Recently, whenever I picked up my camera, nothing seemed worth photographing. The subjects feel familiar, and the light stunk. Everything looks like something I’ve done before.
My first thought was that I had lost my inspiration, but I’m beginning to realize that isn’t the problem at all. I’ve come to the conclusion that my mind is too full.
I became aware that most of my day is spent taking in information. I watch videos, scroll through photographs, scan articles, check messages, follow the news, and listen to podcasts. Even when I’m relaxing, my brain is processing something.
Last year, I read almost 100 books—97 to be exact. So far this year, I’ve read around a dozen. Recently, I’ve found that when I sit down with a book, within a page or two, my mind drifts. I’m finding that my eyes are scanning the words of the text, but my mind is thinking about an article I read, or a video I watched, or, at times, articles and videos I plan to read and watch.
Same thing when I’m out taking pictures. I’m not fully invested in the moment. I have my camera in my hand, and my feet are walking the scene, but my mind is thinking about that article, that video, or an email I need to answer.
In short, my phone has crowded out my thoughts.
I’ve mentioned in past newsletters that I often attain my clearest ideas when I’m in the shower or driving without the radio on. My phone is out of reach during both of those endeavors.
Actually, the shower situation was when I realized my phone was making my life dull and uninspiring. Let me explain.
My wife and I live in South Buffalo, and two of our sons live around 15 miles northeast of us in a Buffalo suburb. Those are the two sons with children, our grandchildren, whom we see a lot, but it’s difficult being so far apart. So, we’re going to be moving closer which of course entails selling our house and buying one near them. I’ve been going over money scenarios, trying to figure out exactly how to handle a business, a future mortgage, current investments, upcoming Social Security, Medicare, and so on. My wife and I mulled over different scenarios, and none of them appealed to us. A couple of days ago, I was in the shower, and I came up with the perfect solution. I told my wife, and she liked it. I called our financial advisor, and he said it was genius. His words, not mine.
I got a bit ahead of myself. I should mention that before I came up with that genius solution, I was searching online with Google and I was asking ChatGPT and Gemini AI. I didn’t find any solutions that I felt good about. Being in the shower, alone with my thoughts and a loofa, allowed my brain to cleanse itself of the over-stimulation I was inflicting upon it to come up with the solution.
This morning I went for a walk with my camera and without my phone. It was liberating. It had rained earlier, and I smelled the petrichor. The light was orange. Birds were singing.
I’m not making that up.
Those things were probably there last week when I walked, but I didn’t notice them because I was walking with my phone in my hand.
Life is so much better when you allow yourself to notice things like that. Photography is more enjoyable too.
My Website: https://www.anthonymorganti.com/
My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@anthonymorganti
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