Yesterday I spent about an hour photographing spring ephemeral wildflowers at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. It was indeed “wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful wonderful!”
Wonderful Wonderful
Not only was I able to walk more than I’ve been able to for months and months, I was doing the thing I love most. Many thanks to my physical therapist who helped me get stronger and more able to walk without hip pain stopping me from doing what I love.
Even a month ago I didn’t think I would have an opportunity to get out in nature with my camera this spring before my hip replacement. Now, I am able to do a few things that I love and feel like I am able to fully soak up all the wonder of springtime.
So it is with great gratitude that I reflect on how following curiosity and joy has given me the gift of my ongoing fascination and passion for photography.
I think curiosity is our friend that teaches us how to become ourselves. And it’s a very gentle friend, and a very forgiving friend, and a very constant one. Passion is not so constant, not so gentle, not so forgiving, and sometimes, not so available. — Elizabeth Gilbert, Choosing Curiosity Over Fear On Being Interview
The Gifts of Following Curiosity and Joy
When I was a child my mother was a busy farm wife cooking, doing laundry, cleaning, gardening, preserving food, and taking care of five children. Even with all of her hard work, she found time to cultivate and grow flowers. I didn’t like weeding the vegetable garden but I loved picking flowers and arranging them in tiny vases. And I also loved looking at all of the different kinds of flowers in her flower gardens.
When I was twelve I asked my mom if I could have my own flower garden. She helped me dig up a rectangle of dirt in a semi-shady area and plant some wildflowers and other flowers that grew well in shady areas. I tended the plot until I left for college and visited it often to see what might be in bloom.
Early Clues
My love of flowers as a child was perhaps the first clue about what would bring me joy and passion as an adult.
As a young adult my mother-in-law introduced me to the many spring ephemeral wildflowers that grew by the trail that went around the lake where she lived. She invited me to come on wildflower walks with a local naturalist and I become fascinated with the early spring wildflowers that popped up and bloomed before the trees had fully leafed out.
For years after that I spent time seeking out wildflowers in woods and prairies whenever I could. I bought wildflower books and looked for wildflowers I could add to my own little flower gardens around the house.
And here’s the thing. Sometimes, following your curiosity will lead you to your passion. Sometimes it won’t; and then, guess what? That’s still totally fine. You’ve lived a life following your curiosity. You’ve created a life that is a very interesting thing, different from anybody else’s. And your life itself then becomes the work of art — not so much contingent upon what you produced, but about a certain spirit of being that, I think, is a lot more interesting, and also, a lot more sustainable. — Elizabeth Gilbert, Choosing Curiosity Over Fear On Being Interview
Small Steps with Unexpected Results
Fast forward many years. My kids had become adults and our first grandchild was born. I bought a point-and-shoot camera so that I could make photos of our grandson. One spring day I decided to take a walk in the woods with my camera. Try as I might to make nice wildflower photos, I was never satisfied with my early flower photos.
A friend explained that I needed a camera with more manual control than my little point and shoot to make the kind of photographs I wanted to make. Before buying a more expensive camera I took a 2-day beginning photography workshop to see if it was worthwhile to buy a new camera. I borrowed my husband’s small semi-automatic camera and went to the workshop. Everyone else there had a big fancy DSLR camera and I felt a little silly with my little camera but it worked fine and I began to learn the technical aspects of photography.
The instructor took us to a local park to photograph spring wildflowers. He showed us how to use manual settings on our cameras and insisted that we use only manual settings during the workshop. I was in my glory wandering around doing nothing but making photographs of flowers. Despite being a complete beginner and a lack of appropriate equipment I fell in love with photography that day.
My flower photographs from that workshop were pretty awful. There was so much I still had to learn.
Persisting
Normally the awfulness of my flower photos might have discouraged me. But because I had so thoroughly enjoyed everything about making the photos and I was curious to learn more, I persisted. Thousands of photographs later, I’m even more in love with photography and I still love photographing flowers.
Flowers still light me up and bring me joy. They remind me of the cycles of life and get me out into nature. I feel more wonder and gratitude and joy now than ever, and it doesn’t seem to end.
If you’re wondering how to find your purpose or passion, I suggest you follow your curiosity, follow your joy. Perhaps you will find one great passion that lights up your life. Or maybe you will simply learn new things that make life more interesting.
I hope that you find things that bring you wonder and fill you with joy.
And I hope that you follow your curiosity.
May you walk in beauty.
Note: All photos in this post are from my wanderings at the Arboretum yesterday. Besides wildflowers galore, the magnolia tree blossoms are just beginning to open. I love them almost as much as wildflowers.
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