to record some of his story with me.

James and I sat down not knowing anything about one another. Over the course of the conversation I would come realize that he and I differed from one another in a number of ways — and yet each of us had enough humility and perspective to sit down with the other and talk. I think that far too few of us are really willing to do this: to hear someone out even when we don’t totally agree with them. When was the last time that you shared in conversation with someone totally different than yourself? I know it isn’t something I make a habit of doing. Yet I can say with confidence that this experience was something I grew from, and I am happy to have had it.

I hope that this conversation inspires you — to listen to someone else, to hear them out, and to learn, even if only how to disagree with grace. The world is much bigger than you and I, friend.

For photos and more info visit my website: joeltimothy.co

Original URL: joeltimothy.co/uncommon/035

Music created and provided by Maarten Schellekens
Intro: Sunday Morning (Mallet Play with Violin and Piano)
Outro: Mallet Play

Interestingly, Jon and I met through my work before I realized that he was the older brother of a dear friend of mine. Having learned that, he and I began enjoying one another’s conversation even more during the short interactions we had while I made his caramel latte, which I did on a pretty regular basis. It was suggested to me by another friend (Jon’s oldest friend in fact) that Jon would be a good guest for the podcast. So plans were made, and a recording was scheduled.

Recently I’ve been enjoying making this podcast simply as an excuse to talk with people whose company I enjoy. This episode was certainly one of those times. Knowing Jon already, and reveling in the chance to chat without an espresso machine between us, I didn’t enter into this recording with much planned. We had some whiskey, chatted about nothing of very great importance for a while, and gradually wound our way through topics to end in much the same place we had started: friendship. I hope you listen to this conversation with that in mind, that in listening you’re choosing to sit on the sidelines while two friends chat.

This is my encouragement to you, to simply talk with a friend, for fun. Enjoy each other’s company, ask random questions, share stories. It’s one of the greatest privileges we have as humans.

For photos and more info visit my website: joeltimothy.co

Original URL: joeltimothy.co/uncommon/034

Music created and provided by Maarten Schellekens
Intro: Sunday Morning (Mallet Play with Violin and Piano)
Outro: Mallet Play

With this episode of (un)COMMON I’ve been reminded once again of how much I enjoy conversation for conversation’s sake. To enjoy the privilege of simply sitting down with another human being and talking, deeply and intentionally, without ulterior motive, but merely to share thoughts and ideas, to exchange perspective, what a joy this is. I had interacted with Bradley a good bit before sitting down for this recording, and still had little to no idea what we would discuss. And I’m genuinely glad that it happened that way. Going into a recording without expectation allowed me to speak freely, off the cuff, and forget worries about covering specific topics or manufacturing conversation around things I’d already decided I wanted to address.

If you’re like me, you may have a habit of rehearsing conversations in your head before (or after) actually having them. I do this all the time, and have to put effort into pulling myself back to reality. Every time I talk with another person I am reminded how one-sided these inner monologues are, and am inspired to really listen to others, to ask questions, and pay attention to the responses I receive. This conversation with Bradley was a refreshing moment of reality.

I hope that you listen to this podcast. Not merely because it will benefit me in some way, but because I believe it’s important to learn to listen to others, and not only listen, but interact, to share time and experiences with people, to invite them into our lives, to let them get close enough that they might offend us. I hope that this podcast inspires you to get to know someone else, and that you realize how truly uncommon the people around you are.

For photos and more info visit my website: joeltimothy.co

Original URL: joeltimothy.co/uncommon/033

Music created and provided by Maarten Schellekens
Intro: Sunday Morning (Mallet Play with Violin and Piano)
Outro: Mallet Play

One of the greatest blessings that I’m privy to in my work as a barista is the numerous connections to people that I’m able to build, sometimes with little effort. Cafés are interesting melting pots; you meet just about every sort of person there that you could imagine, and here in Northwest Arkansas there is no shortage of pots full of varied experience. Several of those who I’ve recorded the podcast with recently have been persons I’ve met simply as customers at the shop I work in, who I thought I could have a good conversation with. Sometimes I’m able to begin a relationship that will extend beyond our time shared in front of a microphone, and in this instance I truly hope that is the case.

I have had the opportunity to get to know some of Scott’s family before sitting down for this conversation, and have some mutual connections, so I wasn’t going into this recording blind, so to speak — meaning I had reason to suspect that Scott’s story was a significant one, and one I could stand to learn from and be inspired by. I was not wrong in that assumption. Scott has been through a great deal in his life, and not only did I stand to benefit from my time with him, but I was truly encouraged by his words and wisdom as well. A man of overcoming, faith, and determination, a man who has seen tremendous darkness, and held onto something that brought him through to the Light, Scott Wood has a story worth hearing, and a perspective I think we could all benefit from.

I truly hope you will listen to this conversation, and give yourself the time to meditate on what it contains. Keep an open mind, friend, and remember: this is only the beginning of the conversation.

For photos and more info visit my website: joeltimothy.co

Original URL: joeltimothy.co/uncommon/032

Music created and provided by Maarten Schellekens
Intro: Sunday Morning (Mallet Play with Violin and Piano)
Outro: Mallet Play

A good friend of mine recently invited me to celebrate the 4th of July with her family. And even though I didn’t stay long enough to watch any fireworks (something I’m not actually fond of in any case), I can confidently say that it was the best American Independence Day that I’ve yet experienced. Great company, conversation, food and fun.

One of the people with whom I struck up conversation during the course of the evening was a man named Durgan Maxey, who I had met only very briefly prior to this wonderful party. Durgan and I began talking, and discussed his work, his business endeavors, his family, and much more. Before too long the two of us were diving straight into some recent personal struggles that Durgan and his wife had been working through, and the evolution of his thoughts around “church,” faith and fellowship. As I stood and listened I knew this was someone I wanted to talk with more.

Not long after the 4th Durgan showed up at my place in his little Toyota van and we sat down with a couple mugs of tea and had a chat. From running to AI relationships, to Francis Chan and F3, this conversation spanned an interesting swath of material, and I was blessed and encouraged by it. Durgan is truly a kind soul, and an intentional conversationalist to boot. If you never get a chance to talk with him yourself, I hope you will at least take the opportunity to listen to this conversation that I got to have with him.

For photos and more info visit my website: joeltimothy.co

Original URL: joeltimothy.co/uncommon/031

Music created and provided by Maarten Schellekens
Intro: Sunday Morning (Mallet Play with Violin and Piano)
Outro: Mallet Play

Since moving to Arkansas there have been a handful of people I’ve met who have served a certain role in my life — that of being blatantly honest and straightforward with me no matter what the question or conversation. Tuck Johnston is one of those people, and his heart and mind have been of incalculable value to me. If you don’t have someone around you who you know with certainty will tell you what’s true, not merely what you want to hear, then you need to find someone who will.

Knowing Tuck, I’ve known for a while that he would be a fantastic person to record a podcast with, though the timing of things would certainly be tricky. Tuck has been through a lot in his life, much even in the last two years alone. Frankly, if I’d been totally in control of when I recorded and with whom, I’m sure more than a few of these conversations would have turned out very different than they did. It just so happened however that when Tuck came over to my place some weeks ago to catch up, we would learn that the time had indeed arrived for him to be on the podcast. So we picked a day, and the countdown began.

I was blessed by the conversation he and I shared. We talked about a lot, and yet only scratched the surface of any given topic. I hope you’ll enjoy listening to this episode of the podcast, and keep an open mind while doing so. Remember: this is only the start of the conversation.

For photos and more info visit my website: joeltimothy.co

Original URL: joeltimothy.co/uncommon/030

Music created and provided by Maarten Schellekens
Intro: Sunday Morning (Mallet Play with Violin and Piano)
Outro: Mallet Play