Throughout life I believe that we all need to strive for improvement. you know, just like when your mom and dad, wife, husband, teacher, preacher, policeman, parole officer, what have you, told you that you need improvement in your grades….cleaning your room…attitude…..choice of boyfriends or girlfriends….money management…you name it. No matter how old each of us are we can always think of ways that we were told that we needed improvement.
Sometimes we really did try to make improvements, but alas, those improvements many times failed to meet the expectations of the for-mentioned individuals or only partly met their expectations. In any case it wasn’t for lack of effort on our part (well, not always) but our own lack of interest played into our perceived failure.
Maybe we just plain didn’t want to listen. Or we just found another itch that needed improving! I think finally came to my own rational that the most satisfying improvement is that which I’ve worked on myself. A prime example were two photo shoots at the Ridgefield Washington National Wildlife Refuge, one two weeks ago and the other last week. I came home from the first shoot feeling, well OK, but not quite satisfied with the results. It wasn’t that the subjects weren’t great, it was that I wasn’t really looking at them and taking the time to see them.
The second shoot I took the time to set up the shot, look at the subject and really got into the photo. Just by looking at the first two red tailed hawks I think the difference can be seen. This is just one tiny example of what we do in life. Even though for years my photo editor Max and others have told me to get closer, well, I may be a slow learner, but on the other hand, when I decided that my photos needed improvement, I found that I could do it. That’s not to say to ignore all the other critics in life, some may really have your best interest at hart, but listen to your inner self.
Love the simple and clear message of this post – plus pictures always help 🙂