For the next few weeks, I will share behind the scenes stories and details of each image in the 2021 Calendar along with an independent observation, thought or reflection. As I have phrased it before, I hope to use my work as a guide for operating in the Good, True, and Beautiful reality waiting for all of us. For the first week in this series, we are looking at the photo for January.  

About the Image:

As a nature photographer, I seek for subjects' that emerge from the mundane. I've noticed that as my preference for photographing my home region increases, so does my noticing of particular scenes. Ultimately, it comes down to the way we perceive our surroundings. It is easy for us to discredit our homeland as boring or repetitive, especially while we drive past yet another farmers' field, but realizing the beauty in the ordinary is when we genuinely see. This trio of trees is near my inlaws home and presented themselves as subjects on a short New Years Day walk. The frost on their skeletal limbs and the bleak white sky directed me to wonder how or why they persisted. In retrospect, their tenacity seemed to reverberate throughout the upcoming year.

Reflection: 

It seems as though one needs to participate in the systems they desire to change or challenge. To what degree does the revolutionizer sacrifice autonomy to gain trust and influence? Arguably, minimally. The moment the momentum toward change is shiftable, one must do so with wise, discerning courage. Failing to do so may result in being trapped or compromised in the convenience and comfort provided by what they desire to reform. The enigma is that to participate in a system you condemn, you too must see the goodness that endures.