Life is filled with adventures and journeys and many a wondrous and complex events, feelings, emotions, thoughts and surprises. It’s no wonder that we humans get overwhelmed with our lives, even though we are mostly responsible for what we fill our lives with. While out on one such adventure I spent a good portion of my time taking pictures; most of them are for my eyes and my families eyes only, after all, they’re our cherished memories. There are some pictures that I was particularly proud of, while others I didn’t think anything, one way good or bad, about them. They are pictures and they captured what I saw. But here comes life, in the form of a close friend, to hit me with a surprise.

The following images I shared with my friend Carl over at Photographic Central and his was response was, “Nice pictures.” Nothing more. Nothing less. And honestly I was a little taken aback. I was expecting a different response. No, I’m not sure what type of response I was expecting but I was hoping it was more than “Nice pictures.”

Now that’s not to say that “Nice pictures.” isn’t  a decent compliment, because it is. It is my fault in expecting, or hoping, that he would see what I see. Maybe he does or did. Maybe he didn’t. I shared some pictures I was proud of and that’s what matters. Whatever you decide to share be proud of it. Don’t expect anyone else to see what you see. Differing opinions are okay. In fact, they are more than okay, they’re great. Ultimately I believe differing opinions have the opportunity to promote and create growth; both personally and artistically.

Carl and I tend to push each other…a lot. We motivate and inspire each other. Sometimes we know whether or not one of us has inspired the other. Most of the time not. We’re men that want to be better men. We strive to be better, to be the best. Do we fail, yes. Do we keep “driving, and striving”? You’re damn right. We have a silent agreement of sorts. A pact.

I sent Carl a link to this blog to let him know, “Hey, not that you need me to tell you this because I’m sure you already know, but I’m still working on my goals and making decent headway.” I sent him a link to my HERE…WE…GO… blog post. If you clicked on the link you’ll see the featured image, a black and white shot of the open ocean.

imgp0895

My intent was to only share my progress on my goals, nothing more. I wasn’t expecting his response to the image; “Awesome. Love that image too. Really love it.” His response made me do a double take on the image. I threw that in there, the image, because I thought it was a “Nice picture.” Nothing more. Nothing less. But Carl really loves it. Why? I went back and looked over the image and kept asking myself, what does he see that I don’t? And here we are, a day later, and many minutes (possibly hours) spent going over the image that Carl “really loves” and I’m still thinking “What am I missing?”.

The answer is nothing. I’m not missing anything. Pictures. Art. Stories. Images. Everything operates on its own level, its own wave length. What works for me might not work for you. What you find awesome I might find below average. And guess what, that’s okay.

So wherever you are on your journey, whatever stage you’re at with your novel, your canvass, your photography, your art, your creation, wherever you are…that’s where you need to be. It’s okay to be a work in progress, we all are. It’s okay for a friend or family member to not see what you see. Keep creating. Keep moving forward. Allow yourself to be open to the possibility of differing opinions. Embrace life’s little – and big – surprises.

Expect the unexpected.

Your journey starts with a step, where are you headed?