It has arrived! I have a camera again and I'm very happy. That said, anticipation is a strange creature. You build something up so much in your mind that it can't possibly live up to expectation. There's a little bit of that with this camera.. I wanted it to make me a better photographer but I'm still the same person I was yesterday. Looking at the photo of angel above, I can see the extra megapixels, though. I'm still getting used to some differences. It's virtually the same camera upgraded, but they have gone and moved some buttons and I don't know where to keep my hands yet. I'm awfully judgmental about myself sometimes. The other thing about today is that it was VERY, VERY cold and gray. I mean it was gloomy on steroids so my photos feel especiallly disappointing. BUT... tomorrow is another day and I'm very happy. And I DID win Punny Monday again this week. How cool is that!
Maybe some of the reason I'm not as euphoric as I think I should be is because I'm quite discouraged about the aftermath of what happened in Arizona. There's much to be inspired by. The courage and goodness of the victims and those around them is quite inspiring. Listening to them talk, there's a generosity of spirit, a sense of community, a beautiful level of compassion. The doctors dealing with Congresswoman (I refuse to call her congressman) Giffords seem to have both compassion and good sense. They are looking to care for both the body and spirit of the victims. The heroism of some of the people - the man who died covering his wife's body, the new intern who first saved Ms. Gifforts physically and then after medics arrived, stayed with her, holding her hand. I could go on and on. It's beautiful. It reminds me how good most people are and can be. And then Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and Sara Palin open their mouths and I feel discouraged again. Then I read that sales of the Glock weapon that caused such carnage have increased by 60 percent in Arizona since the shooting. One Congressman's idea of gun control is to make it illegal to have carry a gun within 1,000 feet of an elected official. Ugh. Then there the member of that awful church who are planning to spew hate at the funeral of a 9-year-old child. The state legislators are trying to change their law to make that impossible. I hope they succeed. Some speech shouldn't be free.
So I guess that maybe this is another instance in which I need to decide which wolf to feed (see Reminder # 223). I can focus on the hate mongers, on the dividers, or I can focus on the beauty of a 9-year old and the brave open-hearted grief of her parents, on a community showing kindness. With rare exceptions, I haven't heard a lot of venom directed at the clearly insane 22-year-old who left 20 people in his wake, who left so many dead and wounded. The emotional wounds I'm sure will surface as the physical pains and bruises heal. The emotional wounds - I know from personal experience - are much harder to heal. But these people - at least those who have spoken - give me hope. Their story is the one I want to focus on. My other wolf, is sad and angry, though. She is a powerful creature. And not all bad. Anger has it's virtues. We should be angry. I suppose the trick is getting my wolves to work in tandem. We will see, I guess.
Some things I'm grateful for today: (Items in red are pre-gratitude - a kind of nudge to the Universe to deliver on my hopes and dreams..)
- Angel and Tara Grace
- my new camera (Yippee)
- winning Punny Monday
- my furnace
- the US mail
- reiki
- angels
- kind, compassionate people
- my better wolf
- my less better wolf
- my cane
- my red chair
- legs that hold me up and
- my Bose sound system
- zero balance on my credit cards
- a million dollars a year for life from PCH
- winning lottery tickets
- my clothes dryer
- winning the HGTV Vermont Dream House
- kitty hugs
- AIM
- earphones
- Rachel Maddow - excellent commentary AZ tragedy
- my fuzzy robe
- my crocs
- my heavy cape
- layers
- teddy bears
- my mattress
- sleep
- my microwave
- cheese
- music
- Jon Stewart
- laughter
- life
HAVE A GREAT DAY!
May Life Offer Inspiration for Our Better Wolves
3 comments:
Play with the camera. You'll find elements that you didn't know existed.
I sway between tears and anger over events in Tucson.
I think your photos are better -- better details, anyway. and I think you are much too hard on yourself, your photos have good composition and interesting subjects.
Congress Woman Giffords is breathing on her own. I wanted to cheer -- and then I thought about that emotional baggage. If she survives, at some point she is going to comprehend how many people didn't. The shooting was not in anyway her fault, but she is still going to bear that burden.
We can only hope for a good physical and mental recovery for all the victimes and their families. We in the UK can only goggle at this kind of thing. A few years ago a mentally ill man killed a local member of parliament with a samurai sword. Mercifully, this kind of thing is very rare over here.
I think your photos look great. I'm sure after a few days with the camera it will all becomen second nature.
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