Exploration

I am happy when I take pictures.

I am happy when I write poetry.

I am happiest when I do both.

When I take a picture, I am looking at something as it is. I see the surface truth of things. When I write poetry, I explore what a thing may be - the possibilities and perceptions. Together with the truth of God's Word, poetry and photography present an excellent lens through which to explore the world.

I like the person I become when I write and shoot photos. I become a person who notices things - simple, tiny, everyday things - in a new way. I stop. I take time to observe, to listen, to learn and think.

It's really rather like a treasure hunt. I never know what I'll find once I start looking.

The difficulty is that it's far too easy to abandon the hunt, to stop looking, to rush through life with my eyes closed. Then I become a person who is dissatisfied, ungrateful, and utterly unobservant. I do not like that person at all.

When I enter a room without noticing how the sunshine streams in through the windows...

When I sit in a pine forest and fail to wonder what the trees are whispering about...

When I speak to a person without observing the little details of voice, mannerisms, eyes, skin, hair...

When I look at the splendid contrast of grey skies and yellow grass without a sudden surge of gratitude to the God who created it all...

Then I know it's time to pick up the camera and the pen and start exploring my world with different eyes.

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When was the last time you stopped and appreciated the little things?