Visualizing Love

August 13, 2008 | Filed Under Photo of the Day, Random Thoughts | 2 Comments 

“An infant is born with a clenched fist; a man dies with an open hand. Life has a way of prying free the things we think are so important.”
-Unknown Author

After working almost nonstop for the past two weeks (up to 14 hour days), I finally had a chance for a break to do some creative refueling. My favorite thing to do is to take a drive or walk, maybe listen to some music and to think about the goodness inherit in simply being alive.  But why is it so hard to keep that in mind? Today I thought about the nature of love - or should I say, I thought about how love matures.

As of late, I’ve been struggling with the ever widening gap between the doom and gloom of our world from recent news coverage (global warming, raising gas prices, deceptive politics, war, bloodshed, etc.) and the slick and styled promise of a better tomorrow from advertisements and paid sponsorships. My exposure to public media has been saturated with such emotional extremes, I often feel powerless to do anything about the growing problems of our world but to go along for the ride and settle for the superficial good feeling of buying something new. But that approach to life is so incredibly unhealthy and I want to move in a different direction… I want to choose to love.

There is a side to life, full of brokenness and tragedy, that makes the choice of love so much more painful. It’s the darker side of life that’s easy to ignore until it strikes, because in all honestly, so few of us actually have the tools to cope. Instead, it’s easier to indulged in a reality escape or bury it with a blur of activity instead of choosing anything at all.  But that will surely keep us from love.  By acknowledging the brokenness in our own lives and in the relationships we share, we make room for love to grow. Surprisingly, it is not weakened by our weaknesses; love is not spoiled by our past mistakes. It is not hindered by our inability to move without it.  Like nothing else, love accepts and transforms the tragedies of life.

Love matures by seeking to heal and repair that which is broken beyond its own usefulness. Much like a cracked cup that can no longer hold water, love confidently moves forward and offers a fresh and tender bandage.

Rocky Balboa

April 16, 2008 | Filed Under Random Thoughts, Relationships | Leave a Comment 

It’s funny how those “ah-ha” moments happen when you least expect them - like watching the latest Rocky movie…  The character of Rocky is fascinating to me - he’s a man who once had fame and fortune and was on top of the world.  But as he’s aged, life has taken its toll.  He still has people saying hi to him on the streets and asking for his autograph but the money’s all gone. He grieves the death of his lovely wife, Adrian. On the surface, he seems painfully unaware of his own irrelevance - the world has moved on but he appears to stuck in the past “living backwards.”

But what appears on the surface turns out not to matter in the least; Rocky has something figured out about life few of us get to taste. He is truly free from the opinion of others - not in the way that devalues others - but in the way that can keep us from ever knowing ourselves, forming our own opinions and convictions, and taking a stand in the world.  Over the years, Rocky has become a remarkable man; he’s simple and far from perfect, unpretentious, humble, gracious, yet strong and confident while also being vulnerable and real and wise.  This kind of strength is only possible for a man who gives up trying to be what he thinks everybody else wants him to be, a man who stops pretending to be something he is not, a man who is so comfortable in his own skin his very presence invites us to take another step in becoming comfortable in ours.

In this scene, he speaks to his son in the only way a father who loves can. Rocky calls his son out of his own insecurities without blaming or criticizing him, and calls him to something bigger by restoring his identity. Here is a father leading his son to life.

Portrait of a Melting Ice Cube

February 28, 2008 | Filed Under Photo of the Day, Random Thoughts | 4 Comments 

I’ve been taking one day a week to explore creativity… As a full time photographer and artist, I’m discovering how much I need to care for my own soul to keep the joy alive in my work (and life!). So far, it’s been a wonderful and refreshing experience! All I do is stop… I stop the busyness of daily life and allow my mind to think of something other than what’s on my must-have-done-list. Usually, that’s just enough space for me to feel moved to create something new.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about vulnerability. I think much of modern culture is constructed as an effort to avoid feeling or appearing vulnerable. We buy insurance, we install security alarms, we don’t talk to strangers. We can try and hide it, but our own vulnerability, our fragility as human beings just doesn’t go away. Those of us who go to great lengths to bury the tender and vulnerable parts of our lives only succeed in becoming cold and hard by keeping others at a distance.

We are like a melting ice cube that cannot escape its nature. Yet, maybe that’s the most beautiful thing about us.

Lunch with Andrey

August 3, 2007 | Filed Under Daily Life, Random Thoughts | Leave a Comment 

Yesterday, Will and I had lunch with Andrey Mikityuk of Corrie and Andrey Photography. And we had a great time talking about the craft of photography, what makes a photographer unique among his or her peers, and how the business of photography doesn’t suffer with the rise of “competition.” Why? Because the business of photography isn’t based on “widgets” like Wal-Mart, Best Buy or the like. When a company sells a product that is basically the same as their competitors, the only thing the buyer can do is shop around until the best price is found. Unfortunately, shopping for a photographer isn’t that easy. Each photographer is one-of-a-kind. Even with those of equal technical skill, we could never duplicate how another photographers sees the world. It’s the photographer’s vision that sets him or her apart from the rest of us. And that’s what makes photographers like Andrey a true artist.Thanks for the engaging discussion Andrey!