A few months ago I discovered a blog that had linked to mine written by a highschool student. If you are reading this you will know who you are. He wrote that he enjoyed visiting my site and that he was confused about all of the things that I saw on my excursions because he lives in the same town and sees none of what I see. I smiled at this. {But I refrained from writing him for fear of invading his privacy.} I wanted to say that these beautiful things are around you all of the time. You just have to slow down, be present and look in a new sort of way. Sometimes I feel the need to stop, not sure of what I'm looking at and something surprising will emerge. I heard a famous photographer say once that quite often he did not know what he was shooting. It was not until he went to develop the film that he could see it.
Last night I stopped in front of the local corner store. In the window I saw the owner talking to a customer. The customer was taking clementines out of a box and squeezing them, then putting them into another box. I saw the owner take a clementine, peel it open and then offer a piece to the woman. I could not hear anything of what was being said. It was like a scene from a movie, the way the light was, the colours, the snow, the quiet, and I had a front row seat. The act of peeling an orange for another person seemed so intimate and beautiful. And, yet I know in reality it may not have been, (was she complaining?) But something about the whole image summed up something so simple, an everyday task, an interaction with another human being. I watched as the woman left the store with a box of clementines and bag of Tender Vittles.
It is there, it is all there.
Posted by kerismith at January 10, 2004 12:58 PMSo, so true about seeing. My motto for 2004 is "Feel more. See more. Think more." One reason why I stepped up the photography so much last year had to do with how much more I was seeing. I had opened my eyes wider and had a strong impulse to express it. I can walk the same path everyday and find something new to contemplate. Once I started taking more pictures that bumped it up even more. And I think that opening my eyes opened my heart and mind too. All the goodness is there.
Posted by: Gayla on January 15, 2004 10:13 AMSo true. And the fact is, we all get one chance here on earth (I would SO like to be wrong about that) and for all of us, it's later than we think. So much of interest goes on around us and so much gets tuned out. Thanks for giving us all a wake-up call.
Posted by: Kateri on January 12, 2004 11:11 PMI have been noticeing the little things lately. It is funny. Just like eveywhere. Like stupid little things like the way people mix there coffee like how many shuggers they put in. Or how people eat french fryes. I just never realy took the time to notice anything I have been husiling and bussiling arond so much I never realy took the time.
Posted by: Joe on January 12, 2004 09:29 PMI really, really do believe that life has so much beauty if you just stop to really LOOK at things! Thanks for sharing that story! I'm Lisanne from Bathtub Junkie, by the way. :)
Posted by: Lisanne on January 12, 2004 08:52 PMI get too busy to remember life is visually poetic. Thank you.
Posted by: Dianne on January 12, 2004 04:24 PMI just found your site through a series of jumps here and there across the web . . . you know how it goes . . . and so glad I am to have landed here at your warm, lovely site . . . I love to watch the quiet things of life, too . . . so many gently amazing things happening right around us, right in front of us . . . lovely . . . :)
Posted by: Katherine on January 11, 2004 08:44 PMKeri, I just ordered your book on amazon. I am so excited to receive it! If it encourages and inspires me half as much as your site I will be blessed.
Posted by: shemaiah on January 11, 2004 02:39 PMA beautiful moment !
Thanks so much for the moment and the suggestion to look!
Here on the right coast (Prospect, NS) we also have such momets if we take the time to look. Like right now, in fact! The sun is lighting up the blowing sea smoke. The ice chrystals on the glass of this window are brilliant.
It is cold AND beautiful!
Nice...:)
Posted by: finelyspungirl on January 11, 2004 12:10 AMHope you enjoyed your dinner at the Bistro! Thank you for the autograph and I'll be sure to keep my eyes open to those extraordinary kinds of moments. You sure made my night at work an extraodinary one!
Posted by: Dave on January 10, 2004 11:32 PMIt reminds me of the movie Amelie, this scene. I think it's best not to know what they were talking about, your beautiful imagination saw hope and beauty, and that is what is important.
your eyes are filled with that.
perfect.
I enjoy observing people and the things around us - I totally agree with you that if you take the time to look, there is always something to observe/notice. Thanks for sharing :)
Posted by: stef on January 10, 2004 02:53 PMIt is *because* you take the time to see these things then write about them ... that is the difference, Keri. Thank you for sharing! :)
Posted by: Jen on January 10, 2004 02:09 PMLuckily I have always tried to see the beauty in everyday things, but since having a daughter who notices absolutely eveything, and is now a very artistic seven years old, I now notice even the beauty in the crack of a sidewalk! A simple walk to the store can provide an amazing visual experience.
Also, both my daughter and I are in love with your website. Could you let me know if anyone in Toronto sells your book?
I LoVe your post! So true and reaffirming! I agree with you, it's a true-blessing to be able to have "new eyes" and find the beauty in what surround us. Gracias!
Posted by: mabelle on January 10, 2004 01:36 PM