Airplane fashioned from sand, South bank of the River Thames, London.
Too many cameras? Until I started blogging, I rarely took photos on holiday, other than of people traveling with me. Certainly I didn't snap pictures of landmarks, as such images are mass-produced and widely-available on postcards.
These days I take my camera(s) many places, but try not to be intrusive in the process. It can be annoying when everybody and his brother are snapping pictures, either with cell phones or small pocket cameras. I often see tourists with video cameras, who pay only cursory attention to their surroundings. They're missing the actual experience of being there; of interacting with those around them. They're too busy recording video for viewing from the comfort of home.
Seeing what's in front of us
How often do we take the time to really see?
It's one of life's persistent mysteries that many people have a gift for noticing everything, while others appear willfully blind. Well-meaning friends and acquaintances may pry open their eyes...trying to highlight the sparkle and sizzle and wonder of their surroundings. But they are reluctant partners, afraid to splash too much colour onto life's messy canvas. They worry about the consequences of becoming fully awake and engaged in life. Instead, they dwell drowsily in comfort zones mired deep in charcoals and greys.
What would it take for them to snap out of their slumber? A loss? Love? A lost love? A fresh challenge? Why do some people shun the sun in favour of shadows? Too fearful to tread unknown paths, they stick to tired and familiar routes. But safe havens do not exist.
As we know all too well, life is fragile. Love is mercurial. Change is the only certainty, despite our efforts to preserve the status quo.
So let's open our eyes and revel in the beauty of what is, right here, right now, today.
"The time which we have at our disposal every day is elastic;
the passions that we feel expand it; those that we inspire contract it
and habit fills what remains." - Marcel Proust