Whatcha Lookin At?

What are you looking at? Vs. What do You See?

Sometimes when people ask the first they are really screaming the second...

Doesn't everyone want to be seen?

Why does it matter what way we are seen if it's all the truth?

So why don't we want to be seen sometimes?

Why do we find ourselves starring?

My thoughts: We arn't always at our best. So sometimes dressing up is actually a way of hiding. So when people look, we think they judge, and we get defensive because we can't hide who we really are at the moment. So when we see people when they are not at their best, try not to stare. Try seeing past the facade at the person who would like to be better, and offer a hand.

B.B.W.

So i didn't exactly take this picture, which is obvious. It's a fable, but it has to do with perspective....so hear me out.

I feel like this a lot of my days, i feel like little red riding hood. I've got a job to do, and I'm determined to feed my granny in the woods, why she lives all the way out there i don't know but she's sick and i got the means to help her get better, and she needs someone to help. So I volunteer. I'm small and somewhat naive but I'm also prideful and don't want others telling me that i can't do something that i think i can, that i know someone can, but the Nay Sayer's think that I'm not good enough for the job and no one else is volunteering. And i love my Granny....so out the door i go!

You ever try to hold onto an ideal and the world keeps yelling at you to shut up. To all believers out there just SHUT UP! That's what this picture reminds me of. Our faith in the things we were told we could do if we just believe in them, that's what they told us when we were kids. They never told us about the times when we would be disappointed or let down and made fun of for believing, they did give it a name though,"The Big Bad Wolf" we just didn't know that the wolf could be us sometimes. Belief, Hope, Faith is the key component to our perspective and therefore success. When we doubt others and ourselves we cripple "the possible" and it becomes the lame "impossible". So why do we let that happen, why do we give up or let go of our faith? Because that scary unknown wolf lurks over us waiting in the woods to get us, but the rouse is that it gets closer every time we loosen our grip on our basketful of faith to peek to see if it is there. It's a self defeating mechanism coupled with the truth that misery loves company. We lose faith cause our expectations get higher and our memory of the miracles we've witnessed fades. Others who have given up on theirs readily give us excuses to give up on our own.

B.S. Big Bad Wolf! I'm calling your bluff. I'm holding on to some great crap in this basket of mine and i got sick people to visit. You may be working double time to get at me, but I've got a greater purpose than yours and mine involves faith.

I've felt the BBW riding my you know what for months now and i have been slowed but i won't let him take away my faith. Death grip! Miracles happen, dreams come true, and it's all worth believing in, but you have to have some faith to see it all work! It may be heavy to carry at times but it makes the trip worth while.

Filters

I need to work on being less filtered.

I always find people refreshing when they are less filtered. When unfiltered people speak what they have to say is usually shocking and ignorant or vulgar or irrelevant or idiotic, but to them, they are just being brutally honest. The purity of those moments where aristocratic politeness is blown over is something that usually lasts. We spend a lot of time trying to cover up those "flaws" we have. We want to seem a certain way, but covering up and hiding what we originally thought just enables us to live with certain uncertainties about ourselves. These unfiltered moments happen to everyone, and the people present in those moments are better for it. Being less filtered means being more honest. Being less filtered means others get to see you as you are and less as you want them to.

We were better at this when we were kids. As we grow older we are more afraid of learning lessons from our mistakes, so we hide our true feelings and don't say the things we think. I want to be more like my nephew who can yell the words "Grandma" and "Penis" in the same sentence in the middle of church.

I had the privilege of seeing someone accomplish a goal today. He has struggled with addiction for most of his adolescent life, he ran away from all his responsibilities, and didn't care much for what anyone expected from him. But then He hit a wall, a very high wall made up of the natural consequences that breaking the law and building addiction will build for a teenager, and decided to make some changes. He graduated today from a therapeutic program, received a certificate of achievement and said his goodbyes. Today his unfiltered tears told the truth of what others were hoping he was feeling. He was proud of himself for working hard at being better. He was relieved that he didn't have to spend the rest of his childhood with strangers. He was scared at the opportunity his earned freedom would provide for him. So, In front of all his delinquent peers he took off his tough guy filter and let them see the honest truth of what made him courageous....and he cried. Then he ended with saying "Brah, i've done some crazy Shit!" I love it! Not afraid to be himself even when expectations are high, maybe that's true humility.

Starting somewhere

So it's 11:00 at night and I'm timidly taking to the keys in hopes of inspiration. I've wanted to blog for awhile, but have been reluctant just because i feel out of my own loop. Writing takes a certain element of direction, without it these entry's will seem a lot like a sloppy journal entry. Feelings all over the place with little to no context for the audience. But ...why not? I've often had my best conversations when they start in the middle. 

I love the idea of seeing. Seeing as it comes when it is coupled by true insight. Seeing translated to a truth revealed. I've taken to the art of photography as of late and have come to own the ability to manipulate perspective. It's a funny thing perspective, how subjective and misleading it can be while at the same time how pertinent to your active role in any given situation. We all can see it happen but we are very selective to when we pay attention long enough to grasp what is really going on. I've seen a bunch of things in my life, some through the limited framework i worked with before i knew about wide angle lens', but bottom line is sometimes we have to take time to involve more assets then just our sight to interpret our surroundings. Otherwise we're left with the gaping feeling of "I can't believe my Eyes" and the awesome truth is, you really can't.

So the plan is to see... and i mean really see things for what they are as opposed to lackadaisically taking in scenery.  I will juxtapose pictures of the things i see to the story behind them. Hopefully it will remind us the importance of keeping a healthy perspective on things. Enjoy!