What is the fastest way to get to your destination?
Everyone knows it's a straight line.
This is true in most cases. However, when it comes to art, personal development, or spiritual work, that isn't always the case.
Many times, it is a road that winds, unwinds, flips, and turns, and sometimes, you have to come back to start anew.
I think about the road that brought me to photography. It certainly wasn't a straight line. There were other interests, responsibilities, and experiences along the way. And yet, somehow, they all seem connected.
Since photography came later in life for me, and spiritual work came before this art form, I have often wondered how all these experiences brought me to where I am today.
The little girl who loved nature is still here.
The teenager who spent countless hours drawing and painting is still here.
The young woman who took poetry, storytelling, and writing classes is still here.
So is the woman who explored her connection to something greater than herself, and the traveler who discovered different parts of the world.
And the photographer who now spends hours observing wildlife carries all those experiences with her.
I once read a quotation attributed to Ansel Adams: “You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”
Perhaps the things we love don't always arrive when we expect them to, and that is part of the journey of exploration.
I've often heard that staying curious about life is what keeps us going. That curiosity encourages us to explore, learn, and remain open to new experiences.
Along this journey, we sometimes have to travel a little farther, take a few unexpected turns, or even return to where we started before we recognize what has been waiting for us.
I wonder how often we become so focused on reaching a destination that we overlook the happiness that is happening along the way.
The people we meet.
The interests we discover.
The experiences that change our perspective.
And what about the goals we set for ourselves? Do they remain the same as we grow older, or do they change as we begin to understand ourselves a little better?
Maybe that is why I don't mind the winding road quite as much as I once did. I have learned to relax, trust the process, and most of all, trust the one above. After all, a straight line might get us somewhere faster, but who knows what we might miss along the way.
What if the purpose of our journey isn't to reach our destination as quickly as possible, but to discover who we become along the way?
