----A couple of weeks ago I tried to write down some things in regards to my summer. Some things I had learned, experiences that I’ve had, and things that I look forward to in the coming fall. Throughout the half an hour that I spent writing I realized very quickly just how rusty my writing had become. It has been some time, prior to last week, since I had sat down, just me and my computer, to write about things that are relevant to my present life. Let me say this, as I sat down , opened up Microsoft word, and began to sort through the recollections of my quickly passing summer, it became hard for me to put things into logical order. It was difficult for me to remember the things that were relevant, the things that were not, the things I desired to share, and the things that I most definitely did not. It’s funny what taking a moment to stop and think will do to you. It almost scares you into not wanting to go to “that” place very often, but then again, it is an excellent way to place yourself into the world that you think you are living in, and the world that you are actually a part of. There are a few things that I have learned this summer, from may to august, that I find pretty damn important. And here they are.
----If you desire to be good at something, practice it daily, think about it often, or utilize the talent you have before it slips away. Writing. It is something that I truly adore. I enjoy writing on so many levels. The simple fact that writing is me, the computer, the fresh air (or not so fresh air…smoking) and the endless capacity of my mind to fill a page with text completely fascinates me. The idea that is so amazing about writing is that I can put 26 letters into a particular order, insert spaces, punctuation and emotion, and take you to a place that can be accurately representative to my present state of mind. Writing can be about things present, but also about things so completely in the past. I can take you to yesterday through writing, describing my day, the friends I spent time with, the drinks that I consumed, or the number of cigarettes I smoked. Or in a very different mood, I can take you back ten years, to the feelings and emotions that I was experiencing at that time in my life. That, to me, is what is so intriguing to me about writing. With this summer I have realized that without practice, my writing has gone to shit. Now I don’t know if it’s my writing, or any form of activity that uses the certain side of my brain that has been ignored for the last three months, but it is clear that I am losing my touch, and I don’t like that feeling. School will definitely be interesting this fall, and I am dreading the day I receive my first writing assignment, or sit down to tutor in the writing center and realized that I can’t remember if I capitalize the first word of a sentence, or the last…..anyways. Wow, it has been a LONG summer and this simple act of putting letters and words into a certain order is something that I have truly missed.
----People are innately good. Now yes, I’m getting a little Oprah on you here, but I believe this to be very true. I have had some pretty awesome experiences this summer through my work as a photographer. No matter where my camera and me end up, the people around me are amazingly generous, so very appreciative, and beautifully moved by the simple act of pressing a button that opens a shutter and captures a moment. There is something about a person in a photograph that brings out the best in them, or the worst, but that reality and truth is what makes photography so moving. These moving moments of time then become the still captures, which are the art of photography that make people so deeply vulnerable. I think that people realize that through all of the not so attractive vulnerability, and my ability to capture them in the essence of the beautiful person that they truly are, makes them so truly grateful. It is pretty neat, the job I have, the people I get to work with, and the experiences I am able to be a part of.
----So I head back to Stout this fall with a different view on the people that fill this world. Now yes, there are some terrible ones, Hitler, Satan, and Grant O’Brien to name a few. But for the most part, people are pretty awesome creatures, whom if given the chance, can fill your life with joy and happiness. I want to find a way to meet more people, learn about the things that make them tick, and the things that drive them crazy, and then, through my findings, make the lives of others better today than they were yesterday. A big stretch, of course, but what’s the point of living if you aren’t going to fill the day with things that make you happy, and the simple things that can make the lives of others so much better. Oh god, that sounds so terribly and annoyingly obvious, but honestly, do I give a shit, hell no. Take me for what I am, and the things that are important to me, or leave me. And whether my writing this year will improve, or fails miserably, I look to do it with an honesty and truthfulness that make me as vulnerable as those I have photographed this summer. Vulnerability is humility. Hell, if you’ve got it all together, life is boring as hell, and taking pictures of you is WAY to easy. Cliché? Yes. Bullshit. If you think so.
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