While I’ve been away travelling, I’ve been sharing excerpts from the three major sections of the upcoming Adventures in Seeing book, to pause, focus, and connect. Here is the final one.

Excerpt – Section 3, Connect

Brené Brown is a professor, researcher, and storyteller. Her TEDx Talk on the power of vulnerability is one of the most watched of all time. Brown says that love and belonging are two expressions of connection. Those who feel love and experience belonging are simply people who feel they are worthy of it. And, many of us don’t feel worthy. We feel that we have to put on a mask to be accepted because deep down we don’t feel as if we are enough.
 

True belonging means that everyone is seen, heard, and accepted for who or what they are at their core.

 
What I learned most from Brown’s work is that the greatest act of daring is to be yourself, to know that you are worthy of love and belonging just as you are. And, who you are at your core is needed in the world. Photography is one way to express how we connect and where we belong. But, we can get tripped up by looking to others not only for approval of our photographs but even of what we should photograph.

While in Chicago one weekend, I walked along the river on a cool, dreary, and rainy morning. Colours often stand out on these types of days. This was certainly true on this day as two small, fuchsia pink leaves glued to the back of a lime green bench made me suddenly stop. They were slightly overlapping and covered with big, fat raindrops. The scene felt so tender, like one was comforting the other in her sadness. The contrast of the two bright colours accentuated the feeling. I moved in close to focus on the two leaves against the lime green bench.

This simple and minimal image shows what I saw and felt.

10 Ways to Connect

 
1. Learn to pause and focus first. Know what stopped you.
2. See everything as worthy. Fall in love with the world.
3. Notice judgments and let them go.
4. See potential, yet accept everything as it is now.
5. Open up to new possibilities.
6. Welcome the unexpected.
7. Listen well. This is an act of love and connection.
8. Know what you value.
9. Show respect for others and yourself.
10.Share yourself generously.

We are all forces in this world with the potential to connect and contribute. Through knowing what we value and what matters most, we live out our purpose. Nothing needs to be added to make our life more interesting. Instead, if we eliminate what’s not important and follow our instincts with regard to what matters most to us, our lives will be richer and more rewarding, as well as having a greater impact on others.

Section 3 of the Adventures in Seeing book (coming soon) presents 15 exercises to help you practice connecting at a deeper level. With a photograph, you cement the connection with your subject when you click the shutter. But, before that you must pause and focus to know and reveal its essence.

Read: The Camera as Connection
 
I hope you’ve enjoyed these excerpts from the Adventures in Seeing book, which will be available very soon in both digital and printed formats. Stay tuned.