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Since returning from a two-month self-imposed hiatus from blogging in September and October, I haven’t written any of my thoughts in a post; I’ve substituted meaningful quotes. This absence from posting on Meandering Passage was a visual outcome from a needed mental reset. I was at a point where I felt I had little to write which held any meaning or expressed any original thoughts. I’d pretty much given up on creative photography, and at one point, I was within one click of deleting Meandering Passage in total. Yes, it was a dark and stormy night. ~grin~
Now, after two months, I’ve committed to forging personal peace with doing nothing when nothing is the reality of my sphere of control. Doing nothing may sound easy, but it can be extremely frustrating for someone who is a “fixer” by nature. I see broken things, and I mentally start processing how to fix them. This works well with things around the house or the car, not always so well with people and relationships, and seldom with world problems, politics, religion, etc.
There seems so much wrong in this world just now, and almost all of it is beyond individual control, at least at my level. So I’m adopting the “Serenity Prayer” in daily practice and working on enjoying the present moment. Perhaps I’ll have better luck in fixing myself. ~wink~
It’s been a decent season, a good year for leaf colors. About a week ago, we witnessed outstanding colors in south-western North Carolina, east of Chattanooga, Tennesee. The photo above of Autumn leaves is a tribute to this wonderful time of year.
I think such breaks can be rejuvenating, if only to help assess what you truly want to gain from some activities. I can actually relate to a lot of what you wrote, not just about photography but a lot of interactions in general. These past couple years haven’t been particularly inspiring when it comes to a lot of aspects of humanity, at least for me. And social media in general has me thinking a lot about “why bother anymore.”
In going through various site / blog cleanup chores, I do stumble upon a lot of old posts and note the comments there – ultimately thinking “wow, these folks have been around a long time!” ending up very grateful for the little “band of bloggers” that have been doing this awhile. So many people I kinda know, and have never met, but different than just social media contacts. A lot to think about I guess and I know I have been tempted to take similar breaks from a lot of various things.
It takes more effort to separate the media noise from those valuable interactions than it should these days. I think I reached a point where it all seemed to be running together. Bonnie disabled her Meta/Facebook account several weeks ago and said it was hard for her the first week, but has been easy and an overall relief since then. I’m thinking of doing the same. But, this stuff is addictive. I can only wonder what the long-term effects are going to be with our youth.
The only reason I came back and that MP still exists is because of those “people I kinda know and have never met.” Those valued voices.
Thanks, Mark.
When I click on this post from WordPress I first see several lines of html code then in the end is the the time you wrote. Sometimes a break is necessary and I agree that doing nothing may seem easy but in fact it’s difficult.
Alessandra, I’m sorry you experienced some problems with this post. Since your comment, I’ve tested it in several different web browsers and haven’t duplicated the problem. It may have been a temporary issue with my site hosts. If you keep experiencing issues, please let me know about it, and what browser you are using and I will try and get to the bottom of it.
Thank you for your comment and yes, at least for me, doing nothing is both difficult and frustrating. 🙂
Take care!
I was glad to see this show up in my feed reader today. It would have been a pity if you had deleted the site. Did you do a slight redesign, or has it just been that long?! :)
And I totally hear you about feeling out of control and helpless when looking at the state of the world. I try to be more engaged on a local level and pay less attention to the national and international news (just skimming the headlines of those is a major trigger for those feelings, for me).
Last not least, I envy you for having fall colors! The black background and brightly glowing leaves in your photo are a great combination.
Yes, I did make some changes to the blog design. It went from a light to a dark theme, and I modified the home page layout.
I wish I knew of a different answer rather than disengaging concerning the current sorry state of the world, but if there is a better way to handle it, I surely don’t know what it would be.
I would miss fall colors if I lived where they were not as abundant, and this year is especially good.
Thanks and take care, Alexander!
The photo accompanying this post is gorgeous – I love the play of the colors against the black background. The cover photo of the beach with the terraced hillside is also cool – is that from your visit to Spain?
I share your sentiments about both photography and blogging, often asking myself ‘who cares and why should I bother?’ But in the end I think we mostly do it for our own pleasure and satisfaction, with the comments and community of our online friends as an added bonus.
Thanks, Tom. Yes, a little backlighting and darkened forest background made this leaf photo. The home page photo this month is from the Cinque Terre Coast in Italy.
Ah. Couldn’t tell from the lettering on the boat and the umbrellas if it was Spanish or Italian!
I for one am glad to see these in my RSS reader and they’re always one of the first to be read. The light on those fall colors is outstanding and I hope you’ll keep going with it. Just do it for you, we’re just here for the ride.
Thanks, Joe. I most certainly appreciate the kind thoughts! Take care.
Wow, on the image. A work of art!
Glad to see your creative gifts of photography and writing are alive and well. And, truthfully I missed them. The gifts you offer us are what keeps me coming back to your blog. Your openness about where you are, and then your ability to articulate with us area gift much of the world is missing. Seems we need people like you to offer what you have. To quote you and what the Serenity Prayer offers is to know what it what we can “individually control, at least at our level.” What you offer here is not found with other social media. For me this is the reason I enjoy the this small group of bloggers and photographers over any social media. And, like Bonnie I left Facebook several years ago and have not regretted it! You are my peeps.
I have also had frustration with much of humanity over the past 2-4 years. That makes this blogging world a safe place to hang out and for me helps me to healthily live in both.
I appreciate and value your words, thoughts and photos, Monte. It’s the people who I visit and who visit here who keep “Meandering Passage” going.
Thank-you and take care!