Saturday, June 26, 2010

Coming Full Circle

It's easy to let ourselves settle into the norms of life and, consequently, fail to fully explore the totality of life's journey we lead. Walking with head down -- patterned steps becoming a monotonous flow -- we miss those details that are there for our enjoyment. Our lives soon trend towards a passive rut that eventually lead to what-if's, doubt, and questions: what would have happened if I'd taken those extra leaps of faith? ....lifted my eyes from the path to enjoy the views along the way? ...allowed those small moments of wonder to metastasize into powerful, life-changing decisions? The simple truth is - I didn't because, inevitably, inaction is always easier than action.

With my mind a complicated mesh of creative artist, yet rational scientist, I constantly grope with the nature of these issues. My world in my day job as a scientist for a global Biotech company immerses me in the objective, data-driven scientific method which does not leave room for creativity to birth. Simply put, it keeps me tethered to my passive rut. Yet by night, my artistic juices are allowed free reign; allowed to wander in any direction; allowed to dream, contemplate and explore new ideas. These two apparently dissonant lives lead a schizophrenic forced co-existence. Yet when it comes to my dreamscapes, well, I error towards the captivity of my rational side. Those steps out of my passive rut have become fewer and far between.

So why these philosophical mental wanderings? Because, my friend, self realization is the first step to change. I can remedy the frustration of my own inaction by stepping out of my passive rut.

The irony in this is that I have taken these same steps in times past. More than once. More than twice... probably more than a dozen times. However, the number of times is irrelevant. The point is that once again I'm dragging my fat, out-of-shape mind off the couch and giving it some mental calisthenics. Goal 1: Update my website. Goal 2: Start the Photography Blog that I keep meaning to add. Goal 3: stay out of my mental rut.

Why a Blog, you ask? I get asked all sorts of photography questions on a weekly basis that I take the time to answer via email or in person. Many of these questions revolve around the same or similar questions:
What camera do you recommend?
Is such-and-such camera a good one?
Do you think this price is okay for this camera?
Where can I find information on the web about such and such?
How do you take Infrared Photos?
What post-processing steps do you go through for your HDR photos?
Is a roth IRA better than traditional IRA? (Talk to your financial advisor on that one… I got nothing for you)

Rather than spend time going through the tedium of individualized answers, it seems that a blog would provide benefit not only to me, but also to those seeking photography advice. Consolidating my insights (or lack thereof…) into one location allows me to address related questions as one, and, to direct people to one location for answers I have already addressed.

So here goes... Let's see how long I can keep myself out of my mental rut and keep this blog going. So far, I'm 1 for 1 on blog posts. Let the Adventure begin. Woo hoo!!

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