Look Here: Learn to Live for the Moment

There was a girl, she was camera shy. She hated photos of herself, thus, the dislike of being in front of the camera. As early as 5 years old, she grew a fondness of being behind the lens. With her mother’s point and shoot film camera, she would try to shoot one shot, whenever her mother would allow her. It meant nothing to her then.

Years later, the digital camera was invented, she was one of the first to have it in school, although technically, it wasn’t hers. She took it out at often as she could, took photos of her friends, of school events, of  the sky, of flowers and of random things she would see. It made her happy… until the camera was stolen on her graduation day.

She lived her university days without a camera to shoot with, it was okay, but the yearning to shoot was in her heart. So upon graduation, she put together all her saved money and she bought herself a digital SLR. She felt ecstatic and guilty at the same time. Guilty because it cost so much, ecstatic because she has wanted to have her own camera for the longest time.

The camera became her best friend, she went everywhere with it. She met people, she encountered people, she watched people and captured their moments. These people taught her new things, not only about photography, but also about life.

She got a job that required a lot of her time, photography was put aside. People knew that her heart longed to be out there, but in her head, it wasn’t time, she wasn’t ready. Workshops and apprenticeship programs opened, but she had other priorities. She let them pass, she stayed where she was, until her heart could bear it no more.

Truth is, she was just tired. She wanted to get away from the plastic world, the never ending meetings, the hours in the office staring at the computer doing nothing. She didn’t know she was being called out to do what her heart has always sought after.

Today, her heart is grateful and she is happy. Although it took almost 2 decades to get where she is now. It wasn’t such a waste of time because she realized that she had to be where she went through so she would learn, so she would be molded, so she would be ready.

The Lord has led her to certain fields, to certain places, each encounter changing her to become a better version of herself. So, to this day, she lives life without regrets, knowing that each heartache is essential to the next happiness she would experience.

Sometimes, she wishes she could be a spectator to her own life, be able to capture those moments of laughter, of joy, of tears, of wonder… to freeze those emotions like a time capsule and put them up in a frame, where she would be reminded of how God is good and life is beautiful. However, life is meant to be lived in reality and what she cannot do for herself, she has decided to do for others.

Smiles are what energize her whenever she goes out and shoot. The sweetness of the man to the woman, the love of the father to his child, the way a mother cares for her baby, how friends rejoice with a couple in their joyous occasion… she revels in these bits of life, which God allows man to enjoy.

In her head, every happy moment should be captured, every emotional time should be caught. She catches herself smile, whenever she would see moments of laughter. She would giggle to herself, whenever she’d witness adorable kids making funny faces. She finds herself tearing up inside, whenever a tear jerking moment is right before her eyes. Then she goes home, and hopes in her heart that these people, who she took shots of will see the wondrous joy of life and the greatness of God in her photos.

Look Here: Learn to Live for the Moment