Seeing begins with respect, but wonder is the fuel which sustains vision. ~Steven J Meyers

Autodidact … an interesting word … au·to·di·dact – mid 16th century (as autodidacton ): via Latin from Greek autodidaktos ‘self-taught’, from autos ‘self’ + didaskein ‘teach’ – a self-taught person.

I find resonance with this word as there is an ease of self learning outside a classroom which invites an open exploration that is absent, for me, within a teacher-student relationship. Yet, there is an importance to always keep in mind as noted by The Dalai Lama, “… Autodidact … many many mistakes …”

Autodidact … a journey of self learning … entirely self-directed … creating their own study plans and follow them until they’ve achieved their goal defines the blogging study course I undertook in 2018 … A Photo Study – a 52-week photography learning journey of the basic elements of eight visual compositions, one of which included contemplative photography

Then…a shower thought…maybe that one triple A+ image really only arises after 10,000 intentional shutter releases.  Can you just image being present to, thinking through, and connected with each transient moment 10,000 times?   In reality this would be like setting out on a  journey of 10,000 steps knowing that one will never reach the destination.

Yet, what is an important part of a 10,000 endeavor? To create a triple A+ image? Or to undertake a photo study journey accompanied by fun, education, knowledge, experience, and exploration? I’ll go with the fun of creating and opening myself to the beauty of Mother Earth so this photo study blog journey is an encouragement to – not create a triple A+ image – be more intentionally present with each click of the shutter.

…the creative mind of a photographer is like a piece of unexposed film. It contains no preformed images but is always active, open, receptive, and ready to receive and record an image. ~Minor White cited: W Rowe, Zen and the Magic of Photography

It was a sunny day … sitting in a pocket park … waiting for my husband … writing a letter to my Great Aunt with the intention to periodically pause writing, close my eyes, lift my head, open my eyes, and then visually acknowledging the first thing I saw …

Lucky shot … maybe or maybe not … but looking back it was a profound moment to be intentionally open to what I saw … an eye.

If something happens from pure good luck, it seemingly came out of nowhere, based only on fate and not on anything you did to make it happen.

Thank you Sofia for this week’s challenge.