Say Something

Sometimes I wonder why I photograph, why photography is the career I wish to pursue.  Ever since I've owned a camera, I've been taking photos.  I love to capture beauty and people and places and life.  And that's usually what I say if I'm ever asked.  This week, I'm realizing why I love it for a whole new reason.

I'm shy.  Not in an antisocial homeschooled way (I hope), but just shy.  I can talk to individuals quite easily, but when it comes to a large group, my hands start shaking and my face turns red.  I've never been good at it.  Even when I was seven and too scared to ask my ballet teacher where the bathroom was.  (You can guess how that turned out.)  But believe me, I'm really working on getting better at this.  (That whole fear of man thing...)

Maybe that's why I like to photograph and write and read.  My head behind a camera, pencil, or book.  My thoughts are expressed through ways other than my mouth, which seems to be the hardest.  But when I hold a camera or pencil, I feel like a different person.  (And sometimes, one that I never will be.)  I feel like I can do things, accomplish things, change things.  I learned this week that there are other ways to influence people than through speeches and lectures.  Our written words and our photographs - they have potential.  They have potential to teach people something.

So this is for all you quiet people, you shy people, and you reserved.  
But this is also for all you photographers, you writers, you readers.

Embrace those talents God has given you, and instead of wishing to do something you can't, do something you can.  Yes, strive to learn new things, but don't forget about those things you've loved to do your whole life.  Just because your mouth is closed, doesn't mean you aren't saying anything.