Hi Adam, this is from the heart and I want to let you know that I have always admired your courage and strength. I have seen it from the past on another site. you have stood up and tried to change things that you felt were wrong, going against the tide many times. As a social worker I try to do that many times and am not always successful but at least I know I put forth my best effort. In the end that’s all we can expect of ourselves. Like you, I will continue photographing the beauty I see, and hopefully bring that beauty to others. RB is great because, as you said, it has such a positive energy and such supportive people. Keep up the good fight my friend!
Barbara

Thanks Barbara. You are an inspiration to me.

Adam, you are blessed with what I think is the greatest of all virtues, humility. It is a rare and most beautiful quality. And closely related to that virtue is another that you possess, honesty. One of my favorite lines in the Scriptures is Jesus’ description of Nathaniel, “Behold, an Israelite in whom there is no guile.” The Lord loved that in Nathaniel, the fact that he didn’t wear masks, that he spoke genuinely and sincerely from his heart with no deceit whatsoever. You remind me of Nathaniel; you are without guile. You are an honest man. And a good one. I, too, am a Roman Catholic, not an easy thing to be in this age as we hear our faith bashed in the media, in the movies, everywhere. But we plod along, set our faces like flint and keep on keeping on, holding onto what we believe, not because we are heroic or strong or saintly but because it is continually replenished by the only One who can make it survive, our Lord Jesus. If someone put a gun to my head and I was challenged to stand firm in my convictions, would I? Only if He gave me the strength to do it. “When I am weak, then I am strong.” When my human knees buckle, He carries me; when I get discouraged with my lack of talent or intelligence or lack of love, He encourages me to use what little I do have. And like He did with the lad who had only five loaves and two fish, He multiplies my meager offerings in ways that confound me.

From our communications at SP, I sensed we had something in common, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Now I know. You are my brother, Adam, and I couldn’t be prouder to call you that. God bless you. Let’s pray for each other as we continue on this journey following the only One who has the map. Thank you for this journal from the heart. You have touched me with your words.

An old lady and retired school teacher who still has so much to learn, Bonnie

Bonnie, you have been open and honest about your belief in God and the good things in this world. It reflects wonderfully in your images. Like Barabara above, you are also an inspiration to me. Thank you for calling me your brother. I will treat you as a sister. I guess I needed to hear your words about my honesty and humility. It soothes my heart and for that I am forever thankful. Keep up the great work and let’s stay in touch, sister.

Hey Adam, this is some pretty deep and powerful stuff here and I can relate to it in many ways. Seems to me that many, if not most of we mortals reach a point where we start to ask ourselves the kinds of questions you have articulated. Whether in sermons, interviews, or biographies, I think I have most often heard it boiled down to a need to understand “The Purpose of Life” and more specifically, “What is my purpose/ contribution … Why am I here?”

I personally think the kind of introspection you are going through is not only a sign of true humility, but also of our inner spirituality and while such introspection can certainly be perplexing at times, it is a vital part of getting the most out of our time here … i.e., part of the journey.

One of the things you said did bother me a bit Adam … i.e., “I envy those that get it. You know, the ones that have it figured out early in life and get on track with a good job, a set of goals, and a direction and action plan to get there. God bless ‘em. Thery are the ones that make the world go round.”

Poppycock Adam … poppycock!! Give yourself more credit than that. We are all here for a reason and we all contribute to what makes this world go round!! You will “Get It” Adam … just keep seeking and get the most out of the pursuit. Based on your introspective, self searching journal entry, I’d venture to say you are on the right path and already do get it more than many ever will. You just don’t realize it yet.

Personally, I really never gave much “serious” thought to those kinds of questions until I was 47 … i.e., when my first grandson was born!!! I will be 60 in a few weeks and now have eight grandchildren. Not that they are the only reasons I have to feel humbled and grateful, but entering the realm of becoming a grandpa was a significant milestone in my journey and in my appreciation for the many, many blessings I now recognize in my life.

I have never ascribed to any formal religion, but I do believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ and I start, stop, and fill much of every day relying on my belief and relationship with a Higher Power that I do choose to call GOD.

Another perspective I really appreciated in your journal entry was . . . “I can’t help that I am just a pebble, a drop in the sea of great photographers and artists. I feel that everyone is smarter than me; stronger than me; and does everything else better than me. I feel I have a long way to go. I have so much to learn and am still finding out what moves me and what direction my photography wants to go.”

How well put!!

But I can’t help challenging you with . . . “Is there something wrong with being a mere pebble in a sea of great photographers??” First of all, I have seen and been personally inspired by much of your work … especially your landscapes and water/motion images … SO, you happen to be an important pebble to this “pebble” who aspires to achieve your skill level in those types of images. Secondly (and I can only speak for myself), I am quite content with being one of those pebbles and having so much growth to look forward to. While I didn’t even get into it until about five years ago, I too love photography, am constantly either shooting, editing, reading photography magazines and articles, listening to photoshop tutorials, or reviewing other’s images and trying to learn from fellow photographers.

While I can’t help but respect and appreciate your aspirations to be more than just a pebble Adam, I personally find I am quite content with having so much to still learn … it satisfies the perpetual desire I have developed in my older years to just keep learning and growing.

Tell you what Adam. Since you and I recently discovered how close we live to each other (by the way, I actually grew up and went to high school in Oak Lawn) and have discussed getting together this spring/summer to meet and share some of our photography passion, I have been looking forward to it. Having read your thoughtful journal this morning makes me look forward to meeting you even more. Like both Barbara and Bonnie, I have seen the caring side of you on a previous site. I will never forget how blown away I was a year or so ago when I read something on SP one day that I had been selected as “Adams Photographer of the Day”. I had not heard of such a thing on SP before that, but it sure made my day. As I read the entirety of your email and what you were doing to promote fellow photographer’s work and visibility I was truly humbled. Didn’t know you from Adam (couldn’t resist …. LOL!!) and there you were raising me up on a little pedestal to promote my work. You are obviously a very caring person Adam and I sincerely look forward to our getting together soon.

In the meantime Adam, my suggestion is “Lighten up on yourself a bit”, enjoy the journey, and take time to appreciate yourself as much as others like Bonnie, Barbara, and I appreciate you.

Thanks for the thought provoking journal entry Adam. What a perfect way to start a day and a week end!! Read it at 5 am and have been reflecting on it and how to respond for over four well spent hours.

regards,

john

WOW! I don’t know where to begin. That’s quite a response and a wonderful one at that John. Yeah, maybe I am too hard on myself, but I feel I have to be. As much as many people on this and other stock photography websites claim that making money is not high up there on their reason for doing their craft, I, for one fully intend to make money at it. Looks like online photography is not the way to do it. It is mostly for learning, sharing, and making friends. Those, of course, are great things, but it does not help my pocket book.

Sorry to dissapoint the many of you idealists out there, but just merely sharing is not my main function here. I want to enjoy what I do and make money at it as well. Yes, I want to eat my cake.., and you know the rest.

I get the feeling that photography is kind of an upper class hobby. People I have spoken with on forums on SP act like it is no big deal either way to make money at this. Makes me wonder how well things are going for them finacially. I have no way of knowing so I am just guessing. Take a look at the faces on the avitars (those that show them) here at RB. How many of them are black or Hispanic? How many minorities are at this art? From what I have seen, not too many. Maybe it’ just that more white people are into this more than minorities. It’s possible. I get the feeling it goes a little deeper than that. I’ll just leave it at that.

Let me say one more thing. Help your photographic neighbor here at SP. If someone asks you how you made that image, give them detailed info. If they have a Photoshop question, don’t just tell them you worked in Curves and Layers. Tell them exactly what you did in full detail. Help them out. Otherwise you are telling them everything, yet telling them nothing. Stop worrying about them being competition. After all, they are not you. No one can create from your mind.

Thanks again John.

Oops I said here at SP, I meant RB sorry.

passing it on adam, is always the richest way to succeed
and for making that mistake of mentioning the dark side, you now have to clean your harddrive up of unwanted shot for 2hours :)
you are a remarkable photographer, and dont ever let anyone else tell you differently
its all in the eye, and in the heart, of true meaning of anyone’s photography, it’s becoming one with your work. i personally think you do a remarkable job of it
and yes, there is Always room for expansion and improvement, its what keeps us alive and healthy
anyone thinking they already know it all, have a hard lesson upon them.

Thanks for the “remarakable photographer” statement Chris. I appreciate it and I guess I needed the confidence boost. Your work here in terms of the groups you are involved in and the willingess to help others is an inspiration. (Looks everybody responding here is becoming an inspiration to me LOL, but that is the truth). Thanks for the kind words.

Since your believe in God Adam, as I do, live every moment of your life in His direction. If you trust that He is directing your every move, you will always be in the right place at the right time. You will always be doing His will rather than yours or someone elses. You are indeed a pebble, but you are one of God’s pebbles, and that is a big deal! He cherishes all of His pebbles equally and like a puzzle, if just one piece (pebble) is missing, the complete picture doesnt exist. Everything about you is that important. Always has been, always will be.

As for your question about the gunman? That is such a profound question and one that has been presented to me in the past. Not literally, but one as food for thought. While it is a scary thought, in human terms, to be shot on the spot for believing in my beloved Lord, to answer that question honestly, while looking down the barrel of a gun, would be relative to how strong my faith in Him is. How I die, and when, is already part of His plan. I could be shot, point blank, and survive!! If its not my time, its not my time. The shooter may think he “won”, because I would be shot for saying yes, but in the end, God always wins. I fear denying my belief in God more than I fear dying. You hear on the news all the time how people miraculously survive a deadly circumstance. Some call it luck, I call it God’s will. Luck is a human concept. Luck is something you find in a lottery ticket.

I have often wondered about the importance of sharing photos, like we do here. Sure, it would be wonderful to make big bucks selling piece after piece. But in the end, does it really matter? You cant take it with you. You have been given the gift of this “art”. Not everyone can pick up a camera and snap off a shot of something and create an image pleasing to view, not only to you, but to others. To envy the man who has it “all”, ie job, money, success, even his photos, is, again, a human concept. You are already a success because you are one of God’s pebbles. Please, always remember that. Our time here on earth as we know it, is only temporary. Its like a stage rehersal for the life dubbed as, Eternity, and it is there that we “pebbles” will be polished into perfection.

Here is a quote from a pastor regarding success:

’As much as we know this to be true, we live so much of our lives forgetting this basic fact, God is in control. We plan our days, we take care of our business at work or school, we shop, we do all those things a person does in the course of a normal day. Because we decide to do this or that, we sometimes get a false sense of security that we are in total control of our lives.

Successful people are most susceptible to this erroneous thought process. They spend their days"producing" results, seeing things happen, and shaping events to the extent they get a real sense that they have total control. But then, normally in a very subtle way, God nudges us and gently reminds us that it is not us but only Him that is in complete control.’

Next time you feel the need to over analyze a situation, ask God for His opinion. That whirlpool you find yourself in, will soon become non existant.

So, what good have you done for anyone on this earth? Do you have any idea the impact you just had on me today? I dont always read things people write in their journal. In fact, I dont visit this site on a regular basis, but today, I am here. Today I read your journal entry. Today, I know, without a doubt, if a gunman asked me if I believe in God and my answer would affect my life, I would say Yes Yes Yes, I DO believe in Him. If he shot me, its not my life he would affect. Whether I lived or not, it would be his life he affected because now he has to answer to God for his actions against me. I would be wreathed in God’s arms. I would be safe. Even if I was to survive and be lying in a hosptial bed in ICU, I would be safe.

Today, you did a lot of good. The question about the gunman has been one I could never answer before. I always wanted to believe that I would say YES, I believe in God!!!, but a part of me would cringe at the thought of dying that way. My fear of dying doesnt compare to my belief in God. And today, I dont fear that gunman any longer.

Im so glad you wrote this in your journal and I checked it out.

Next time you pick your camera up, remind yourself that you really are a good photographer. You capture incredible beauty in all of your work. Next time you go to the shores of Lake Michigan to capture its beauty, take God with you. Im pretty sure He would love to spend that time walking along the sandy shores with you and see His world through your eyes. :-)

God bless you always and thank you for being you,
Theresa