I recently blogged on my 500px.com page about how we are, in addition to technology, a work in progress in of ourselves. I’m speaking from a photographer’s point of view. We often get lost in the process as we focus on our ever-advancing camera gear.

It got me thinking.

I wasn’t looking for a definitive answer or a closing point, but was instead raising that idea for the sake of staying in the moment. Maybe then I could remain aware of myself as I carry on with my photography.

So if the subject of photography is anything other than yourself, the photographer, then why would being aware of yourself be important? I cannot answer that for you, but for me it’s important.

It helps me to balance my presence in, say, street photography where I’d rather remain unseen. More deeply, it helps me to see what impulses are making me frame a subject like so, or choose this or that for a subject. It helps me keep tabs on what affects my work.

But this idea is certainly not restricted to photography. It can pertain to anything.

Are you a teacher? A student? A parent?

It seems silly to ask that as if any of it matters, but it is necessary. No matter what our lives are about, we are all moving from one place in our lives to another. Change is constant.

Does that also seem silly or odd-sounding? Maybe, but saying all of that is not supposed to give answers. I’m just creating a question. Leaving the question open, no matter how simple it is, allows us to keep our realm of understanding fresh. It’s like a door. A shut door will not allow anything in, or out.

Within this environment we can better remain in the present, more acutely tuned into each breath of change as it happens. And if we’re lucky, we can sense the moment of opportunity where we can better control our choices, actions, and destiny.

☺