Last time around we posted separate pre-trip musings to set the emotional and cerebral stage for what could easily be seen as a vacation for two rowdy guys. Heck, we're not nearly as shallow as we may come off. We certainly like to have fun, but it's easy to say that both of us derive a lot of enjoyment from working out the bullshit from daily life and coming home a newer and better person each time. I expect this trip to be just as illuminating, if not more.
The only thing that is a real shame is that I wanted to shed some poundage prior to this, but I chose other priorities. My own damn fault. Whatevs, I am who I am, all the time.
So here I sit in my apartment, drinking some Peets Major Dickason's and waking up from a long week (seven weeks) of work and visiting friends and their art shows. All in all, I am very happy with how my life is going right now. I'm being social in the wake of an extended separation and rough divorce last year, I'm making new friends, making art, shooting more than ever, making great progress at work, meeting gals I like and some like me back, and growing up in big ways.
For instance, I've learned one of those really important life lessons - how to be friends with a woman I think is attractive. Seriously, it's hard! Well, it was. I think it's one part controlling primal instincts and one part choosing the more important benefit over satisfying said primal urge. For sure, the benefits of having meaningful friendships with members of the fairer sex outweigh a lack of it any day. But it's something I really didn't know how to do until this past year or two. I had a best friend, and she was a gal (and previously my wife), so it's a skill I didn't try to develop since attraction and friendship were wrapped together in one package. Being on my own, it's now part of my healthy lifestyle. After all, attraction is one of those intangibles that can strike quickly, but when you ask yourself, "What's the benefit of not being myself because I am attracted to this gal?" it gets pretty easy to identify that there are none. So, on to being myself always. In the end, that is the goal paramount to staying happy all the time.
So what big things can I focus on for this road trip? Sentography, right?
Sentography: dynamic forms of communication of emotion and qualities.
A portrait photographer worth their salt always looks to make a person or people a story out of a moment. A sentographer has to take this one step further - not just make someone look good and natural, but capture them in a natural state of emotion. And make it cathartic, damnit! (snicker).
So in addition to my regular path of always reaching for more self-improvement and having maximum fun, I will add to this my ability to help people delve into themselves and then capture those moments. Perhaps we'll post interviews, too. Not sure how this is going to work, but I do know that somehow, it will.
I guess that last sentence is something I say to myself often and that's a big part of who I am today. I believe in me.
So, RT4 (Road Trip 4 for the uninitiated), I'm coming for you. Be ready to bare your soul.