What is the secret of life?

E. B. White said “I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world.” We have all struggled with that idea, haven’t we? For me, that struggle was in my “art”, and the answer to that struggle is my secret of life.

As a kid,I loved photography. I started using my yard mowing money on film and developing when I was about 10, shooting pictures of everything I could. This was more than a hobby, it was a passion. I was always searching for that next great “shot”. If I was not snapping pictures, I was lining them up in my head. I was always thinking about light, composition, perspective, etc. People liked looking at the pictures I took, and I enjoyed taking them. Friends, and then friends of friends, started asking, or expecting, me to shoot their family weddings, graduations, etc. My camera and I were inseparable. In a way, I thought this was my contribution to the world…my “art” if you will. I shot literally millions of pictures, and was probably satisfied with a few hundred. I suppose that is to be expected in any photographic body of work, but it
really started to bug me, and I didn't know why.

I had spent more than a couple decades behind a lens everywhere I went, (or nearly so), and I had a large portfolio of beautiful photos of kids, adults, cars, scenery, all kinds of things. A body of work to be proud of. Then came our oldest daughter’s wedding. We hired a photographer, and yeah, he did a good job, but the nature of my “art” simply would not allow me to enjoy this once in a lifetime occasion. Yep, Ol’ Scotty drug along several bags of camera equipment. I spent most of the day concentrating on photography, documenting a day on film that I should have been enjoying and documenting in my mind. What a fool I was. I realized that day that I was wasting my time worrying about documenting my life when I should be living it. Remembering it. Savoring it.

My photography was, in some ways, my attempt to improve the world. Now, I would rather enjoy the world. I don't shoot pics of much anymore. I found my "secret". I will enjoy the experience instead.