Superhighway to the Marvelous

by Terri

I have always loved taking photos and am so glad to have all the photos of my boys while they were growing up and our lives during those years. They are precious to me beyond words. But once they were grown and out of the house, my photography came to a bit of a standstill. I still took photos of the big moments – holidays, vacations, etc. – but that was about it. And I missed having that creative outlet in my everyday life. I really missed it.  

 But what do you take photos of when there are no kids around, no soccer games or school plays? I had my grand kids but not on a daily basis. I have written before about finding Tracey Clark and her Picture classes and how that caused me to get out my camera again, shooting flowers instead of sports and sunsets instead of school functions. I had never taken photos just for the pure pleasure of it. I was just recording events. But through Tracey's classes, I began to love the process, not just the end result. With my macro lens, I was shooting all types of flowers and other small wonders and once again I was in love with photography, shooting every day and realizing how much it brought to my life.

I recently came across Andrea Scher’s blog called “Superhero Journal” and when I saw the title of one of her posts, “Underneath the mess, everything is marvelous. I’m sure of it.”, well, that was so intriguing that I had to read it. Here’s a quote that really spoke to me:

"Photography is one of my ways in. It’s my superhighway into the marvelous. I see those pink petals against the fog and my heart leaps a little. I look through the viewfinder and get that zing in my belly just before the shutter goes click. Even on the hardest of days, the beauty of the world can pull me back. I can literally see the world through a different lens – one that honors the miraculous. The bright green sprig of life bursting through a crack in the sidewalk, the way the white petals fall like confetti onto the concrete, the impossibly long lashes of my boys."

Photography is a superhighway into the marvelous.  What a wonderful concept! This put into words things that I have felt for a long time, the joy I feel as I look through the viewfinder and how capturing the beauty around me, even though it sometimes is a beauty that only I can see, and how it can pull me out of a bad mood and put a smile on my face. I’m sure you’ve all experienced that. I “see” so much differently now than I did before.

 Andrea goes on to say: 

"For many years, gratitude practices eluded me. I didn’t feel grateful. I just felt ashamed… for all that I was blessed with and how sad I still felt. What I was still able to do however was appreciate beauty. And this saved me. Those glittery beads of dew on the grass, the clouds I found in puddles of water, the inside of a dandelion. They saved me from being swallowed up by grief. When we can catch glimpses into the marvelous, it is a gift. Be on the lookout today. And if you are in a place where gratitude is hard to access, see if you can find some simple beauty. For me, it was the most powerful kind of medicine."

Now I am on the lookout for beauty every day.  And because I’m looking for it, I see it and I’m grateful. Be on the lookout today for even the smallest piece of simple beauty. As Andrea said, finding that beauty is the most powerful kind of medicine. 

Have you been looking? Have you found some small piece of beauty that has filled you with the feeling Andrea is describing? If you are lucky enough to find it, please share it with us in the Flickr gallery. Remember our Monthly Focus this month is "reflections" but we would love to see anything you shoot that brings you the feeling of finding that superhighway. Almost as fun as finding it is sharing it with others!