Look again – discover a whole new world

So, I had a job interview the other day, which did not go as well as I hoped.  But!  I did get to go downtown, and I was leaving just before sunset, which is a wonderful time for taking pictures.  Thus, my trip was a 2-fer in the goal achieving space, took a step in the “Getting a Job” category AND in the “Make/appreciate art” category.  Here’s what I saw:

When I started my self-imposed sabbatical, I saw the world with the detached, analytical eye of a lawyer: There’s a tree.  There’s a building.  There’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.  I saw physical objects (and risks!).  Then I took a couple of intro photography classes.

Suddenly, I saw light.  The pale light of morning is completely different from the golden light of sunset, and both differ from the bright light of midday.  I saw big pictures and little pictures.  The same, mundane physical object could produce hundreds of different pictures, depending on the time of day, the perspective, the distance, the placement of the subject with respect to the light.  I learned that lighting and framing and composition could actually change the emotion produced by a picture.  That inanimate objects could be beautiful or ugly or mysterious, depending on the choices the photographer makes.  I had learned this in a theoretical, academic way when I learned about Monet and other Impressionist painters, but I did not absorb the lessons until I really, really looked through the camera lens.

My teachers opened a whole new world for me.  What a gift!  And receiving that gift made me wonder – is there any way I can do that for others?  Can I help others see things in a new way so that a whole new world opens up for them?  This question is one of the drivers for my blog.  I hope one or more of my posts helps one or more of you, dear readers, gain an inkling of the worlds that are out there, waiting for you to discover them.

Questions for you as you seek or pursue your calling:

• What will you do to discover a new world? (Or what have you already done?)
• How will you share this world with loved ones and customers?  (Or how have you already shared?)

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Tagged: 40 days, authenticity, dreams, unconventional life, vocation

Posted in: Uncategorized