I’m on day eighteen of my self-imposed 30-day project of photographing the river birch tree every day for 30 days. And today I resorted to playing around with my new camera’s creative modes to photograph the tree. It was a kind of
Play With Purpose.
In this case the purpose was to learn more about my new camera and to explore new ways of seeing the world.
I came across a quote yesterday that made me stop and think. It was from an interview Tami Simon (Sounds True Founder) did with 102 year old Dr. Gladys McGarey. I was fascinated to learn that she still does medical consults at the age of 102 years. She has never “retired.”
If you come to a point where you think you’ve lived your life and you’re done and you can just play now, well, maybe that’s true, but find out what your play is for and what it’s going to do for the world. I mean, have a reason. If you’re going to spend the rest of your life playing, all right, there’s nothing wrong with that. What’s it going to do for you and for the rest of the people that you meet? In other words, if life is going to go on, how do we keep it alive? It has to be moving. Life has to move. If it gets stuck someplace, it dies. Life itself is a moving energy and energy has to move. When that moves, it moves with love, no matter what it is or who it loves.
— Dr. Gladys McGarey, Sounds True Interview
And although I often list my occupation as retired, I don’t consider myself as retired. When I left my career as a software engineer, I embarked on a journey of becoming a photographer. The fact that I choose not to try make money with my photography does not make me any less of a photographer.
River Birch Tree, Day 18, Using in camera Creative Mode, Watercolor Effect
My passion and play in life is photography. And it is more than play because I am seeking to experience and share the joy, beauty, awe, and wonder that I experience when I make photographs.
Hardly a day goes by when I don’t pick up my camera and make at least a few photographs. Yesterday I went over to my youngest daughter’s house to feed and spend time with her cat. And I brought my camera along. The photo at the top of this post is one of the photos I made looking out her living room window.
What is your passion and play in life? How do you keep moving in and loving life? Do you play with purpose?
May you walk in beauty.
Backyard photo at my daughter’s house
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