Drat! Fooled again by social media…
There is a new “challenge” running around Facebook—the “7 Days Black-and-White Challenge. No humans. No explanations. Challenge someone new every day.”
Well, someone challenged me last week, and since I avoided the ice-bucket challenge last year, I felt obliged to accept this one. Seven black-and-white photos with no people in them—how hard could that be?
For most people, probably pretty simple. For me…nothing is simple.
Suddenly this silly challenge has become a spiritual journey of self-definition, forcing me to confront some of my deepest fears with regard to who I am in the world.
Am I interesting? I don’t have a lot of hobbies. I don’t go out much, and while I am a decent cook, I would never make it on Chopped. So forget about any photos of amazing food or fun nightlife.
My tastes in fashion and home furnishings are rather simple, so no glamour shots.
Have I become one of those middle-aged women who has sacrificed herself for her family? Are my kids and my husband really so dominant in my life? They’re in all my photos.
Or worse, am I one of those women of the mid-20th century who doesn’t even know how to focus on myself or define my own interests?
My family’s interests are my interests. My husband was the big sailor and cyclist so I did it, too. We started the kids skiing as a fun family activity…the same for hiking. I joke that I grew up in the malls of New Jersey and my family activity was work and the family business. Outside of high school and college sports, my primary teen activity was working for Bottom Line.
Who am I? Without my kids and my husband and my family and my friends and my work? And without humanity? I really don’t want this to be a series of Sarah’s Stuff—nice house..nice car… No! Life isn’t about “stuff.”
Perhaps I am going about the challenge wrong. Perhaps I don’t have to tell my whole life story in just seven pictures. Instead, I could pick different themes, as an artist does—geometric shapes…light and dark…a food feast (even if it’s not my own cooking or from a fancy restaurant). But that’s so impersonal.
So what’s it going to be in these seven photos? My truth.
While Facebook has set its challenge, for me, it all comes down to the one thing I can’t put in those photos that drives me the most—humanity.
My life can’t be shown in seven photos or even 100 photos if there isn’t humanity in them. I love people. They are utterly fascinating and funny and stupid and brilliant. I love watching them and figuring out what makes them tick. And I love helping them fulfill their dreams.
My family and friends and my Bottom Line family really are the center of my universe, and I truly deeply love being connected to them. The reason my family is in all of my photos is because that is who surrounds and supports me while I chronicle our many special moments.
By the time this blog is published, I will have completed the challenge and found seven pictures that reflect slices of my life. My first five photos include a view of the mountains in Colorado, where we go to ski and hike…my dog, Meeker, wearing his Georgetown University T-shirt watching my daughter’s field hockey game…my computer and blog page…our old sailboat filled with countless amazing memories…and a view of the treehouse in our yard that my husband and his best friend built when the girls were young. There may not be any people in those photos—but the people I love most certainly are the essence of what is shown.
