When words are few

"When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”

~Ansel Adems

I have always been a writer.  As a little girl I spent  hours thinking and dreaming.  I wrote many stories, some real some not. It was just how I created. My mom encouraged me to follow that strong desire.  She even allowed me to keep a pen and paper next to my bed because I would often awake in the middle of the night with thoughts and ideas that I just had to record because I might forget them.  I have always been better at expressing myself through written word. I can't always articulate when I talk but if you give me some time to think I can usually come up with something with pen and paper (or laptop). I process life through writing.

 

Sometimes I find myself at a loss for words. I'm not sure what it is. I guess it goes in cycles. Sometimes I have a lot to say and sometimes I don't. Sometimes there is so much going on in my mind that I can't seem to untangle it all and get it out. There are almost always thoughts but sometimes they just get stuck...or I just don't have the time or desire to record them.

Over the last 3 years taking pictures has become another form of writing for me. When I don't have the ability to express words I use my camera to do it for me. Sometimes a photograph says it better then I ever could. Instead of a pen in my hand, my camera writes our story down. Capturing spontaneous  emotion and life just as it is happening has become a part of how I process. I wouldn't say that photography has replaced writing, hopefully it has just become a tool to enhance it.

 

But sometimes still communication fails me and recording life falls by the wayside. I find myself content with life and just living it. No need to process. Pens and cameras and laptops aside. Just living in the moment and finding my way in the quietness of life.