Do more of what lights your soul on fire.
It's Spring here in Wisconsin, and in spite of a mild Winter, Spring has become harsh and cold. I hate cold so bad that I tend to avoid it all costs. But the way the setting sunlight filters through the woods at the edge of our yard on sunny days always beckons me to come and capture it.
It was a windy Sunday, and I had foolishly strained a muscle in my leg doing some calf exercise the day before because sometimes I pretend I'm an athlete. The simple ability to walk was highly restricted and there was a breezy expanse of cold and a yard to hobble through to get to these woods where the poison ivy is abundant and radical even before it begins to grow.
But the light!
It danced and flickered in the breeze, teasing me and taunting me. Light in all of its glory intrigues me to no end. Staring at it for any length of time makes my shutter finger itch. I needed to capture it. I wasn't even sure how I would, because how much beauty is there really to be found in the dank, dead, snow-trampled overgrowth of last Summer's poison ivy? I knew I would find something though, if I overcame the obstacles that were my excuses. The only thing worse than the cold, wind and a strained muscle in that moment was not breathing in this beautiful thing that was making the woods glisten with my camera.
As I put the brambles in my viewfinder and aimed towards the sun magical things started happening. The light. It pierced rays of rainbows into the colorless forest floor and made the burrs and ugly scraggly weeds sparkle. Moments like this is where I find myself.
My best work somehow happens when I'm weak, which leads me to believe that you can never underestimate your powers. Even in your darkest moments, you can find the light that makes your soul breathe. When life kicks your butt, let it ignite your passion. Find the light, ignite the light, be the light.
