jb

I went to the park just for the hell of it. No agenda, no shoot planned. Just me with my camera bag in case something caught my eye. I ended up staying there for quite a while, but didn’t shoot as much as I thought I should. This time the plan wasn’t to fill my memory card. The plan was about being present. Just sitting in the air, hearing the rustle of the trees, and letting myself breathe.

While I was wandering around, I kept running into an elderly couple on their evening walk. Every so often, perhaps every quarter mile, they’d stop at a bench and sit together quietly. Sometimes they’d look out over the water, or watch the leaves swaying in the breeze. They weren’t in a hurry. They weren’t distracted. They were just there.

And it made me wonder. Can I ever get to that place? I mean, with the way I’m living now, ideas constantly spinning in my head, always bouncing from one project to another without stopping, I don’t know if I’d even recognize calmness if it sat down next to me. But watching them, it reminded me that maybe slowing down isn’t about doing nothing. Maybe it’s about being present in whatever moment you’re in. Something I’m still trying to learn.