Reality & Desire (2015)
Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution. —Ansel Adams
[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Keeping it simple this morning means not digging too terribly far back in the archives. We first published this picture as part of a set in the art section back in May. Click here to see the full set. As I was arguing with myself about what to do this morning, it just seemed to make sense to use this shot, partly because I saw the model earlier this week and was reminded of how much I like this set, and partly because I didn’t need to do any additional work for it to be ready for this morning’s post. I really can be quite lazy at times.
Keeping it simple is a necessity on a Saturday morning. As much as I would like to start my day a little later than the 4:00 AM that is the weekday norm, the children have little body clocks that don’t yet possess the ability to recognize the difference between a school day and the weekend. I know the day will eventually come when convincing either of them to get up before noon will be practically impossible. We’re not to that point yet, though, and as a result Saturday mornings inevitably start much earlier than I want.
Trying to type while wiping sleep from my eyes is a bit dangerous. For starters, I’m usually alternating between wiping sleep and drinking coffee. Sometimes my hands get confused as to which we’re doing. Spilled coffee is the number one reason why I wear black. There’s also the danger that, if the coffee doesn’t wake me up soon enough, I might forget this little thing called tact and start writing something genuinely offensive. I’m really not as nice as I try to appear in public.[/one_half]
[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Keeping it simple is also an effective method of communication; one that is too often under employed. We sometimes mistake intelligence with the ability to string countless multi-syllabic words together as we prattle on about how much we like our number 2 pencil or some other really simple concept. Real intelligence is knowing how to be brief, and more importantly, knowing when to shut up. Saying too much about a simple concept everyone already understands makes one sound rather like a politician.
Unfortunately, there are these things called minimum word counts. Mine is 600 words. Below that, the two-column layout doesn’t work. That means that I have to sit here every morning and find ways to fill up the space. Most days that’s not a problem. In fact, most days I have to do some heavy editing to keep the whole thing from being too long. Most days I have no problem being extremely verbose. I’m really struggling here, especially knowing that everything important that needed to be said was in the first paragraph.
Keeping it simple is a pretty good rule in life as well. I’ve been in the position, several years ago now, of looking around me and realizing that we had too much stuff. Granted, a lot of the stuff was nice, but we were spending money on things we really didn’t need; things that actually made our lives more complicated rather than helping out in any significant way. Shortly thereafter, life came along and corrected that situation. I’ve learned how to make simple work at the most basic level. Simple is good. Simple is healthy. And now, I am simply done. See you tomorrow with something different.[/one_half_last]