The Path Forward is the Path Back
When I came up with this idea back in 2015, I thought I would just blog and document my journey along the way. The unfortunate reality was my career and a motorcycle accident threw the biggest wrench into my life. I never saw that one coming, but who ever does? If they do, do they just shield their eyes and embrace the upcoming impact?
When you are laid-up in bed and nearly immobile for six months you start to look really deep inwards. You start to enjoy the little things in life more deeply. You really also begin to find out what the people in your life are made of. What I found out was that a good amount of people I knew just dropped off the face of the earth. I had nothing more to offer than just myself. A battered self, on the mend, physically and metaphorically.
As I started to recover I picked up my camera, it gave me a mental release, a creative outlet and more importantly a reason to get out of the house. Needing to exercise slowly and regain my strength I found solace in my newfound solitude. Photography really opened up the door of me finding something to do that required only me and the ambition to stop, focus and frame the moment that was in front of me.
The social fasting that was imposed on me led me to this quasi mixture of depression and enlightenment. I shut down parts of me just to compartmentalize a lot of the emotions I was going through. It wasn’t like I had many people around to express what I was swirling around in my head. The few people I did have, I felt they did not possess the skillset to deal with any demons I was dealing with at the time either.
I got through all of that, one click at a time. Honing my skills as a photographer daily. The more I shot the more I found out about myself. All those people I went by the wayside? Now a distance memory of what once was. I slowly made new friendships but now much more kindred. Quality of quantity indeed!
Now I ponder what this idea is I had once had, was I blogger that turned more into a photographer? I think not, my writing is more fluid and focused. My photography is more refined and purposeful. My wanderlust is stronger than ever but I now have the wisdom and resilience to embrace the journey even more. I think now is the time for me to apply all this skills that have aged like fine wine and see what the next chapter brings.
