“Life is made up of a collection of moments that are not ours to keep. The pain we encounter throughout our days spent on this earth comes from the illusion that some moments can be held onto. Clinging to people and experiences that were never ours in the first place is what causes us to miss out on the beauty of the miracle that is the now. All of this is yours, yet none of it is. How could it be? Look around you. Everything is fleeting.
To love and let go, love and let go, love and let go…it’s the single most important thing we can learn in this lifetime.”
― Rachel Brathen
I’ve always liked the compression/flattening effect of a long lens in photography. Perhaps that is the way with older age as well; it gives that long lens compression effect to our life’s moments.
If this were the only fall foliage photo I took all season, I would consider it complete. But this is so much more than a foliage photo. Nice work, Earl.
Thanks, Ken. I like this photo, and it’s gratifying and somewhat affirming that others do, too.
I cannot dwell on the opportunities of not living “the beauty of the miracle that is the now.” What I am learning is live life more in the now. I agree with her idea to love and let go. I love your metaphor of seeing life in old age as through a long lens. Fits me!!
“Love and let go” is a hard lesson, but I agree it’s essential. It would be a shame to miss opportunities now because we are trying to hold on to something from the past.
I really like your comparison of lens compression to aging. And of course, loving the photo too.
Thank you, Howard! I’m glad you liked the photo. The more I think about lens compression and the effects of aging, the truer it seems to me. I hope you have a good Thanksgiving!