I like the phrase: health care. There is so much in that phrase that it seems almost too rich with meaning, to suffused with importance, and too electrically charged to be used in our current world. We live in a world of distractions, of ease and convenience, and of a never-ending saccharin stream of sappy, vapid pleasantries. How are you today, one may be asked. But the answer is always positive, as if it were a ghastly affront to be otherwise. And certainly no one really cares to hear if they are not ok. Besides, what could one do?
Much, really.
Health care is so much more than the simple caring for one's body and physical needs. There is an emotional, even spiritual aspect of one's soul that requires just as much sustenance and maintenance as the physical. Perhaps more. Because there are tests for the conditions of the body, and corrections can be relatively easily made to rectify all but the most serious of ailments. But what of the illnesses of the heart? Who can bind up a broken heart? Who can speak healing words of affirmation to a friend? How can a person recover from the effects of spiritual anguish and trouble?
Amid the debate about health care, we should make sure that we are caring for people. That the interactions between professionals and patients is one of a human nature. For we are all brothers and sisters, fellow travelers on this mortal coil, and we need to rely on one another.
Thus, in my mind, health care is not just a matter for debate. It is not a right or a privilege. It is the very essence of life itself. It stems from every friendship, every communication, every smile at a stranger in a grocery store. It is in the laugh of a child. It is in the night sky full of stars. And it is in the promise of a sunrise full of opportunity and joy.
Those who love each other know how a kind word can make the difference, how a merciful and tender act can turn the night to day, and how the knowledge and feeling of real love can make the burden of this life seem bearable, even light. People should tell each other how they feel. Why wait? Why not just say, I love you! I care for you deeply and want you to be happy! I will do anything for the favor of your smile!
Life is short. Let's care for each other.
I love you.
I'm not sure we appreciate photography as much as we do other art forms. Part of this comes from the reality that surrounds and permeates a photograph - it's very, very real, and the photographer strives for clarity and crispness in the representations. Perhaps this is why black and white images continue to be relevant - they strip away extraneous information (color) and leave us with something that is at once familiar and also non-existent - for nothing exists in black and white. Nothing. I also think that pictures are becoming too common-place... Everyone has a camera in their pocket, and while that's a very democratic thing (everyone can express themselves in a picture easily and readily, and can find an audience for these images, which are casually taken and casually viewed, and perhaps just as casually forgotten) I think that we embrace that casual attitude, and it spills over to all aspects of the media, making it impotent. So I read this article this morning: h...
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