The Process
* I noticed the first blooms on the potted plant. The little white flowers are so very tiny, like soft whispers from nature. As I looked at the blooms, my thoughts took me back to several months ago when I thought the plant might die. I remembered trimming the branches and then transferring the plant into a bigger pot, my hands shoveling the soil while hoping the plant could be saved.
* I look at the slide-show of photographs that I’ve taken. Each photo reminds me of the when and where and the why. Some of the photos I like and some not so much, but each reminds me of the enjoyable process of discovering and capturing the shot.
* Recently while transferring the archives onto this site, I found myself reading several posts and poems. In some ways it was like rediscovering love letters that I had long since written and sent. I remembered how the thoughts easily flowed in some posts, while others were a prolonged battle of expression in trying to grasp the ungraspable word or phrase.
So often the end result gathers the attention, be it the flowers, the photographs, or the posted writings. In a way, that’s how it should be. But the process itself, the processes of discovering, creating, doing, and rediscovering; each holds a wealth of rewards and gratification that is oftentimes greater than what the end result has to offer.
I suppose it’s fairly easy to find the joy in the process of such things that are enjoyable to do. The rub is trying to discover the joy in the process of all activities, both the enjoyable and the not so enjoyable.
March 10th, 2005 at 6:26 am
Kane, true point, but one most certainly worth pursuing (life seems so much fuller and richer when even the mundane/unenjoyable activities somehow yield enjoyment!)