Finding Ourselves
By Sonia Davis
31 Dec 2008
There are actually approximately 45 photos in this collection, but I chose the best 10 to submit as part of the essay.
These photos represent movement and change.
To me, they are a metaphor for the "phases" or our lives. Each stage along an uncertain path. Knowing where you started, but not knowing where you'll end up before turning back.
They are vibrant, serene, beautiful and chaotic all at once.
The sky photos are sharp, vibrant and clear. To me, they represent the beauty of each phase in our lives. Though they may appear to be hazy and misshapen, there is beauty in them that become a permanent part of us.
The photos of miscellaneous objects or locations represent the turning points of our life phases. They are those moments when we realize something important and our path changes.
The water photos represent peace and comfort. They are the depiction of the overwhelming false security we are lulled into in each phase our lives go through. Beatiful to look at from a distance. Safe from the outside, but swelling with unknown dangers below the surface.
We start out confused, not knowing what the world around us is doing, where we are going, or who or what we truly are about. We move quickly through the first phase of our life, blurring it into an almost oblivion, though memory seems to constantly capture small remnants from a distant thought. Next, we are lulled into a false security by the beauty of the moment, the heat and passion of whatever phase we are in, whatever vice is calling at the moment. Over time, we find crossroads where we can take the high road, the low road or go just about any way we want. All paths with something alluring in the distance, calling to us like a siren of mythology. The path we take eventually puts us through a blender. Making a virtual margarita swirl from our surroundings, our thoughts, our friends and family, centering us in them like a eye of a storm, where we seem calm while the world around us spins into oblivion. When the storm has subsided, we go in search of ourselves once more, a long dark narrow path that seems familiar, yet haunts us. It's lush growth captivates as with the splashes of light it holds hostage to light our way. Then, a sign. Some symbol of our lifetime; a totem of our making, a warning, something to make us take notice of what's going on. Something to make us think about our choices. It's then, and only then, that we realize that our religious beliefs, our work ethic, our personalities, and our relationships must all meet somewhere in the middle to make us a fully functioning member of this life. That point is where life becomes truly calm for us. That is when we find ourselves, and we stand tall in the light and in the darkness of our daily routines. We are now able to be unique, unafraid of being alone.
