Beauty is Enough

"At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint, or even remember it. It is enough.” ~Toni Morrison

Tonight in the art career management course that I am taking we had to partner up with someone and discuss why do we do what we do. What drives us to be an artist? I was surprised by many of my answers. I started writing to escape and create a world that brought adventure to my life. I do something similar with my photography. Most recently, after the Newtown school shootings, I grabbed my camera and went in search of beauty. I needed to submerge myself in a different world than the one unfolding in the media.

My desire is to heal and inspire people with both my writing and pictures but I had not perhaps fully realized that I wanted to mend my own brokenness too until tonight when I heard myself say that. As much as I want others to soak in joy, peace, and love, I write probably first and foremost for myself. I want to point people to beyond this world but my art grounds me in the Creator, Giver, and Sustainer. As I delve into the divine, I realize that my own soul is healed. What a gift!

Toni Morrison has it right, though. Perhaps some of my best photographs live in my head, ones that I never took after lining up the shot. I was too saturated by my emotions to click the button. Those sacred moments have been enough for me and sustained me long after the memory fades.

Peace,

Suzanne