Thankfulness in the Age of Unrelenting Doom
Or, how a camera and walk in nature can be a reminder to honor the "now."
I accidentally checked the news yesterday.
Horrified and scarred by what I saw, I decided to take in the brisk, breezy fall weather to walk at a park less than a block away from my home.
I was cold, but it felt like a jolt of caffeine. A brisk walk with a camera was exactly what I needed. (Today I used two cameras, actually - the OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II and OM-3. (Affiliate Links!)
I’ve driven by this park hundreds of times - maybe more.
But… I’ve never approached it with a sense of gratitude for the beauty it brings to our community.
Instead, I’m usually driving by this place, always looking at arriving at a “better” place to photograph hours away.
These beautiful photos are reminders to me that I’m not great at cherishing moments in life. Instead, I’ve been lost in the past, or crushed by the fear of an uncertain future. Forward and back, almost never in the “now.”
But the now is all we have.
The now only thing we can count on - and the moments we share in nature, creating art, and talking with others are far more important than ones spent lingering on our our failures, or always, endlessly scrolling.
These photos are me honoring this moment in my life. This half-hour walk around a park so close to home was a moment of rest for my soul.
I walked only a few dozen yards at the park, but I was met with a constant array of incredible light, color, and movement. I found scenes that made me smile, like this wonderful insect:
And the soft tones of these leaves:
During my walk, I was intentional on where my eyes spent time, and I tried to feel the cool air on my skin, and listen to the wind swirling around me. I let my shutter speed slow down, and the fierce wind became a paintbrush:
This small section of the park - within moments of the parking lot - had so much to offer…
While I walked, I thought of my wife, and how I wished I could show them some of these beautiful scenes.
So I sent the photo gallery to her phone, and I invited her: pick a photo or two and do something with them. No rules.
This is what she texted back:
I’m thankful for you,
. The world is better off with you and your words showing us the light!
LIFE IS… LIFE
I don’t want to romanticize things. Life isn’t always fun, and we sometimes make it harder for ourselves.
Maybe I’m only coming to terms with that now.
But within all the spaces we have in our life for time… I want to fill more of it with people, with art, with connection.
I’m lucky to be here, and I have so many things to be thankful for. So many sources of joy:
My son. He’s here on Earth and he’s a happy, quirky, wicked-smart lover of music and an inspiration for me every day.
Casey, who is, impossibly, STILL married to me. Her smiles are endless, and she never stops believing that art and words can change the world. I’ll get there, Casey!
She also sends me random bursts of inspiration and joy quite a bit. She JUST sent me this as I was writing this:
Kurt Johnson is my Spirit Guide.
I can’t tell any stories about thankfulness without talking about my man, Kurt Johnson.
I don't yet possess the words to explain how much he’s meant to my life. Maybe I don’t need words?
Either way, him and I have explored the outer limits AND the inner workings of our deranged and fascinating minds. It’s a journey that’s terrifying and exhilarating all the same, and one that’s changed the trajectory of my life.
Kurt - to have someone inspire me both to be a better photographer, and a far better human is something I treasure. I can’t thank you enough my man. Let’s keep rolling. I’ll never let them know where the bodies are if you don’t!
If you haven’t, check out his black and white work. It’s so freaking awesome: https://www.kurtjohnsonfineart.com/
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