My online journal sharing interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
A friend of mine is a new tennis coach in the Fort Collins area. He has now established a team of players and asked me if I’d shoot some action photos for his website. I’ve done my kids and grandkids sports but never anything on the high level these young people are. Anyway here are a couple of action photos I like. More to come.
I’ve noticed how several of my baristas, as well as other people, will often ask me what I have planned for my day. Some days that’s easy to answer because I do have a list of things. While other times that’s not as easy to answer because I have no to-do list. It got me to reflect on that what am I going “to be” today appeared more relevant than what I was going “to do.” So, in my journal I wrote answers to the question, What sort of human will you be today, Monte? My writings brought up some interesting thoughts. You can laugh at these, discount them, add to them or stop reading this post and get on with your day’s to-do list. Either way here is a short and incomplete list.
I want to be kind, loving, fully present, virtuous, reflective, forgiving, open minded, honest, prayerful, happy, my true self, caring, thankful, respectful, and a listener. I see that most of this list is my life lived through my attitude, intentions, and approach to life. Now the following list are roles that I can strive to do through my actions and efforts: to be a photographer, a writer, a creative, a student and the best son, brother, father, friend I can be. Seems it may be we need to be and do.
There is no simple answer to this question except maybe “to be all that I can be”. Yet, I cannot be any of those without putting some action to them, which means a “to-do” list that includes how I approach living my life. Another good question to ask myself is if am I thinking about what I could do for others, what I could pack into the stream of life or am I just thinking of myself? Thanks for listening to my ramblings this morning, if you did.
Examine the lives of people who have truly excelled in any of the arts – music, theater, dance, sculpture – and they have one characteristic in common: the capacity to commit themselves wholeheartedly to their chosen disciplines. They do it every day. No excuses. A dancer, for example, cannot compete at even the lowest level without years of daily exercising; a pianist cannot perform at a concert after having taken a nine-month break; actors are not given roles in a Shakespeare play because they fell they should be. So why should photographers expect to reseive one-person exhibitions or publications without similar dedication? Are the standards in photography so low that success can be archieved with so little effort? Of course not. – David Hurn
I mentioned in a previous post that one of the components of motivation is getting “active.” None of us will succeed at attaining a goal unless we get in gear and become active. For someone like me who considers himself a dreamer, it requires a major effort to take steps and get active on those dreams. Don’t get me wrong as I’m not a couch potato and do get active on many fronts of my life. It seems I falter when the dreams are about my creative side.
I can find a hundred excuses for not taking action on inspirations and not one of them holds much weight. It is easier for me to just dream about ideas or projects. That way they are a success but only in my imagination. Taking action requires effort and time plus the possibility it may not turn out the way I dreamed: failure. And I am aware that those failures are vital steps to improving. After a period of little action, I finally spent almost two full days shooting. My simple action accomplished more than one objective. The thought of failure was gone. My creative juices were flowing. I felt good inside. I also put a few miles on the car, testing it in the snow and mud, which it did pretty good. So, I guess this post is about getting off my tush and taking action otherwise my dreams and inspirations are only unfulfilled fantasies. Now, to clean the car and the bathroom. 🙁