The Constant Cosmos.
“Nothing is ever lost. It is simply transmuted.”
Step lightly into my world. As the leaves fall, and the rain starts to come down, so too do many veils that the sun assures are tended to. People find themselves alone with themselves inside the homes they have created for themselves. Somehow they are surrounded by everything they have chosen, but in that surrounding still exists a profound emptiness.
In her 2019 novel “The Testament” Margaret Atwood remarks, “Where there is an emptiness, the mind will obligingly fill it up. Fear is always at hand to supply any vacancies, as is curiosity. I have had ample experience with both.” And her words ring true. I tend to concern myself with curiosity. I am endlessly curious. About people, and the human body. The mind and the way it works. The world. Economics. Photography. Everything. Life is such a curious thing…
What I’m getting at is that many, when confronted with the dark months of the year here in Seattle, find a bout of depression awaiting them. And I’m not speaking like I am above a little a sadness here. But I have cultivated a love for my own company. And I think that is largely due to two things: I am endlessly curious, and I am always willing to be a beginner.
So if you struggle when the weather is poor, remind yourself that the outside does not dictate the inside. The inside dictates the outside. And get curious. Try some new things. Look at your life and your direction and decide what you must do, if anything at all.
Recently, in a conversation with someone whom I respect she stated something along the lines of, “We’re never content because we’re always pursuing something.” I know it wasn’t exactly that, but it was something very close. Something about how we’re always pushing and growing and somehow contentment seems out of reach. And to me, it’s really interesting. Because I wanted to yell, “Or contentment is everywhere! It’s all the time.” And I differ from this person in so many aspects. On paper, there are many people more successful, more rewarded, and more loved in the world! I don’t even have a car, and many days, from start to end, nobody says anything to me. It’s so odd that I find contentment in so many ways and yet, I have nothing to speak of. I’ve worked so hard my whole life, and for what?
Sometimes I don’t know. But, I know that I will find ways to be happy along the way. Ways to remain curious and not give in to bitterness. Ways to always be a beginner, because beginning is just another funny way to say ending. And we — we are always ending. It’s the beautiful… so slow it’s almost imperceptible, march of time. And it’s the truth. So, will you find contentment in the depths of Winter this year? Ask yourself the right questions. You already have all the right answers my friend.
As always,
Stay warm.
DC
p.s. Enjoy this early and exclusive placement of a photo that will be part of an upcoming project I have titled “Child of God”. It is still in the early stages, but this is a project I am excited to watch evolve over time.
