A lovely woman who owns a boutique downtown recently gave me some advice regarding shopping and choosing clothing. She suggested I ask myself, “Would I reach for this everyday?” If the answer was “Yes,” this might be a worthwhile purchase. I’ve applied this simple question to other areas of life that require decisions. And I’ve found the answers to be illuminating and helpful.
I’d reach for the Pentax K-1000 film camera with a 50 mm lens and a roll of Kodak Porta 400 everyday. No question.
I don’t know how it is that I am just learning about self-compassion this late in life, how I missed these valuable lessons and tools in my early development. As I read about self-compassion, I am struck by how much photography, and especially my film work, has helped me to embrace self-kindness. Unexpected results, failures, imperfections—they are all part of the process.
“Self-compassion entails being warm and understanding toward ourselves when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate, rather than ignoring our pain or flagellating ourselves with self-criticism. Self-compassionate people recognize that being imperfect, failing, and experiencing life difficulties is inevitable, so they tend to be gentle with themselves when confronted with painful experiences rather than getting angry when life falls short of set ideals.”—Dr. Kristin Neff
On every walk I find something beautiful. A little shop full of orchids tucked into a quaint neighborhood near the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. A sidewalk carpeted with the last of fall leaves, wet from a morning shower, vibrant and glistening.
It feels good to live a life more deep than wide. For me, this is good.
The film camera stays with me all day long.
Processing film photographs is different than digital pictures. I’ve been working with film in a very intuitive way. What feels right? more so than What looks right? I’m used to looking for things to fix. Ways to make the picture near perfect. But for film, the fixing just seems to destroy what is beautiful about the image in the first place. Good enough isn’t just good enough, it’s perfect.
