Day 112: Joy & Grief

In keeping with yesterday's post, I want to put my money where my mouth is. I suggested you photograph what ever it is in front of you, no matter how uncomfortable the subject matter, and then worry about showing it, or not showing later. You see, you can photograph something and keep it to yourself. If days, months, or years later you decide to show it to someone, or to the world, you will have it. You cannot go back in time to re-photograph it. The photo above is from a photo essay I did about my father. He was a troubled man and his life ended in suicide. That was most difficult for me. I sat on the pictures I took of him for ten years. I showed them to no one. I was devestated by his death. Then one day a friend & co-worker of mine committed suicide. I never saw that one coming either. Well, I decided then to re-visit my father's suicide and tell my story / his story, as best as I could through the photographs I had taken of him. You can view one version of that photo essay by clicking here:
Photographs Of My Father
Let me say this: It has been 23 years since his suicide and it still seems like yesterday. He was 56 when he died, and that is how old I now am.
But let me end on an upbeat note. For all of lifes ups and down, as shitty as it can get, and I have had some shitty times, I love life and living. I wouldn't trade any of it. You cannot have the light without the dark. The highs without the lows. And remember this, the joyousness of your life can only be as great as the depths of your grief. Joy and grief go hand in hand. Kahlil Gibran phrased it most eloquently, when one is at your table the other is asleep in your bed.