How To Keep The World in Focus

I found a new addiction last night.

Yes, at flickr.com:
It’s the You vs The Best Group

Not only does this group invite its members to vote on the best photographs that the members have to offer, but it allows all of us to see an amazing array of photographic artists from around the world. I believe a fellow Adelaidian invited me in – coopisthehighroller – and he has proven the ability of his photography already!

So I spend almost the entire night voting on the most beautiful photography from people across the globe, determining whose has more color, contrast, HDR, or who managed to meet the topic title best.

Which is never easy, as ‘flickr-ites’ know so well. I’m sure there are countless other PRO-flickr members who spend a lot of time viewing other artists work for inspiration. Consequently, we sometimes leave comments with our humble opinions, educated or not, advising others what they might like to do improve.

I don’t mind. I would never profess to be perfect. Because who would want to be?

Although perfection requires much maintenance, its an assumption of all-knowing and having guru-status. No way! Being a perpetual student of the photographic arts allows oneself to stay on the journey, enjoying the trappings (albeit mostly cash-deficient) and being a traveler, not just a surveyor.

How Life Should Really Be

Rather than sitting back and watching the world slide by, slipping between our fingers, we should pack our camera, towel, chocolate and soap amongst all of life’s other necessities to help you survive. When we sit back and watch, we fail to live up to our full potential. Scrap that. We simply stop living.

Ever noticed how sometimes you feel like your friends are going past you at a hundred kilometres an hour – whilst you feel like you’re feet are stuck to the ground? I’ve had those thoughts. Hell, I still have moments like that. They happen when I realise that I failed to take a left when I should have gone right. That’s never fun! But it is OK! Why? Because life is about making mistakes.

How on earth do they think they invented the wheel? I imagine two stone-age guys went tumbling down a hill whilst running from a mammoth and noticed the round rocks were going faster than them.

So they all landed at the bottom, the guys recovered from horrific grass-burns – then set up carving their very own round rock. First time it was probably a huge sphere – and had no way to move it. So they made it smaller, smaller, finally small enough for one of them to push. Then they made a second one.

Then the axle was invented. Then the first seat was invented – and there you have it, the first one-speed, no-gears, no-brakes, no-steering go-kart. Yeah, we have certainly evolved a fair-bit since then. Now we are looking for a replacement for the black-rock we burn to fuel the cars and destroy the planet. Sigh. Humans. When will they learn?

Getting Back On Track

One of my favourite books is “Secret Men’s Business” by John Marsden. Under Chapter Two, “Truth and Lies” are some well-written sentences under the following title:

4. Hard Work Brings Rewards

How simple life would be if this were true. All the hard-working people would end up rich and all the lazy people would end up poor.

And we know how true this is! Yep, your boss, who barely works hard enough to run an iron-lung, is getting paid a whole lot more money than you. Why? Because he hired you. There’s something in that – but right now we are talking about you. What are you going to do? You could hire your replacement, but that would do you out of a job. Which may not be a bad thing. If you are so good at your job, could you go free-lance? Could you afford to take on contract work? Yeah, not all of us are ready for that step. It’s a judgment call. Consider all your options before jumping from one frying-pan into a deeper pan.

In real life someone who works hard for fifty years might have their uninsured house destroyed by a fire and be left with nothing.

This statement always brings me home, so to speak. So many of us spend our lives filling our homes with artifacts of journeys traveled, or of dust-collectors with no inheritable value whatsoever. And we cannot take it with us into the next incarnation, realm, nor journey. Sorry, Richard, the jet’s stay here … your tomb might be gold-lined, but so what? Remember what happened to the Egyptian Pharaohs who tried to take their earthly-possessions with them. Yep, the tombs were raided for the gold and the Pharaoh’s graves are now on a world-tour. Not quite the journey they were expecting, I’ll bet!

So I try to restrict what I buy to items that have a practical purpose, if only for a short time. Ok, I collect base-ball caps – but they all get used!

… it’s good for the soul to work hard. There’s a sense of satisfaction, a feeling of achievement, when you give it your best, over a period of time.

Ain’t that the truth?! I know I feel much better after a days work when I have completed something, anything, even if the consequence is small and probably going to go unnoticed by the people who should care. At least I feel good for having completed that task. At least for that small period of time my job is not as pointless as I sometimes feel it is.

Satisfaction, Achievement, Commitments

Inspiring words to live by. I just wish more people would take these factors into consideration when I sit and listen to their personal phone-calls while I am completing my daily activities.

John Marsden doesn’t beat around the bush. He tells us like it is – there is no pretense, no soft-touch, no holding-back.

Just like mother-nature will be when she starts cleaning up the mess we are making of her planet. Get your hands dirty, work hard to keep your bit of the planet clean, make a difference, stand out for your achievements and not for your lard-ass, couch-impression in front of the commercial television, and ensure your life is much more than blurry images of everyone else!