Holding On
Saturday Oct 06, 2007
I had a project a while back for the newspaper I work for in Charlottesville Virginia, to document a few families and their kids living in starckly different living situations. One family had an old general store for a house and this family's home was about 1300 sq. ft. at most.
The love between the members of each family were fantastic and wasn't different in regards to the size of their homes. It was a pleasure getting to know them for the short time I was with them. It does though make me think about how I one day want to raise my kids. Do I want a small house with a little yard or a bigger house that will allow my kids to run freely inside or even ride their bikes around the living room.
Thinking about these things isn't very important right now, but it does take me back to some other countries I have been to in the world. Their are many many families who live in one or two room homes. Perhaps there is a bed made of scrap wood, or some sheets or in some cases a matress. Perhaps, but generally none of these would be found in homes around the world.
We have so much and we take a lot of it for granted. I want to get rid of things. I think I would be fine living in close quarters with the ones I love. I would love to not have all the material possesions I have been clinging to. It'd be great, but right now it isn't the way things are. So, for now I will just be where I am, loving as best I can the people who have less than I and even the ones with more. I long for the day when simplicity is a way of life for me. It doesn't really matter how much I have anyway. I can't take it to my grave, though right now some of the things I have I need in order to put food on the table.
Living in the US and having the profession I have can be expensive. I just hope I don't get too much stuff. I want to be ok if it gets taken. I need to hold it loosely.
My things can't mean the world to me, or the world won't mean anything to me then.
Taken with a Canon EOS 5D
