My creative lesson of week 10: Fun is important
I felt a bit flippant writing about the creative lesson I have learned from the ‘Abandoned’ challenge.
Our world seemed to have turned upside-down overnight because of the coronavirus. Schools are closed now in Israel and gatherings are not allowed to exceed ten people. People are encouraged to avoid public transport and rather work from home.
As I am writing these words, I am sitting in a train carriage with only six other people. We are definitely keeping our 2 meters distance between us. The image of a few marbles rattling about in a shoebox comes to mind as the train sways us along.
Just last week disembarkers would have to fight against a human current to get off as hundreds of us surged as soon as the train stopped. And then you would be satisfied with your standing-room only sardine space.
So how could I write about what fun I had on my “Abandoned” photoshoot? It was a glorious spring day with perfect weather. Every plant thing is either green or sprouting flowers. And the light was amazing. Bright and clear but not TOO strong. Perfect shooting weather 😊.
My husband accompanied me on a nice long hike to the old quarry to Binjamina, one of my favourite places in Israel.
We weren’t the only ones enjoying the place. Families were either cycling or hiking in the area and a large youth group were having a picnic together.
There are lots of things to photograph in the old quarry. It was just an amazing day and a great photo shoot. Life was beautiful through my lens and in my heart and my soul was blissfully content.
I enjoyed myself so much and knew that the creative lesson of week 10 is the importance of having fun. Or just having a good time..or (if you are a really grumpy type 😁 ) it is important to be content sometimes with life.
I started however to have second thoughts about sharing this creative lesson by the time the ‘Abandoned’ album got published. How can I write that it is important to have fun when we are standing on the brink of such a very uncertain and potentially scary future?
Three things happened to change to my mind.
- The Italian people singing from their balconies. Italy is one of the countries with an extremely high number of deaths and it seems to be a very scary place to live now. And yet that wonderful warm spirit of Italy that we all love and admire is still there. Even if you cannot leave your house because of the virus, you can still contribute something. The videos of the Italians singing from their balconies became viral and inspired many others all over the world.
- I listened to this podcast of Joe Rogan speaking to the writer Johann Hari about addictions. In the podcast Johann Hari mentioned the work of Dr Bruce Alexander who created “Rat park”. It was already found that when lonely rats in an empty cage were offered a water bottle filled with plain water or one with heroine, they always chose the bottle with the drug until they overdose and die. But if the rats are placed in a cool cage with other rats and things to do, aka ‘Rat park’, they prefer drinking the plain water Living in the shadow of corona virus is no fun but if we ARE going to live in a ‘cage’ for a while shouldn’t we do our best to make it as park-like as possible? Even if it means that I DO write about my wonderful (and outdoors!) experience at my Abandoned photoshoot. AND the importance of having fun…
- I started to think how Israelis react whenever there is another war or terror attacks. Regular life in Israel can sometimes be scary too with missle attacks or neck stabbings. The terror attacks sometimes have a freezing effect on us. I just want to keep a low profile then and make like a tortoise but life in Israel does not allow you to. In these situations we take as many precautions as possible but in the end life has to go on. Children still go on school trips to Jerusalem, people still shop at the markets and we all still use public transport. (Ironically the virus has put a stop to all of that now..) If we can do all these scary things in the times of terror, I can definitely write from the cozy safety of my home.
It is definitely starting to look as though THIS virus, is THE virus, so don’t forget this creative lesson of this week. Having fun is not just a “nice to have” thing, it is essential to our lives.
You can have a look at the entire 52Frames “Abandoned” album here:
Week 10: Abandoned.
And here are some more of my ‘Abandoned’ photos.
Read more of my creative lessons:
Week 1: Don’t just focus on your flaws
I belong to this photo group called 52Frames where we have to take a photo and upload it every week. (It is 100% free to join but take note that the deadlines are strict.) Plodding along every week getting my weekly photo has taught me a lot about creativity.
My other creative endeavors are writing words, writing code and messing around with drawings and fiber art.
