January 2009: One hour
Dear Friends,
Remember the opening of Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities”?
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on it being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only“.
The news, the facts and figures, the reality of loosing your job, mounting debt, both our own and our nation’s, each of these scenarios weighs us down with worry. Advice ranges from tight-fisted savings with no spending whatsoever to urgent pleas to go shopping to reboot the economy. I don’t know about you but I’m thinking there’s room for moderation here. As I’m self-employed, my regular experience of “feast and famine” has served me well to keep a moderate life style in place. I’ll bet most of you with an interest in photography live a pretty moderate life, purchasing equipment as you can (often used), taking the occasional workshop for help and inspiration, working steadily (sometimes intermittently) at your passion.
As I’m writing this newsletter, I want to take a different approach to the usual “Here’s what I’ve been doing” and “Here’s what’s coming up” resplendent with bolds and italics and talk to you about a quieter approach to our craft for the next few months. If you think about it, this current economic situation has created a wonderful opportunity for each of us to do to some inward looking. Sometimes we are so busy “doing” our lives that we spend little time stepping back and checking in with ourselves to make the adjustments we need to make to keep us on our desired paths. What an opportunity as things slow down to take stock of our lives, examine our priorities and explore our passions within the framework of what we have in this very moment.
How many of us haven’t attended a workshop, gone home infused with the energy of new creative ideas to explore and then set all of them aside within days as we “reenter” what we’ve come to think of us our “real” lives? Think about it. You have the photography equipment, exactly what you need to work in this moment, you have the creative ability to take what you’ve learned up until this moment and put into practice and, with things slowing down, you may actually have time opening up in ways you hadn’t before seen or imagined. What if you just took an hour to photograph a still life in the quiet corner of your living space or took a walk around the block and used your camera to take a fresh look at your immediate surroundings? How do you think this one hour spent photographing would make you feel today? One hour off from the input of computer, TV or radio. One precious hour spent in your right brain, re-energizing through creative activity. It costs you absolutely nothing but the peace of mind it may bring you is invaluable.
Time spent feeding our creative passions, whether visual, aural, written or physical, is time well spent as it renews our passion for living. It is well documented that time spent in right brain activity leads to creative problem solving, to solutions that elude us in the chatter of the left brain. Yes, we still have to go to work, build community and be in relationship with the world around us. To do our best job at that, we have to also take good care of ourselves, taking time to rest, to renew, to energize.
One hour, feeding your passion for photography. See if it doesn’t lift your spirit today. In the words of Grenville Kleiser (1868 – 1953), an American writer known for his writings on humor, inspiration and positive thinking: “There are many fine things, which you mean to do some day, under what you think will be more favorable circumstances. But the only time that is yours is the present.” Give some time to your photography and see if it doesn’t lift, for just an hour, the weight of worry you’re carrying around.
All the best until next month,
Tillman & Donna