Unplugged

(Post by TR)

Last Thursday I woke up at 4:15am. Crazy, I know. I woke up with a very specific purpose, however; to do as much nothing and find as much nothing as I could that day. You’re probably thinking that I could have gotten up a little later to do nothing and find nothing, but I disagree…(cont’d below)

“The Schoolhouse”

…For some background on me, I tend toward being as productive as possible with every minute of my day. By productive, I mean tricking my brain into thinking that I’ve somehow not wasted any time that day, I guess, in a way, that I’ve ‘kept my nose to the grindstone’ and can go to bed feeling like I’ve accomplished something. I try to optimize everything to be done in the most efficient way possible in, and, to be honest, I think it’s hard for me to just relax sometimes – I mean just relax and do nothing, and enjoy it, and be OK with not working towards something every minute.

Anyhow, that said, I think I need to learn to be a little more OK with just ‘being’ and not always ‘doing.’ Maybe this has to do with truly finding my identity apart from what I do or what I accomplish, and being comfortable knowing that I am not defined by what I accomplish, believing that my identity and my worth are wrapped up in Christ.

Last Thursday I decided to do some ‘just being.’ I unplugged, forgot about accomplishing anything that day, and just went out in search of a whole lot of nothing.

And it was a lot of fun.

There’s a lot of nothing in the plains of Northeast Colorado. As I barreled along countless empty, nowhere-dirt-roads in the old Jeep, I stumbled upon some pretty neat places – all of which deeply intrigue me in the way that they are abandoned and forgotten, left for dead in a sense. They’re the bones of the old west, these homesteads, barns and one room schoolhouses are all that’s left, and they are quickly becoming brittle, decaying, and returning to dust. When I walk into such places, like the schoolhouse (below), I always wonder what it was like when it was used daily – just like I sit in a classroom or sit at the dinner table in my home. Anyway, it’s interesting to me to say the least. During my drive I also came upon two herds of antelope, 3 owls, and some really good junk to mount some of my photos on for an art installation. I may do a series depicting the bones of the old West – they won’t be here much longer. Enjoy the photos!

“No Class Today.”

“ThinkPiece.” ( I love this shot!)

“The Yellow Blues.”

“Slivers.”

“The wrong door?”

“The Right Door?”

The Photomobile…it gets me where I want to go ;)