Nothing to say – or just busily distracted?

So, here I am again.  I’ve been neglecting this site ever since leaving for vacation.  My primary justification was the need to concentrate on saving, backing up and working with the “gazillions” of digital photos I took on my awesome vacation to Maine, Sept. 1-9.   I have sooo much to say, so besides the photo workflow being ridiculous, I’ve also been attempting to journal what I experienced during my trip.  I’ll start posting a bit at a time shortly.

I wrote an interesting response to a fellow Flickr member.  I had commented on some of his photos, which were the first set of photos that looked comparable to mine in quality/interest.  He was responding to my comment about a particular photo, saying that he knew it would look a lot better with some creative editing in a photo program, but said that he “still” felt it was like “cheating”.  Here is my response, which I thought was interesting since I hadn’t really thought about it much previously:

“I’m with you on feeling like you’re cheating with Photoshop, but kudos that you even HAVE a photo editor and know how to use it- something I do not yet have!!  That’s the one serious drawback of digital photography- it’s no longer about just working to get the best photos at the moment… now you have all this other stuff going on as well.  How can someone who has equal photography skills be competetive with their work with someone who also has the computer tools and skills that can turn even a great “normal” photo into any piece of art she/he cares to?

Funny, I never expressed that before, but it definitely rings true as I write it.  Not that it’s
not wonderful to have the tools, but it’s a different skill set, so when it comes to comparing, we digital photographers have to be sure we are comparing apples to apples, not apples to pomegranates :)”

So that is my life and thoughts for the moment.  I’ll post some Maine photos over from Flickr to follow.  Please feel free to take a look at the rest of my pics!  http://www.flickr.com/photos/njheart2heart

About Character

“Character – the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life – is the source from which self respect springs.” ~Joan Didion

First off, I have to take issue with the author’s definition of Character to start with. As one of my favorite authors, philosopher CS Lewis stated (paraphrased), “to take a word that is based on fact, and to make it into a word based on feeling, is to make the word useless.”

A proper definition of character is necessary here I think;
“char·ac·ter –noun: 1. the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing.
2. one such feature or trait; characteristic. 3. moral or ethical quality: a man of fine, honorable character.

I don’t like when people take a word that has a specific definition and try to redefine it. The willingness to accept responsbility for one’s own life is best left as a complete sentence. There is no shortcut way of saying it in my opinion, but if one were to insist on using “one word”, I would suggest “self-responsibility”, certainly not “character”. To “slap” a complete idea with one word just to make a “short word”, without considering the basic definition is unfair to the word that’s being used erroneously.

Having said that, there is the rest of the quote to deal with: “// The willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life is the source from which self respect springs.

I have to respectfully disagree with this portion of the quote as well, although at first glance I certainly appreciate taking responsiblity for one’s life, and a sense of self-respect.

I think taking responsibility for one’s life can be the BEGINNING of GOOD character, and as one develops good character, a sense of self-respect can sprout forth. However, willingness to take responsibility and actually being responsible and making responsible decisions are two very different things. A person who starts out with POOR character- one who steals, lies and cheats, can have all the good intentions in the world, but unless the person begins to take actions that are correlated with responsible living, which is a trait of good character, that willingness won’t foster much self-respect. I think it’s the repetition of good behavior oriented toward becoming a person of good character that will grow self-respect, which in turn is may help to build good character.

Surely I don’t mean to say that it isn’t important to accept responsiblity for those values in my life, because I can’t begin a JOURNEY to good character, without that step, but I think it is a building block towards good character, and that good character fosters self-respect.

To take it a step further, I think that self-respect can also stem from a very deep, penetrating sense of being loved. For me personally that sense comes from my faith in God and in His love for me. My respect is not because I am so great for all that I am, but rather I love myself because I was lovingly made, unique and special, by a creator who cares personally for me.

Journal writing prompt bonus: In your journal, list the qualities that a person has that you consider a person of character? Are these qualities the same for everyone you consider persons of character? Is it different, according to the person? What is your internal definition of a person with character?

Again I part ways from the very beginning, because I believe the word “character” is used incorrectly here. This question seems to imply that “character” is good in and of itself, but that is not true. Character means to me that which was stated above- it is the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing – which means there could be inumerable traits, both good and bad which make up a person’s character.

With that out of the way, if I were to slightly change the wording by listing the qualities of a person of GOOD character, they would basically include my list of my own most important values:
Humility
Integrity
Kindness
Responsibility (self- as in the above discussion)
Self-discipline
Courage
Faith
Generosity
Gratitude and
Honesty

For each person that I consider of good character I definitely will see different character traits. They might have different traits than those above, but I think anyone I would consider good character will have at least several of these traits in common. I think the people with different personalities will tend to show differing good character traits in the public eye. For example, a person who tends to be quiet, might very well be courageous, but the trait more likely to “pop” out to me might be humility or patience.