Choosing to Keep Growing

Just when I think that I'm starting to take better and more interesting photographs, I see this blog post which is very appropriately named.  These photos truly are stunning, striking, exquisite, and astonishing.  These are the kind of pictures I want to take.  I guess now I have a new goal to shoot for!  Which means that I need to get out more, and also that it may be time to invest in a photo editing software.

Sometimes I see things like this and start to feel deflated and disheartened.  I question why I bother if I can't do as well as others (and not just with photography).  But I know that's not the right way to choose to react.  I know that it's good to be humbled at times and not get too complacent with largely false thoughts of my own grandeur.  The proper reaction is to feel inspired to work harder and learn more so that I can continue to improve.  I think it would be easier to choose the proper reaction if I was better rested than I am most of the time.  But all I have to do is channel Tolkien to remember that I have to choose appropriately no matter how tired or stressed I may be.

Frodo:  I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf:  So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

While these pictures aren't nearly as striking as the photos in the blog post, they're still pleasant.   That flowering tree will become beautiful in the next few weeks. My daughter sometimes comments that she could get married under that tree in the spring and not need any other decorations.  I'll be sure to get a photo of it when it's at the height of its splendor.