Seeing Beauty

I received an invitation to a Photography Exhibit Opening a few weeks back. It came from a photography instructor that I had when I took some photography classes about three years ago. He and three other photographers were combining their creative works for an exhibit on street photography. So I receive this invite and immediately put it out of my mind. After all, I don’t go to exhibit openings, I don’t go to strange parts of Minneapolis at night – you get the point.

The day before the event, I came across the invitation a second time. I read through it again with a more adventurous eye and thought to myself, “why not?!” I set out to find someone to join me (I wasn’t quite adventurous enough to go by myself) and my friend Holly was happy to oblige.

So we headed up to the photography exhibit titled, “Street Scene: Incidents in Real Life”, on Friday evening. To give you a feel for the exhibit, it was described by Tom Arndt as this, “…many anonymous photographers understood that the street was and is the theatre of real life. From simply sitting on the front porch talking about the day's events to political demonstrations against war, poverty, racism and human rights, photographers have witnessed some of the most compel-ling and sometimes touching moments in our collective history.”

Holly and I enjoyed ourselves as we walked through the gallery looking at art that was captured by a photographer seeing the magnificence in everyday life. At one moment I heard the gentleman next to me say something. It was one of those moments where your cluttered thoughts come out through someone else’s mouth perfectly articulated. He said, “It’s amazing the beauty you see in the world when you’re really looking for it.” Wow, how perfect!

I think it’s safe to say that most of us probably don’t see beauty in the simple, everyday moments around us; attendees at a parade, neighbors talking in the front yard, or a woman waiting for the bus. And why don’t we? Perhaps it’s because we’re always in a hurry, or are becoming numb to the same-old-same-old that surrounds us, or are just losing our focus on appreciation and gratitude. Whatever the reason, one thing is for sure: We don’t need to be photographers to see the beauty in the world around us – we just need to always being looking for it. Start today!

Becky,

Sister of Soul

Soulspiration of the Week:

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind.” ~Ashley Smith quotes