an invitation to integrate

Just the thought of writing these lines to you makes me teary.  There's a way in which this conversation is so close to my heart that it's hard to offer up and to let go.  It's so personal to me that I can only tell you these things if I imagine that you are here in this tea lounge, sitting next to me so I can lean in and look you deeply in the eyes.  So, if you were here with me, this is what I would say.

What we do is not easy.

With every image we shoot and each photo we share, we reveal something about the way we see the world, something about the eyes with which we are looking.  There's an inherent vulnerability to it, and also something that compels us to pick up the camera anyway.  Something within that says that our vision matters, even in the midst of internal and external choruses that disagree.

This is why we are photographers--it's not just because we like pretty pictures, it's because our vision matters.  Even if we are only clinging to this truth by a thread.

How we are seeing is central to our work, and if we are not seeing with our whole selves, our vision is incomplete.  And here's the obstacle: life has a fragmenting nature.  From early ages we experience hurt and disappointment, and vow to protect ourselves by playing it safe.  By sweeping parts of ourselves, our voice and our vision quietly under the rug.

But playing it safe has a cost all its own.

There's a way to invite those banished parts back into the picture, and an expansiveness that follows.  There's a kind of courageous stepping out beyond your constraints that is a coming home to yourself.

Your vision matters, and when you reach for that camera I want you take hold of it with your expansive, original, and utterly courageous self.

Come. We will find the way together.

And today we also invite you to share a photo that reveals something about the way you see the world.

Image and words courtesy of the lovely and talented Jen Lee. You can get to know Jen and learn more about her Integrate Retreats on her blog.

Comments

[Kat]

Thank you for your words! You have expressed a view so close to my own. I looked through my photos and found this one, where I think there is a part of me revealed through the image, more than I expected: http://www.kateyeview.com/2010/07/create-to-live.html

[sarah]

what a profound and inspiring post. I so agree with what you have written and applaud your spirit in writing it. Here is my picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shorelinesphotography/4875103790/

[Marcie]

What an inspiring post...and a very inviting retreat.
Here's an image of how I saw the world today:
http://marciescudderphotography.com/index.php?showimage=1258

[Puna]

What a cute capture. Today I see the world from on my knees and my camera on the ground.

http://lifesignatures.org/wordpress/2010/08/les-champignons-fantastique/

[Marianne LoMonaco]

I see beauty everywhere, even gross parking lots.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mariannelomonaco/4858047107/

[erika]

A form of these words have been on repeat in my head for a couple weeks now. Thanks for putting them down for me to read.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/onemoreplease/4850893172/

I love this photo because it was so difficult to get a picture of these polar bears. The place was packed with people & the bears weren't interested in sitting still. It required a lot of editing, but I was happy to step outside my box to create it to mirror what I saw while at the zoo.

[soupatraveler]

when i took this picture, it had been a long, emotional week. no matter how cheerful i tried to process the image, it wouldn't happen. so instead i opted to go with exactly how i was feeling and i think its all the better for it:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46922592@N00/4851489904/

[Brooke]

I've pushed myself with a list of 52 subjects to photograph. This week is number 51. Some weeks have been disappointing but others have been encouraging. Like this photo of the bridge. Taken with my point-and-shoot camera, nothing special about it but after processing it, it's become a favorite.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterboo502/4678384666/in/set-72157622010642425/

[Krystyn]

<em>And today we also invite you to share a photo that reveals something about the way you see the world.</em>

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zanathan/4870505585

[Sarah]

Wow there is a subject...how to Let Fly with your vision...beautifully offered up and clearly from the heart...I adore the shot..something bittersweet in it ..but beautiful!!
I have been told that I find beauty in things that are overlooked sometimes. Here are a couple that spoke to me....pleased my own eye.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cottagegardenstudios/4438401683/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cottagegardenstudios/4270015338/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cottagegardenstudios/3950766778/

[Trude]

You are so absolutely right. We are definitely doing something vulnerable when we share our POV with the world. I'd have to say, first, picking up a camera has definitely impacted my perspective. But I've always noticed things like this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trudem/4817433780/

Clean, simple. Real life. :)

[Jamie Solorio]

I think that catching the simple true moments in life are the best, not complicated at all. Here is a picture I took of my best friend with her daughter. Her daughter likes to grab ahold of her necklace and play with it often, and catching this will help my friend and her daughter always remember this stage of her daughter's life.
http://jamie-solorio.blogspot.com/2010/07/first-photography-shoot.html

[Stephanie]

This is a great post and something I was thinking about just last week when I visited the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco. There are many images I've seen that use different methods of processing and I always find beautiful. But when I try something similar, it never quite works for me because it's quite my "vision." I'm now coming to terms with my love of geometry in photos and the interplay between light and dark. That's what catches my eye most often.

http://bigmariolife.blogspot.com/2010/08/sf-moma.html

[Elizabeth]

After years of shooting street portraits and thinking this was my real passion I've come to realize that what I really love is a unique sort of "landscape". This image, taken from the top of the cliff, represents the awesome power of overcoming fear to do what you love. Climb down these stairs and you land in the Pacific Ocean at a well loved surf spot. Surfers of all age and stripe weave down these stairs carefully toting their boards to go out and conquer the ocean.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elizabethmeier/4876163124/

[Suki]

Yes, so inspiring and absolutely true.

How I see the world today.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suki_fotografiert/4875932214/

[cigi]

Wonderful, profound post. I love conventional beauty as much as anyone but feel most engaged when focusing on the starker, grittier, less obvious forms it can take:

http://instamaticgratification.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/54365/

[Amanda]

this is one of my favorite photos. it is for my baby girl i gave birth to at only 15 weeks pregnant. she is always in my heart.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amandaleee/3516984579/

[gina]

I look for whimsy .... this photo is in my office/music/playroom by the window next to the keyboard and printer ...http://ramblingonandon-gina.blogspot.com/

[Jennifer]

This was taken in an old jail cell, full of stories, histories and iron, but this was the first thing I noticed:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cardboardsea/4870262889/

[Pamela]

Since I've started the 365 Photo a Day project back in April I've found I notice the world differently.....here is one of those photo that surprised me....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/happydog/4789265522/in/set-72157623756404468/

[emily]

thank you, jen lee! my spirit was sinking today and you just gave me a lift. i just started a new "project" inspired by a few lines in one of Roger Housden's collections of poetry (ten poems to change your life)... "We can help ourselves to see anew by learning to look more softly; to become aware of our peripheral vision while looking at what is before us. We can allow a soft gaze, rather than a sharp attention, to rest on the object, knowing only that we do not know it; that -- be it a piece of toast, a hat, a coin, a dandelion -- it contains worlds within worlds, and a love beyond love, that have yet to reveal themselves to us."

so now i'm "looking softly" at the world...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/girl_seeking_grace/4868124379/

[cynthia]

Jen Lee's words are truly inspirational. My internal struggle to share vs not share my photos can be intense. Thank you for providing me with additional courage to plod on and share my vision.

http://apictureintime.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/welcome-to-my-world/

[Tina]

My little house is dying from lack of care and repair & I was feeling sad that I've no money to fix it.
As I looked at some of the many cracks in the wall I spotted the rainbows, caused by my crystals hanging at my kitchen window. - http://bit.ly/cHZvMh

[jane]

Your heart and your words always melt mine Jen....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/faerian/4876562887/

[Kristine]

your post is so touching and inspiring =) i have a project 365 on my site for anything that i find bright and beautiful. i see the world differently everyday, and i feel accomplished with each picture that i take or post... the world is so beautiful, i took this photo with just my point-and-shoot and left it unedited and i still found it captivating...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blueelephantphotography/4729596732/

[elk]

thank you jen for the way you expressed the need to photograph and the vulnerable side to it...

i saw blue & creme everywhere today...

http://www.redorgray.com/2010/08/shades-of-blue-and-cream.html

[Beth]

Here's an image from this past weekend. Part of an Indian wedding ceremony took place on a street downtown and I was lucky enough to be present for it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/caseyann09/4872916872/in/set-72157624693091034/
Jen, that was just the encouragement and reminder that I needed today- that my vision, my perspective, matters and that I need to treasure my vision just as much as I treasure the vision of others.

[Omie]

Hey everybody check out my photo blog: http://photexpia.blogspot.com/

[BlessedMess]

Thank you for your wonderful post. Much needed today.

[Life with Kaishon]

My friend Sandra (Suki) linked to this today. It is so beautiful. Thank you for writing this Jen. Thank you for sharing your heart and your vision with so may clickers. What a joy to read this! And to feel empowered by it.