Today marks the end of a four-year journey that began in the hospital. I was standing in a line, just prior to my son’s bone marrow transplant when I had a revelation: there is no law that says we cannot be joyful. With that seed of an idea, I entered a windowless room where my son and I walked through the valley of the shadow of death for forty-three days. From that grave, we emerged broken, but alive.
My photo project #choosingjoyeveryday was born as an experiment. I used my camera to force myself to focus on something good every day for one hundred days. It is now 1,150 days later, and I have continued to post a picture almost every day. I viewed my role as a redeemer of social media. I wanted my content to provide a counterbalance to the inundation of soul-destroying content available. Most of the images I featured were of things that were either free or very nearly free—a trip to the park, a walk in the woods, a romp on the beach. I wanted to show that happiness is not expensive, that joy is within the reach of anyone who dares to look for it. Joy is not denial of reality—it acknowledges the darkness, but it chooses the light.
My journey has taken me from the initial project with my #gopro Hero 9, to building my skills with my little #sony a5000. After that, I took to the skies when I was blessed with a #DJI Air 2s. For a birthday present, my wife surprised me with my workhorse Sony #a7iii, and recently, when my son was diagnosed with cancer a third time, I was given an #insta360 X4. I have learned how to capture sea and air, large and small, dark and light, fast and slow, but the thing I enjoy capturing most is people. I love capturing those unguarded moments of pure emotion. In each person I see a divine spark that, if I’m patient enough, I can capture with my camera.
But today marks the end of this daily journey. I’ll still be choosing joy, but not daily. In the future, I’ll probably be working on videography as the opportunity arises; but for now, it is your turn to choose joy. You can focus on a little bit of gratuitous beauty and share it with those around you. Good things cannot continue if people do not nurture them. If you’re the kind of person who believes that a glimmer of joy is enough to tip the scales, I pass the baton to you. Thank you for being a part of this journey with me. I hope my photos have served as a ray of light for you through the dark places. If ever you’re feeling low, find one of my old posts and forward it to a friend.
As always, we are #choosingjoyeveryday
