The sun sets on another day…
Sunset was a spectacular mirage that laid upon the horizon and played upon my mind. There can be no greater awesomeness than spending great time considering the positives in your world.
Mayday mayday. Well that’s what today is. Mayday has been around for a long time and it’s funny that when I was younger it used to be celebrated, now it’s almost forgotten. Of course, in a few days everyone will be enjoying tequila and tortilla chips for Cinco de Mayo. That has become an even more important holiday. For me today is a series of months where all my pictures have been something new. Let me explain.
I have been a photographer for a long time. My grandmother gave me a small camera when I was about 8 years old, and I became fascinated with the idea of saving pictures and all the things that brought. As time progressed, I started picking up cameras and taking pictures to enjoy myself and to record the thoughts that were going on around me. Most of these cameras were very cheap and I had to be very careful taking pictures because film processing was expensive.
When I was 15, I finally had saved enough to get a real camera. I bought my camera at Sears. It was a Mamiya MSX 500, and I was in heaven. Throughout all this time I was writing as well but I had a strong passion for photography and during my high school years took many pictures and almost always had a camera with me. These pictures are now sealed in totes and a few years ago I posted some online. I need to sit down and post more.
In the early 2000s I had a studio and took lots of pictures with a lot of people. I was fascinated as I had moved on many times through many cameras and was finally at digital and got results almost instantly that didn’t cost me hundreds of dollars. My studio closed when the person I shared it with passed away. It was a difficult time.
When I started 29,000 sunsets, I intended to always use it to help my writing and to post a picture daily. Both were my passions. I wanted those passions at the forefront all the time. Over the last year and a half to two years I had begun crosslinking to older pictures and not either editing or taking new pictures. As such my written content was growing but my photography was not being used as effectively.
In January of this year, I pushed myself and noted that I would have a new picture every day. I currently have over 14,000 pictures of sunsets and many of them I have never used. Some of them needed to be edited, and of course new pictures need to be taken. As of January, I have uploaded new content every day just as I do new writing every day. It feels good. It will feel better as I continue to improve and publish more and push more.
I know this is an incredibly ridiculous rant for a post, but it shows that each of us can become complacent in one way or another and find a way to overcome it. We cannot simply accept that things are the way they are. We must continually strive to make our life better in one way or another. For me I have enjoyed this pathway to being a better person and to being true to myself. Most of all I am true to my passions, and i have a lot of them.
So as the sun sets on another day, be true to your passions. When your passions become work, they lose that mystical magnetism. Take a deep breath and remember the passion and find a way to overcome the work. Set a high bar for yourself and make it every day. Be the best person you can be every day and be passionate every moment that you can, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, love life, and passion is best…