A langugage of photographs

Sometimes, I am all worded out. 

I speak, I listen, all day long as part of my profession. I leave the school building with headset on. Sometimes, I don't even switch on any sound - no radio, no YouTube, no podcast. I just need the space they provide.

However, I also often dedicate much of my commute to communicating with friends and family. How to balance that? On the one hand, I don't want to talk to anyone; on the other hand, I want to keep in touch. It is a dilemma, apparently, but there really is quite a simple solution: 

I send photos. 

Photos are captures of moments I'm struck by a thought. Oftentimes, I'm awed by the strange odds of nature proving its will over that of mankind. In many occasions, it is the marvel of transient beauty: the overwhelming volume of layered clouds; the play of light and darkness, a reflection on a pond... Rarely do I take a photo of an animal, but it can happen: a rabbit near a parking lot; a cat sunning itself on a windowsill; a crane standing still while fishing...

In a fashion, photos are like this blog. My brain gets caught up in a thought, to which I have to give shape before sharing. I send them out, and hope the receiver understands why I've chosen them for that image. And no, I don't send photos to everyone. For example, I used to send morning photographs to my family group chat, but after months of no reply, I quit. Also, there are some people I send no pictures to, either because they don't like them, or because our means of communication are not immediate enough to support such an exchange. Finally, there are those I don't send photos to because, honestly, I haven't considered it in the context of our relationship.

Before shedding most social media platforms, I would share reels, shorts, memes, and the like. Now that I think about it, that habit always felt somewhat intrusive. Yet photos never feel "wrong", probably because they remind me of precious albums of memories.

So, if ever you expect a message from me, but get a snap instead, know that I am thinking of you, just not able to face words at the time.

---

Just as examples, here are a few of my latest shots, which I shared with a friend:





 

Comments

  1. Anonymous4 March 2025 at 21:34

    ❤

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous5 March 2025 at 07:53

    Loved it!!! And I feel so privileged for receiving some of them!!! 🌷💟

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5 March 2025 at 19:11

      I am so glad you are enjoying them! Feel free to drop by again whenever you want.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thank you because I love you

I used to think that 'I love you' was the most powerful thing you could say. I amend that. I think 'I love you' may be the most beautiful thing you want to hear, but 'Thank you' is the strongest message you can give. In fact, I have come to understand the latter as an added-on form of the former. Please, let me explain. Telling someone you love them is a marvelous thing. It is marvelous because it gives to both the teller and the listener. The one who says it does so from a warm, constructive feeling of communion, care, affinity, and generosity. When you get to the point where it must be said, it is because all your realities (physical, psychological and spiritual) have recognised the Joy of that other one's presence in your Life - and the other can be a person, an animal, a plant, an entity... you name it. Saying it; actually forming the words in your mind, with any part of your body, grants you the Joy of becoming aware of that instinctual recognition. A...
Read more

What I did on a Sunday

I was hoping to spend a quiet day in bed, not for any reason (i.e. I'm healthy, no need to panic), just because I can since it was a Sunday. But no, I realised I actually wanted to go to Richmond Park (I have been in London for five years, but never there), and that I had to somehow explore. So I sloooowly got dressed, even put on some make up (!!), checked the bus map and decided which buses I needed (without checking the TfL website! I'm very proud of myself, as it's become a sort of permanent crutch, that site) and eventually did leave the house. I decided to try and find another way to get to the bus stop, and followed a footpath between the houses. The good news is, I did manage to get to the stop. The so-so news are, it had taken me longer than without the 'shortcut'. And the 'harrumph' news, I had just missed the bus and had to wait another 20 minutes. Thankfully, I had bought myself gloves and a hat the previous evening, so I did not freeze, you m...
Read more

Time to wake up from the anaesthesia

We live in a beautiful, bountiful Cosmos, We see its surprising creations daily, miraculously, all around us: the glory of dawns and sunsets; the fantastic changes in the seasons; the astonishingly logical economy of the ecosystems - where everything has a role and nothing goes to waste; the awesomeness of life-generation, two half-cells combining to create a unique, complex, independent, sentient multicellular organism (be it krill or whale, plant or animal, snail or human); the mystery of planets, starts, galaxies far and similar and unlike our own;... It should be so easy to be aware of all that munificence at every life-giving breath, at every passing cloud spotted, at every thought. Why don't we? Because we have been taught to shy away from it all, which has in turn become too much to handle, and thus appears hostile, oppressive, scary. Instead of relishing the World around us, glorifying human kindness and creativity, respectful of the Gift they truly are, we aim to contr...
Read more