The more pictures I take (goodness, I think I'm getting into the hundreds of thousands by now!), the more I realize that I have an ever-growing soft spot in my heart for the underdogs of the natural world.
The rough-and-crumbly things, instead of just the smooth-and-shiny.
Overgrown gardens with weeds aplenty.
The "ugly" bugs. (That naturally excludes the exalted butterflies and the ever-adorable ladybugs.)
I'm so plugged into social media for my blog that I'm hyper-aware of the constant barrage of "Perfect." Instagram perfect. Pinterest perfect. Facebook perfect. Martha Stewart must think she's died and gone to heaven, with the whole world rallying around her like angels, sharing their carefully crafted visions of perfection.
And, let's be honest here: I fully admit that I strive pretty darn hard to take "picture-perfect" shots for this blog. Because who doesn't like pretty things? I'm guilty, too.
But here's the thing: I also want to embrace the "perfection-challenged."
The raggedy edges.
Curling leaves that have been gobbled up and heartily enjoyed by a bug (or two, or three).
Faded blossoms that have been fried to a crisp by late-summer sun.
There's a delicate beauty, a quiet grace, in time-worn things.
I'm reminded of The Velveteen Rabbit, the part about becoming real. (Can anybody read that book without misting up? Honestly...)
“You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby.
But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
― Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
And so I ask myself: What gentle, worn-down, perfectly imperfect thing is whispering for my attention today? Let me celebrate it, while it lasts.
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P.S. My photo e-courses will be running again in October and November--details coming soon!
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© 2015 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com LLC. All rights reserved. All photos and text digitally fingerprinted and watermarked. Please do not use any of my photographs without asking me first for permission at [email protected] and then clearly linking back to this site with photo credits. Site licensed by Creative Commons.
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