Lead With Your Heart

It is tempting to think of photography as a static art form.  After all, a normal photograph is literally just a singular moment in time (I say “normal” because there are techniques to give a sense of motion in a photograph, but most of the time a photograph is a split second moment).  But there are moments that, even if they are 1/640th of a second (such as this one) that give a strong sense of movement.  This was from Scout and my walk this morning and what drew me in were the two contrails that formed a cross near the horizon.  However, after I downloaded the photographs later in the day, I noticed the other contrails that seemingly are moving from right to left.  I also saw what looked to be an arrow head formed by the sky/clouds and their reflection in the water.  The wispy clouds also seem to be moving to the left.

I didn’t see all that when I photographed that moment but I was just going with my heart of what I was initially feeling.  I was drawn to the light of the rising sun and those initial contrails and yet there was so much more.

The phrase “lead with my heart” has been sitting in my journal for about a week now.  I heard it recently when doing yoga with a new instructor.  As he was leading through several moves in this flow, he kept speaking of how we were to move with and lead with our heart through the practice.  That has really resonated with me and I feel it in this photograph.  Leading with my heart led me to something far deeper and more beautiful than what I saw in that initial moment.

Hmmm....feels like a lesson beyond just a single photograph.