Happiness is...

My words today are not about me but my wonderful husband. He's been such a tremendous support during this difficult time and here's a shout out to him, "Hey-A" (not sure how that's spelled). He expresses his artistic side through photography and he's created a photoblog website TheOtherMartinTaylor.com. (Apparently there is a famous Jazz guitarist with the same name. Clever work around, eh?) Beneath each photograph he types thoughts or comments about the process and I find I learn about who my husband is as an artist. Who he is apart from the "death do us part" bit, and I really like who he is. How knowledgeable he is of his craft, and how much he enjoys sharing his process so that others may learn. And this inspires me; I tend to be very withdrawn and shy around my work. And I thought I'd be jealous of his successes (like this one http://www.photojunkie.org/) and I'm finding instead a welling up of happiness for him. This is good, a relief, and such a blessing.

Another thought I had was about art itself. When people read poetry, especially other poets, it's with a very critical eye. Is photography the same? At fist I thought because it's an image and a beautiful one that the viewer would trust the integrity, but the answer I'm finding is no. That aside from the layperson who views or reads for enjoyment and only tentatively forms opinions stronger than "I like that" or "I don't like that", you find that the more you learn about the craft, the more you apply that knowledge to other's work. Martin's way of addressing "bad photography" is to teach generally through articles and how to's. A lot of poetry critique is about the individual poem, how to grind and grind away until it's bare boned and just okay. For this reason, I'm understanding that the best way to learn about poetry in general, and your own poetry specifically, is to read broadly on the subject and to keep coming back to your own work with new vision.

So, in the same way that a poem is never finished I imagine the photographer winces at the lighting, the composition, the technique, the subject and learns something new with each photograph taken. It is the only way to learn, to keep shooting, to keep writing, to stay inspired. After this year of one physical hazard after another, I thought my blue muse had slipped into a coma of boredom, and I realize that it is all about the inspiration to create. And I trust she'll wake up and take me back. Any day now...