It's All About the People......

The sun is making another appearance. This time however, the elements of Earth and Sky seem more clear than they have ever been on this trip. The surf is steady and ferocious, the winds have ignored the palms, the rocky coastline is clear of bi-peds and the sky is vastly blue. The sky, ...today it seems completely empty, void of any thought or plans. Much like the sky in my own head.

The reason I came here was for work, and the work is complete. The equipment is packed and the photographs are all backed up. Now, I stare out on the ocean and land with a calm reflectance. Much has happened since my departure from Portland on October 26th. Some bad and all good, but mostly all good. I learned something amazing on this adventure, and didn't think I would ever say this, but it's all about the people. There are some incredible people out there amongst this mostly mixed up world. These are the people who give me hope. I could name all of them off to you along with a story about each, but you have met these people yourself and can think about them with the same smile I have for everyone, and I truly mean everyone, I have met since our arrival in Barrow Alaska.
Last night I had this conversation with one of these great people about all of the stories we walk right by and will never know unless we ask. He asked me, how many times have I bumped into somebody just to say excuse me and nod instead of taking that opportunity to learn their personal story. I have had this same thought and try to curb away from the all to typical, today is my day and I'm on a mission, attitude. However, there are many days when I do run away from interactions because of my self centered mission, usually pointless. The times I've slowed my pace and made that engagement are the times I have learned and evolved the most.

Even through the chaos that happens on every photo shoot (especially location work) I found a new way of enjoying the moments and individual stories around me while working. It's far to easy to get wrapped up in your work and forget that you are living as well. Keeping up with this blog and knowing that I would like to write more made this process of living easier. I was more aware of the experiences happening before me. Writing down your adventures allows you to experience them from a more emotional sophistication rather than a direct impulsive one. I hope to continue posting my daily adventures, allowing myself to see the emotion and beauty in every day existence. It's easy to record the spectacular days because, well, they don't happen every day. But in so many ways they do, I just have to be receptive to them.
This concludes my current journey until tomorrow. From Barrow Alaska to Turtle Bay Hawaii, what a saunter. My mother always told me to never judge a book by it's cover and I finally learned what she meant. Alaska's cover was far and cold, but the book read warm and generous. And Hawaii's cover appeared colder than Alaska and much more disconnected, but the surviving culture here is one of the most beautiful I have seen. Until tomorrow........