Throughout the majority of my adult life, I’ve been known for my patience and easy-going demeanor. I smile easily and often and am always happy to talk to my friends. I listen when people have problems and offer advice if it is needed. I have noticed in the last few months that I am having more moments when I lose my cool…never in front of anybody, but I lose it nonetheless.
I’ll be in the car and get stuck behind a slow person. I submit for time off and get denied due to a system error. I get a food order that has something wrong. A call I make doesn’t get returned. These things didn’t bother me much, but for some reason now I just get angry. I’m not talking frowny-face and grumble angry. If I’m in the car, I yell at the top of my lungs. I get SO IRRATIONALLY ANGRY and upset. Sometimes I feel like crying. What has happened to me?
I swear a lot more. I take things personally. I’ll get sad. Sometimes I just scream. But never at anyone, or with anyone. Always by myself. It’s like my fuse, which was once plentiful, has grown painfully short. And it’s not all the time. I just get set off and feel like my entire world is collapsing. I don’t want pity, or feel like the world owes me something. It just happens so quickly and is not a reaction I am accustomed to dealing with.
Rhys Martin was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1981. In 2009, he sold everything he owned and left the country, living out of a backpack for ten months. He discovered a passion for photography while traveling throughout Southeast Asia and Europe.
After returning home, he looked at his home town and Oklahoma heritage with fresh eyes. When he began to explore his home state, Rhys turned his attention to historic Route 66. As he became familiar with the iconic highway, he began to truly appreciate Oklahoma’s place along the Mother Road. He has traveled all 2,400 miles of Route 66, from Chicago to Los Angeles. He has also driven many miles on rural Oklahoma highways to explore the fading Main Streets of our small towns. Rhys has a desire to find and share the unique qualities of the Sooner State with the rest of the world.
Cloudless Lens Photography has been featured in several publications including This Land, Route 66 Magazine, Nimrod Journal, Inbound Asia Magazine, The Oklahoman, and the Tulsa World. In 2018 he published his first book, Lost Restaurants of Tulsa.
Rhys loves to connect with people and share his experiences; ask him about enjoyable day trips from Tulsa, locations along Route 66, and good diners or burger joints along the way.
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Rhys' Pieces 