LOOKING, SEEING

Cholla Sleleton--Sonoran Desert, Scottsdale, AZ

You see in life what you look for. These close up images of the decaying remains of a Cholla jumping cactus have many possibliities. But the first one immediately caught my eye for the "evil eye" that stared back at me on my computer screen after I downloaded it. The second image attracted my attention for the organic art I thought I was photographing. The skeletal remains of a once thriving, living organism viewed in the micro world reveals a subtle evil and beauty that mirrors our universe. There seems to be a potentially equal number of both negative and positive life forces around us at all times. Perhaps this is part of the delicate balance that exists throughout the entire universe. And we have the free will and attitude to look for either one. We can see the goodness that others exhibit all around us or we can see the terrible consequences of man's inhumanity to man. We can see all the natural disasters and suffering that seem to be occuring like the increasing pains of childbirth or we can see all the acts of courage and compassion that teams of humanitarian workers bring to the aftermath. Street smart people shouldn't turn a blind eye to the evil that exists around them. But we shouldn't ever become so hard hearted and callous that we look right past all the beauty that is in our world as well.
And what we look for is what we will see.