I love to take pictures. I always have, ever since I could smell the chemicals coming from the darkroom my dad had in our house growing up. He has been my only teacher, in whose class sessions I may or may not have listened to his explanations about aperture, focal point, and shutter speed. But I do know that a Single Lens Reflex camera is the most accurate way for the photographer to capture a moment. His experience of the image is reproduced almost exactly as he saw it when he clicked the shutter.
Taking pictures is one way we have of pausing life just long enough to take it in. It is like the silence when the symphony ends, before the applause. It is a breath. We take pictures of what we find important. Pictures are a collection of stories of our lives, and we have a singularly unique perspective. Our experience on the left hand side of that faded 4x6 is similar, yet totally different from the one of the person on the far right.
We all have a lens. A lens through which we experience life, see the world, dream the future. Our life experiences create our lens and make our view of the world unique. No person's lens is exactly the same.
My lens happens to be one that includes a single, as opposed to marital, state. And I have spent my share of time deliberating the "not marriedness" of my life. But I am neglecting to acknowledge the unique perspective I have on the world around me...one that may not have occurred had I been wiping noses instead of playing Uno with inner city children.
So this blog is my attempt to write about what I am seeing of the world, from the perspective of a single woman. I hope it can remind me to enjoy the beauty of the little things, the tiny moments that make up our lives and cause them to be, well, just as green as the other side.
2 comments:
Hey sister, I love to read what you write. You are, as well as your brother Derek, can write beautifully. I recognized and identified with your feelings expressed in word when I read about Orlando. Yes, Orlando is not the most inspiriting place for those searching for meanings in the landscape or architecture or among many visual sites. However, you still can find what is unique and common no matter where you go, which is your own “perspective lens”. You are privileged because you have been living in the most complete city in the world. Boston fulfills our spirits with so rich sites, embraces with history, delights with beauty … Boston…, oh (sight), what can I say? Anything that I mention will be incomplete, but I will say few things. You, whom the best can help me with it. Boston embrace so much culture, history, originality then any other place that I have been, I guess besides Salvador in Brazil, which fascinates in a different way. Boston incorporates buildings of all ages and styles, from the colonial era to contemporaneous days. The picturesque streets and river and a rejuvenated harbor uncirculated with colleges, makes Boston the perfect picture to live in. “I don’t know if I can use this sentence, (smile)”. It is biggest college town in the world. In the U.S. Boston was the site of several first public schools and first college, Harvard. Not only that, Boston is a comfortable and sophisticated place. When I was there, with you, I felt content as if that was the place to be. If I could…
Everything has a reason. I believe that God gave you the opportunity to have the best experience that you could have in Boston. Now, God brought you here for the best reason possible. What is yours is reserve for you where ever God lids you to with his immense infinity love.
Love you
Your sister forever
Raquel
thanks, raquel...you have written beautifully as well. and i believe with all my heart that the beauty of a city is secondary to the beauty of the people who live in it. i'm glad to be here with you. :o)
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