Perfectionism is a mean, frozen form of idealism, while messes are the artist’s true friend.
Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
As many of you already know, one of my favorite times of the day over the past few years has been those times we refer to as twilight or predawn, right before sunrise. In my eyes these times are a continuation of my morning prayer and meditation. When I am able to start my day with nature in the pre-dawn, my intentions for the day will be in a much better place. I will therefore handle challenges and messes of the day much more gracefully. Notice I did not say I handle them perfectly, just much more gracefully.
As many of you know, I also post a lot of sunrise images. Some are decent enough to share here. Some will not be close to printable images. Some were such a mess they are gone, discarded into cyberspace, never to be seen again. Yet, every image I’ve taken has been an opportunity to learn. Admittedly, I’ve repeated several of those lessons. This begs the question, do these messes make me an artist? I’m going with yes.
8 Comments
Faye White
I say yes, also. I’m intrigued by the “discarded ino cyberspace” phrase. Interesting to think about, all of our collective deletes, somewhere/nowhere. Then I think of the days of yore, of film, where the failed shots eventually, finally wound up in a landfill. I believe I went off on a tangent, apologies. 😊
Monte Stevens
It would be interesting to know how many images I have tossed into that circular folder or deleted. I think one of the gifts our blog posts and comments offer us are those tangents. Thanks, Faye!
Mark
Seems to me that you experience, reflect, create, and persist – all the key ingredients to art in my opinion. I tend to like the twilight times more also.
Monte Stevens
The twilight times do not have the harsh light or deep shadows to deal with. Thanks, Mark!
geri oster
Monte, thank you for these photographs and words of encouragement that are allowing me to Just Be verses perform to attempt to achieve the unachievable perfection, whomever decides what that perfection is! The predawn is, for me, that time of pausing peacefully in gratitude with The Creator and my truest self that I can be at that moment. It is also that time of hope and dreams that in mere minutes will be fulfilled in the glorious break of day which you so richly capture for the benefit of my longing soul.
And I’m with Faye…is the Universe creating a whole new Cyber Galaxy for all of our digital refuse???
Monte Stevens
Thanks for your “words of encouragement”, my friend! It is my hope that the words I publish here can help someone deal with life, learn something new, learn about me, join in with comments, appreciate all of creation to a deeper level and keep them returning. And, all of those reasons is because I feel we all have a longing in our soul.
Now if we can just get some of the self-centered thinking so much of the world holds so tightly and place it in the Cyberspace trash!!!
geri oster
AMEN!
Monte Stevens
Double Amen!