What is it about this deep desire to not only observe the beauty around us, but to actually capture it?
Humans are the only creatures on earth who have the ability to notice the space around them, and render an opinion of whether it is beautiful…or ugly…or menacing….or mysterious…or glorious.
And, we FEEL it. Our souls, emotions and minds react to it. We say it’s a good day for a fire, tea and a book when clouds are brooding and the air smells of rain. We respond to blue skies and warm sunshine with a feeling of hopefulness, of being more alive. And, then….we want to hold on to it. From the beginning of time, people have used art to capture stories, images of beauty, pain, nature, love. It seems that it’s part of the human condition.
We pull our cars over to snap a photo of that perfect sunset. We take photos of our food! Our souls rejoice when we view it and share it with others. Artists render themselves obsessed with the bounty of things to paint or sketch or shoot. So many views….so many different times of day…the lighting is changing with every second that passes…that tree, the way it sets up against that particular hill…that tiny sprig of grass…the way those shadows are moving along the fields as the clouds skim by…it must be captured!
What a gift we have been given. Capturing and expressing the beauty around us is in our hard-wiring. We are designed for this symbiotic flow of creation showing off to us, and we, in turn marvel at its extraordinary display.
No two moments are the same. And there’s just something mysteriously sacred and powerfully purposeful in chasing those moments down and making them eternal.
