Changes

The season is changing. Can you feel it? Our long battle with the pandemic is entering a new, perhaps more deadly phase. The political system is straining the bonds of decency on the precipace of an election that may be the most important one in our lifetime. There are no guarantees that we will come through this intact. Remember the Anasazi civilization, which flourished from 200 a.d. until 1500 a.d. before mysteriously vanishing? That could be us.

In jujutsu and judo, we learn quickly that falls are inevitable, no matter how good you are. We say, embrace the mat! The key to resilience is standing back up. “Nana korobi ya oki,” a popular Japanese saying, translates as “Fall down seven times, get up eight.” We Americans have our own saying. “If you fall off a horse, get back on.”

Falling is not defeat. Failing to try is defeat.

You may be wondering what this has to do with photography. Whether you are the subject or the photographer, you likely are feeling the enormity of the moment we are passing through. I know I am. We have lost our sense of balance. We are struggling to find meaning as we approach important religious and cultural holidays. It’s hard to think of celebrating when our neighbors are dying around us and some are talking openly about the prospects of a civil war. But it’s up to us to take responsibility for this moment.

The great Persian mathematician and philosopher Omar Khayyam wrote in the Rubiyat:

“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash away a Word of it.”

What will you remember ten, twenty years from now? There will be losses, but there will be joyous moments as well. Beauty abides, even in the darkest times. Let’s capture some of that together. Let’s make some keepsakes that celebrate this dance called life so that when we look back, we see it in balance.