Choosing to Sugar-Coat

Taking a deep breath I stepped inside the abandoned steel mill building.  It was a crisp fall day in late October, and the brilliant blue sky and golden foliage contrasted dramatically with the deep shadows of the building.  It was a photography event, and it was pulling me out of my comfort zone.  It began with rather ominous guidelines from those in charge for the day.  We were advised to wear hard-toed boots, to wash the clothing we were wearing separately or even discard it when we returned home, and to update our tetanus shots.  Then there was the photography itself.  I tend to be drawn to color and objects with graceful flowing lines.  The idea of capturing images that had an industrial feel was foreign to me and a bit intimidating.  How on earth do you make abandoned and corroded objects look appealing?  So it was with a bit of trepidation that I began to chase the feeble light that was peeking in from the cracked windows high above me.  It was not long before I saw the beauty in the textures and contrasts.  And it was not long before I could be found crouched among the rust covered rubble in order to capture a shot with a perspective that most appealed to me.

Time passed as I wandered through the building with camera in hand.  Looking closer I was amazed at the unexpected beauty I found there.  A train car that seemed to have a dejected air as it sat abandoned on the tracks had a hitch that almost seemed to be an abstract piece of art.  And an even closer inspection revealed the amazing sea-like colors that surrounded it.

I was then drawn to a weathered wooden door hanging a bit askew and framed with corroded iron.  I glanced at the corrosion and then, startled, looked more closely.  Rust that is not the reddish-brown I always associated with it?  Blue?  Purple?  Yellow?  Really?

I have learned to look for the beauty in my life; to find it hidden in the silver-linings of the challenges that arise.  Most of the time I can find it, although truth be told it is not always easy to do so.  There are dark days when it seems that the light of magic and beauty has been extinguished by the shadows.
Deep down I know it is still there if I choose to see it, and it is a choice to be made.   I have been praised for being cheerful in the midst of struggle, and I have also been accused of sugar-coating the challenges of my life.  My choice is to focus on the positive and to chase the light.  There are beautiful surprises when you sugar-coat.  In that old abandoned building I noticed light beaming down onto a stepped piece of scaffolding.  I accidentally hit the shutter button on my camera as I fumbled with the tripod.  I confess to having a love/hate relationship with my tripod as it is as bulky as it is necessary.  The planned shot came out well, and I was pleased with it.

However it was only after I returned home and studied the images that I discovered the one that delighted me.  The image was captured when I hit the shutter button accidentally.  It was captured while I fumbled and struggled to capture the beauty in contrast.  The spirit and beauty of that dark abandoned building taught me a lesson that day.  Beauty and light dance in even the darkest of places.  It is always there, waiting to be discovered and embraced.