Progress

“A wise person will hear and increase in learning, and a person of understanding will acquire wise counsel.” (Proverbs 1:5)

I have thousands of photos stored on my hard drive. As I look over a lifetimes worth of photos I find that most of them are not actually very high quality in the strictest sense of photography. They are, however, priceless to me because they represent amazing memories and many are of precious times with loved ones that can never be revisited but in photos. I have been thinking today that from an artistic standpoint I find myself hesitant to even show some pictures that are of poor quality due to either lack of good camera technology or simply lack of ability for the photographer.

The photo that I attached to this post today is not particularly poor and I do like the composition. The overall quality is not super great as it was taken on a very old point and shoot with what I think had 3 or 4 MP of resolution but that isn’t the point. What is important is that this photo is part of the tapestry of my memories since it was taken during a sunset stroll on a family vacation in Maui many years ago. When I see this photo I see much more than a sunset beach scene. I see all the rest of the days that we spent together on the island and all the amazing times that we shared.

Many of the photos on my hard drive that are not “Instagram worthy” may be due to the phase of editing learning that I may have been in. Many are severely overedited and oversaturated, over vignetted and poorly composed. Some are not in focus and some have poor exposure settings. None as of yet are even close to belonging in a gallery but ALL of them represent the gallery of my life and therefore I hold them dear for what they represent.

I came across an old film photo the other day taken of someone fishing from a boat on a pond in Connecticut. This was one of my very first cameras and the photo is over 30 years old. In my mind (until I found it again!) I had pictured this photo as something that was truly amazing artistically but the terrible truth when I found it was very different from the gallery of my mind. Should I be ashamed that this picture was not actually very good at all? I don’t believe that is the case simply because comparing that old photo to where I have been able to come shows some actual growth in this art form and that is something to be really satisfied with, not something to be ashamed of.

I say all of this to say that when this is applied to life we should never be ashamed of our past. Wherever you have come from and whatever paths you have been on to come to wherever you are in life today represents progress. Looking back we can appreciate where we have been and looking forward we can realize how much further God is going to take us. Life is one big incredible journey so tell your story to whoever will listen because your story might end up having a positive impact on someone else.

As the Proverbs above teaches us, if we are wise we will do some listening and learning and will seek out those who can teach us (my paraphrase). Keep learning in life and keep learning in whatever skills and hobbies you may choose but never be ashamed of the past even it is wasn’t always perfect.

God bless… talk again tomorrow!