creativity

i took this picture today as i was walking to church. i was walking up the park blocks and kept seeing these fuschia flowers on the ground, as if someone was dropping them one-by-one as they walked through the park blocks. they were mostly mushed, stepped-on and crushed, but i figured i'd find one that wasn't. the day was pretty grey, and i really wanted to somehow capture how brilliant these little flowers were.

as soon as i saw this one i knew i had my picture. turns out it was the last one. i've long since ceased being shy about getting in whatever posture i needed to get the shot, but this one i just had to set the camera on the ground in front of the flower and there was my shot.

there's something so amazing about creating. there's a part of the heart of God we see in creativity that there's no other way to glimpse. the very concept of art blows my mind. to fashion a unique expression of one's self from completely unconnected elements (tinted liquid, a bushy stick and some paper pulp, for instance) is such joy, and a gift God didn't have to give us. to be able to write a poem, knit a hat, take a stunning picture, compose a song. all these things really tell us more about God than about ourselves, if we care to listen. how beautiful must God really be if all we see of beauty is merely His creativity. beauty really can't contain Him.

photography is my passion right now because it's all about seeing something breath-taking in the everyday. it seems like a game that God is playing with me, with Him hiding little windows of amazing and then standing there grinning as i find them. it's pretty wild to have a creative expression that is uniquely mine but is really just what everyone has around them all the time.

i find it hard to fathom how little looking around people actually do. i determined almost two years ago to try to keep tourist's eyes even in my own city. evey day i walk through the same park on my way to work, and every day there's something new to amaze me. i end up taking pictures of the same buildings, trees and statues, but they really are different every day. life is incredible. thank God for creativity.