The eyes are said to be the windows of the soul. Windows are said to be the things we look through. Ok, that didn’t turn out as profound as I was hoping it might, but it seems to get our minds thinking a little.
Considering the otherwise boring topics of windows, stick with me for just a few more lines and see where this is going.
Glass is a rather unique substance. Some debate it as a solid or a very viscous liquid (although the myth that it flows over time seems to have been debunked). That debate can go on somewhere else with the science minded crowd.
For me, glass provides the lens for my camera and can provide a new perspective for a picture perfect moment.
Consider this image for a moment.
Originally, I was admiring this old building with unique blue bricks and an aged wooden structure. As I continued to contemplated what angle I wanted to shoot, my attention slowly changed from the building and windows to the wall of trees I was really seeing in the big line of glass appearing in front of me.
The reflection became the subject and the picture it provided became the story I wanted to tell.
Large, old trees that stood and watched this building go up, live it’s life, and then go dormant and abandoned; happened on by a traveling Philosofotographer. They had a view I wanted to capture.
The trees continue to stand in audience of passing time as it weathers the building they shadow. Their reflection in the windows will get smaller as the windows age or are broken and fall to the hands of time.
But the idea of this reflection brings to mind a concept that I think we can continue to consider and may help us through some times of difficulty in our lives.
See, I realize that there I times when I am focused intently on a problem, a challenge, or an issue and the more I stare at it, the more I struggle with trying to figure a way through it constructively.
I just can’t seem to figure out what I need to change or do differently to move beyond this apparent impasse in my day.
What experience (and this pictures’ story) has taught me is that it is just exactly those times that I need to change my perspective, step back for a moment, and reflect on what my goal is.
What is the desired outcome of the challenge I am facing? Reflect on the end-goals and then perhaps work backward to where I am stranded.
Or look at the path I’ve covered so far and determine if the road I am on is really the one that takes me to a conclusion consistent with the purpose of my journey.
I have to look at the big picture and see if somewhere in the (time of) reflection I can see the direction I need to go and stop focusing so intently on just the issues that seem to be keeping me from moving beyond my point of immobility.
The key here is; don’t miss the chance to look for reflections, whether they are in the windows of our soul or maybe just a reminder to take different perspective on a challenge that presents itself.
Reflections sometimes can be the picture worth taking.
