Over the weekend I played with an idea of a Buddha statue wearing a mask. The idea in my mind was, “Wear a mask, dammit!”

I began by making photographs of my tiny Buddha statue. Then I made photos of me in several of my cloth masks. And finally I began playing with the images in Adobe Photoshop, combining the photo of the statue with the photos of me in a mask.

But something just wasn’t working for me.

Musings on Kindness and Creativity

As I thought about the sentiment behind my photo play, I realized that Wear a mask, dammit! didn’t feel like a kind and compassionate way to say what I wanted to say.

Then, this morning as I worked on making a photo of the Buddha statue in my hand so that I could show readers of this blog how little the statue really is, it hit me.

It’s in your hands

My health and well-being is in your hands. Your health and well-being is in my hands. Wearing a mask in public indoor spaces is an act of kindness and compassion for others.

Why not hold the Buddha statue in my hands for this image?

Voila! The image above expresses what I want to say.

Creative ideas develop over time

The creative process is not a straight line from initial idea to end point. Rather it is a meander through various ideas and distractions until finally everything comes together.

A conversation with a photographer friend introduced me to the idea of using a feature called “puppet warp” to shape the mask on top of the Buddha photo. Several trials with color and B&W convinced me that I liked the image better in black and white. And after experiments placing the various masks on the Buddha I decided that the one shown above is my favorite.

I could not have predicted this end point when I began. Step by step the idea emerged and transformed.

Kindness and Compassion

I have to say a few words about kindness and compassion before I end today.

Wearing a mask is not a political act. It is not a religious or anti-religious act. It is an act of caring and consideration for others. When I wear a mask I protect you from virus particles I may breathe out. And when you wear a mask you protect me from virus particles you may breathe out. Not everyone will get critically ill from this disease. But none of us knows who will be impacted and who will not.

If I care about the well-being of other people, how can I NOT wear a mask when I go to an indoor public space?

“In the end only kindness matters.”

― Jewel