The Heart Does Not Complicate

I used to love photography. I spent all my free hours in high school in the dark room, developing film and sloshing paper in trays until images appeared. In college I took photos for the newspaper, and seriously considered moving to California to major in photography.

Photography made my heart happy. I never moved to California, but I continued taking classes after college whenever I could. Since then, my cameras and lenses have sat in their bags mostly un-used. Our phones do just fine and we always have them with us.

A few months ago I got the urge to relearn the camera. I mentioned it to my boyfriend and he immediately dropped off his digital SLR. Like my ancient cameras stashed away, I haven't touched it. My mind churned with excuses - What if it's hard? What if I forgot? I'll need a few hours to figure this out and there is never a huge chunk of time. Should I really even bother? What's the point?

And so it goes - our heart gives us a nudge and our mind mucks it up. 

This morning I pulled out the camera and started clicking away. I noticed which photos looked ok and which looked poor. I changed the settings and tried again. I felt the weight of the body. I remembered the familiar sound of capturing a shot. I peeked at my images and brought the lens back up to my eye. 

Truthfully, it doesn't matter why I decided to pick up the camera. I need no reason at all to start taking photos. I don't need a grand plan and there doesn't have to be any attachment. The only outcome is that I have said yes to something my heart remembers. 

Our hearts speak to us all the time. Our minds question and complicate. Our heart asks that we do the next simple thing - like getting a hold of a camera and taking some photos.

Think about the pages that are unwritten, the trips not taken, the gardens not planted, or the canvas that stays blank.

All we have to do is start. Our heart doesn't want us to give up hours of time or spend lots of money. Our heart speaks to us with the simplest of longings. Our hearts tell us what will make us happy, and sometimes, it is something we already know, but has long been forgotten.