Abandonment
I originally named this photograph “a departure” because it’s a departure from my typical landscape racket and also, the focus in the frame (to me) is the steps & handrail for departing the building. That’s all logical. But emotionally, there is a strong essence of abandonment. Departing to never return. It made me wonder, are we more apt to leave if we’ve been left? To be abandoned introduces you to a far more complex world that you now approach with caution, or not at all. A parasitic pessimism eats away at optimism until it changes your brain’s chemistry. The feeling of abandonment doesn’t have to come from your partner or a parent, it can surface from the feeling of being left behind in any situation. It’s complex. It can be traumatic. For as long as you can recognize those feelings and know that the situation has nothing to do with you and that you’re placing your happiness at the helm of external variables (people) that are just reacting to their own instable environments and incomplete emotional spectrum, then the better chance you have of getting ahead of these emotions and stopping them before they take over your consciousness. But don’t be afraid to feel these emotions. To ignore them is the very definition of anxiety. Invite them. Feel them. This will allow them to move through your body, using it as conduit, instead of the emotions sticking to that grease trap of earth suit you carry around ‘til death. Keep your body light, you’ve got a long way to go. It doesn’t do you any service to be upset with someone or to carry a grudge because it’s you that carries that burden with you day to day, not the other party. None of us know what we’re doing and our addiction to feeling overwhelmed isn’t helping. And as we scramble to add more to our lives, we vacate perfectly functional, or salvageable relationships to be torn down and never used again.
I originally named this photograph “a departure” because it’s a departure from my typical landscape racket and also, the focus in the frame (to me) is the steps & handrail for departing the building. That’s all logical. But emotionally, there is a strong essence of abandonment. Departing to never return. It made me wonder, are we more apt to leave if we’ve been left? To be abandoned introduces you to a far more complex world that you now approach with caution, or not at all. A parasitic pessimism eats away at optimism until it changes your brain’s chemistry. The feeling of abandonment doesn’t have to come from your partner or a parent, it can surface from the feeling of being left behind in any situation. It’s complex. It can be traumatic. For as long as you can recognize those feelings and know that the situation has nothing to do with you and that you’re placing your happiness at the helm of external variables (people) that are just reacting to their own instable environments and incomplete emotional spectrum, then the better chance you have of getting ahead of these emotions and stopping them before they take over your consciousness. But don’t be afraid to feel these emotions. To ignore them is the very definition of anxiety. Invite them. Feel them. This will allow them to move through your body, using it as conduit, instead of the emotions sticking to that grease trap of earth suit you carry around ‘til death. Keep your body light, you’ve got a long way to go. It doesn’t do you any service to be upset with someone or to carry a grudge because it’s you that carries that burden with you day to day, not the other party. None of us know what we’re doing and our addiction to feeling overwhelmed isn’t helping. And as we scramble to add more to our lives, we vacate perfectly functional, or salvageable relationships to be torn down and never used again.
A Port City
I love this perspective, especially with the fog masking out the recognizable skyline. Without all the novel things, such as the neon bridge or the top of the Regions building, this city really has an evocative calm about it. Louisville, Cincinnati, St. Louis - It’s quintessentially every port city from this angle. I think it’s the train’s motion that emphasizes stillness throughout the frame. And maybe it’s the spirited “eat shit and die” meticulously painted on the swing bridge's dilapidated control room wall that lets you know which port city this is. (Shreveport, Louisiana- my home town)
I love this perspective, especially with the fog masking out the recognizable skyline. Without all the novel things, such as the neon bridge or the top of the Regions building, this city really has an evocative calm about it. Louisville, Cincinnati, St. Louis - It’s quintessentially every port city from this angle. I think it’s the train’s motion that emphasizes stillness throughout the frame. And maybe it’s the spirited “eat shit and die” meticulously painted on the swing bridge's dilapidated control room wall that lets you know which port city this is. (Shreveport, Louisiana- my home town)
Red October
While some of us inadvertently dress up as our neighbor’s car on any random day, on Halloween I intuitively think that a lot of people dress how they’d like to dress everyday (or at least more often) if judgement weren’t an issue. As I continue to dress up as myself, I think it’s fun to see what the rest of us choose to do, or not do. We’re all creatives and Halloween is an excellent opportunity for everyone to practice creativity without the expense of societal judgement or the self-inflicted weight of being masterful at your craft.
Some of us choose to enter costume contests. When you put hours upon hours into your costume and you’re riding that wave of creativity & excitement, gaining more momentum only to be let down by losing the contest can be depleting. In that moment, you are judging yourself in the eyes of someone else- meaning that you are at the mercy of someone’s personal life experiences or lack thereof. Those experiences, all meaningful, shape a judge’s biases & desires. They’re usually going to pick whatever costume strikes an emotion with them. It isn’t your fault that, while your car costume was complete with a cane to match the rims, the judge hysterically favors the Snoopy outfit because they haven’t seen this photo yet, to gain context.
Everyone on this earth is having a unique experience over the course of their entire lives which makes each of us equally important contributors to the totality of the worldly experience. From moment to moment, you are having a completely different experience than the person right next to you. There’s no person roaming this planet with the expertise to determine if you’re good enough, other than yourself. To place anyone on a pedestal formally or informally and have their comments or criticisms have emotional influence over you means that you value their life’s journey over your own.
Most of my close friends practice creativity day after day as chefs, musicians, photographers, performers, designers, architects & painters. They put every ounce of the day’s remaining energy into their craft in hopes that someone other than themselves will enjoy what they’ve created. It’s a constant state of vulnerability as they enter that costume contest every single day.
Do whatever you want and know that it’s right.
*I think this photo would make a nice refrigerator magnet- like a 6”x6” or something.
