How do we experience reality?

 

 

Some say by photographing every encounter, we are trying to capture it, to possess it, instead of allowing the moment to present to us what it has to offer. Contemplation is a manner of receiving, rather than possessing, to let the thing contemplated gradually reveal itself.

 

 

Or are we so accustomed to stimulation, that we depart the moment altogether, entering into the virtual realm of the “smartphone” even in the presence of exotic and magnificent animals where we might contemplate the beauty of creation or the heartache of captivity?

 

 

Perhaps we see reality only as a sort of reflection, through the lens of the phone camera, never truly pausing to see the sights and people are they truly are.

 

 

What will we observe when we open our eyes and put aside the distraction?

 

 

The appalling taste, texture and smells of life…

 

 

The atrocity of human action and man’s inability to learn.

 

 

The vibrant consumerism and overwhelming opportunities for pleasure in modern society…

 

 

Or…

 

 

Adventure.

 

 

Creativity.

 

 

And the humor of what it means to be human in a species with others totally like us and totally different.

 

Enjoy.

 

This post inspired by observations at the Stanislaus County Fair and an inspiring education in the mind and literary work of Flannery O’Connor.