February 06, 2004
A little spin
Just took a little spin around a new neighborhood. Photoblogs There sure are lots of them.
I think I have a comboblog.
Some strong feelings came up for me as I browsed. I realize that many of the feelings are uncomfortable, the kind that I would rather not have. Below, I have noted the said feelings, and worked to identify what I want, rather than what I don't want in the style of Abraham-Hicks .
Envy. Envy implies lack on my part. Viewing a great photo and thinking "I could never have plucked something like that". I can work to transform envy into admiration, which implies abundance;"There is an unending supply of beautiful images out there for all of us", having fun with the idea of playing together in possibility.
Competition,"This one's better than mine, this one's worse than mine". I am astounded that I feel this way. As an only child, and a girl of the '50's, competition was something that didn't happen in my world. All that has changed. I even entered a photo contest earlier this year and won third prize. I went to the award ceremony too. It was fun. (I wonder if I can find the shots, and let you see what won second prize. I thought it was ordinary. Better, what can I learn from examining the second prize photo? )
Then I sometimes get possessive. "Hey wait a second, that's MY idea!" I can, instead, cultivate delight at synchronicity. I know that the concept of "my idea" is an illusion. Ideas, like photos, are out there floating around waiting to be harvested.
One upmanship. Distainful criticism. "Boy, that's photoshopped to death." "I wish he would stop lying down on his back in the middle of the street to take those 'skyscraper at a steep angle' shots." "Whatever possessed this person to memorialize this moment....and then to publish it on the web for posterity!" Of course, that's all projection, and exactly what I am worried others will say about me. Rather, I can cultivate genuine curiosity about the creativity of others, understanding that "the product" is not the point. The process of creating, learning to stay connected to source energy, will produce wonders, without slogging effort, because desire and excitment are so motivating and feel so good.
Regrets - "I'll never get there,(geographically)", for the aerial shots of women washing their vivid textiles in the Niger, the schloss reflected in the mirror lake with shimmering poplars. Move to anticipation. I wonder what I will pluck next week in Mexico, or just around the house for that matter.
Amazement at the diversity photos, the range of subjects and the differences in quality. That feeling seems fine the way it is.
Shame - "Oh my goodness, 400 shots of this pink rose are sooo boring, and that's exactly what I do." I can instead appreciate how hard I looked at one thing, the flow of energy that happened inside me as I concentrated on the subject, the subtleties of difference in each frame, and be grateful that I can take so many pictures at no cost, taking tiny risk after tiny risk.
Disbelief - "How can something be so beautiful?" Cote Est and Cote Sud are full of these.
I will undoubtedly think of more, once this is posted. Someone told me that it is dishonorable among bloggers to change an entry after it has been published. Maybe that's just a rumor. Anyway, I'm dishonorable if that's the case.
Photo note: This is almost the first photo on my blog. I decided to show it again because it's my favorite; it makes me laugh and it pleases me that I saw something so extraordinary in the ordinary.
Emese Gaal
Is Photoblogging Good for Photography?
Sensitive Light
Jean Schweitzer