The Simple Egg

I was preflighting this morning singing 9 to 5 in my head and thinking about that icky book I read and also about that debate, and feeling a little icky myself.  I thought about just clearing my mind and thinking nothing at all, try to save this day for myself...a day that begins in brooding rarely turns out well, I find.  

 I wondered why the book and the debate popped into my head this morning.  They weren't really anything alike.

And then I realized...the blanket contempt in the debate and the unchecked contempt of the main character in the book really actually are the same.  And that book won a Pulitzer, and that debater apparently won a "sound victory."

I still can't believe that so many people, even most of this country, seem to enjoy watching one person knife into another person's soul with weapons like disgust, contempt, and derision. For all these are the easiest weapons on earth to wield (what seven-year-old doesn't know the power of a roll of the eyes or a derisive grin?), they seem to garner respect and high praise among people who should know better.

I just don't get it.

What could the attraction possibly, possibly be?

And then I started writing this post and looking for some photos I could use...

 ...and I thought, "This I get."

Or rather, I don't totally get, but I want to.  Beauty in motion, the pursuit of that beauty with a lens, working with technology and nature, and it's like a grown-up game of catching fireflies.

This brings joy.  And this is the sort of thing that is worthy of attention and energy.

It has nothing to do with power.  At its core, it has nothing to do with pride. Maybe it won't run a country, but it's surely a better way to run an individual life.  It has everything to do with the creation and the Creator.  And as I looked back on these photos, I could feel the frown leave my face, and my soul sighed with relief.

Nothing saves a broken day for me like stopping to look at flowers, butterflies, birds, grass, sky, and sun, and paint them into a photograph....it is the best sort of escape.  I feel reintegrated and grounded.  What do you do to get to that place?