46: #59, #60
"Life is long if you give it away."
from "Life Is Long" by David Byrne/Brian Eno
(lyric by David Byrne)
Journal archive, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, July 30, 2011
I am trying to get my life in order. It's harder than it ought to be. This is because, in some ways, my life has gotten quite out of order. There are many distractions, both real and those that I create for myself. Sometimes I just crave solitude, but I also fear that I'd fritter it away if I had it.
There is just a lot going on right now. Trust me. And time just seems to slip out of my hands, which is one reason why I take these photos. To remind myself to not let the time slip away. But reminding myself and actually doing something about it are different things.
I'm not saying progress hasn't been made. But I am saying that incremental progress needs to give way to some kind of completion. Too many loose ends to count right now.
Anyway, what you see in this photo are two bins containing my journal. All 30 years of it.
Not everything is currently in those bins. I consider this blog, which I've been keeping on one site or another for 11 years, to be part of my journal (the "public" part, I suppose) but I haven't been as vigilant as I'd like to be about printing hard copies of entries as I post them.
But still, here's 30 years of my life, in two bins. I can't help but think there might be a book or two in those bins. We'll see.
Valley Forge National Historical Park, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, July 31, 2011
This is the Maurice Stephens House, in Valley Forge Park. I've decided this will be my end of the month photo. It's probably good, at the end of each month to go to the same place, just stand there for a moment, and breathe. The vantage point represented here is a good place for me to do this: the park is easy to get to and there is actually a large stone embedded in the ground that will ensure that I stand in exactly the same place once a month. For some reason, this seems rather important to me right now.
from "Life Is Long" by David Byrne/Brian Eno
(lyric by David Byrne)
Journal archive, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, July 30, 2011
I am trying to get my life in order. It's harder than it ought to be. This is because, in some ways, my life has gotten quite out of order. There are many distractions, both real and those that I create for myself. Sometimes I just crave solitude, but I also fear that I'd fritter it away if I had it.
There is just a lot going on right now. Trust me. And time just seems to slip out of my hands, which is one reason why I take these photos. To remind myself to not let the time slip away. But reminding myself and actually doing something about it are different things.
I'm not saying progress hasn't been made. But I am saying that incremental progress needs to give way to some kind of completion. Too many loose ends to count right now.
Anyway, what you see in this photo are two bins containing my journal. All 30 years of it.
Not everything is currently in those bins. I consider this blog, which I've been keeping on one site or another for 11 years, to be part of my journal (the "public" part, I suppose) but I haven't been as vigilant as I'd like to be about printing hard copies of entries as I post them.
But still, here's 30 years of my life, in two bins. I can't help but think there might be a book or two in those bins. We'll see.
Valley Forge National Historical Park, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, July 31, 2011
This is the Maurice Stephens House, in Valley Forge Park. I've decided this will be my end of the month photo. It's probably good, at the end of each month to go to the same place, just stand there for a moment, and breathe. The vantage point represented here is a good place for me to do this: the park is easy to get to and there is actually a large stone embedded in the ground that will ensure that I stand in exactly the same place once a month. For some reason, this seems rather important to me right now.