It has been a busy week! We had our DASH around Kampeska Half Marathon Saturday morning, and this is a group picture of many of us who were involved in setting up this race. It took a group effort to pull this off, and everybody had a role. Bottom line, we all had to know where we were headed, what needed to be done, and how to work together. It was the 6th annual event we have done. This ties in also to when I was at camera club this month. It was on Tuesday this week, and is only my second time going, with the first being last month. Each of us has to show pictures we have taken, and I got to decide the theme for this month since I was the new one. I chose “reflections”, as it ties in well with my “Reiffenberger Reflections” I do weekly. I was very nervous. I truly am an amateur when it comes to photography, and there are some incredible photographers in the club. It turns out I really had nothing to worry about. We all love taking pictures, and everybody provides feedback and how we can take even better pictures. Patrick, who is one of the people who set up this club, made a comment to me at the end of my presentation of pictures, and told me I have a “knack” for keeping the horizon level. He said for him, this is what stood out with all of my pictures. I loved it! I started out by showing a picture with reflections of me taking pictures…
…I did this first as a means to be humorous, and break the ice, but I told everybody when I tried to set up the mirrors, and have them angled in order for me to appear in all 3 mirrors, it took some work. It also taught me that any shift in the angle then produces a different picture, and thus a different view. Here I was trying to add some humor at first, and I ended up teaching myself something more as well. And this then added to what you have to do with the camera to keep the horizon level.
These were some of the pictures I used to show them. As the week went on, the comment he had made about my pictures really stuck with me. “Keeping the horizon level” can really have a lot of different meanings for me lately, not just with pictures. It can represent continuing forward movement…possibilities. Especially now dealing with an injury with my knee that occurred while running (I have not been able to run for 3 1/2 weeks). I have to “adapt” (my word for the year!) and come up with other activities to move without impacting my knee. The horizon changes. Some days it is clear. Some days it isn’t. But it is always there! Life works the same way! The horizon can depend on where you stand. What you focus on. How you frame the picture. Photography and life connect perfectly here. Sometimes the challenge isn’t changing the scene. It’s learning how to see it differently! The horizon always suggests that there is more ahead. For me, that involves: Retirement. Injury. Uncertainty. The story isn’t over. The horizon can actually help me (you) transition…adjust…adapt…reflect…move forward…change identity. If the horizon changes depending on where you stand, maybe life does too. Even when life “tilts” a little, we keep trying to find level ground. Finding balance. It can be easy at times to “throw in the towel” when things come up unexpected, and our plans change, or are forced to change. Doing this makes us resilient…and allows us to “adapt”. Maybe keeping the horizon level is less about perfection…and more about maintaining perspective when life shifts. Something to think about anyway. Keep striving…and keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day of Newest Streak: # 809