A Different Path I Walk....
I saw this photo this morning and the profoundness of it's words really resonated with me and a lot of thoughts that I've had for awhile, but have never really attempted to put into into words. I felt duly impressed this morning to sit down at the keyboard and try to bang a few letters and see what becomes of them.
The first place that my mind drifted to when I saw this was towards religion. I think a lot of us probably had the same thought pattern on seeing it. Over the years I've had struggles with religion because on one hand in trying to build a relationship with the Creator and on the other you hear the voice of religion an it's not always the same. Religion is about control. The Creator is about a relationship. So many of us have been hurt because in religion it becomes about putting the Creator into a box of our own understanding. In Christianity alone, you have numerous denominations that read the Bible and fight over which one reads it correctly. Inside those denominations, you have a multitude of churches and some of them read it differently and have varied church experiences and put others down for not being as conservative or as liberal as their own. Inside church families, individuals read the Bible and see things differently on a personal level, and judge those that don't see things exactly as they do.
You can't put the Creator into a box! He is a mystery. The whole point is He reveals Himself differently to each of us according to our own understanding. We have to realize that and understand that because someone doesn't see things exactly as we do, doesn't mean they are lost or are wrong.
Beyond religion or Spirituality, each of us is on our path in various professions and interests. Just because others do things differently doesn't mean we are wrong or they are wrong. We're all made to be unique and diverse and we need to celebrate and encourage that. Our society has become so full of hate and negativity, we've each got to re-evaluate our own mindsets and become the change we would like to see, with the understanding that others may see things differently.
Myself, I love what I do as a photographer, but one of the most important things to me is I want to do more work that means something. I enjoy doing series and portraits that just have something to say. I enjoy my other work and will continue to do it, but I hope to bring you a lot more in the way of sharing photos and stories that I think are important to tell. I plan on getting back to writing a lot more (which is actually why I began photography in the first place back in 2009) and sharing a lot more on my blog that's not just photo related. I hope you'll be interested in seeing what this thing becomes. I hope that you'll think about what path you're on and try to have a respect for others in their journeys as well. The same respect you'd like shown to you from others who have a different path and could be looking sideways at you.