What do you think about perfection?

After this summer I am convinced that the perfect journeys in life are those when you get lost. It is the best condition to end up where you are really meant to be and not where you planned to.

During my holiday in Montenegro I took an entire morning just to hang around in Kotor. With no objectives in mind, I just wanted to play a bit with my camera and shoot here and there, focusing on details. It is one of my favourite shooting exercises because I adore getting lost in those weird, anonymous shapes, dreaming about the new life I could give them with a good shot!

My eyes were freely and happily dancing in all directions when I saw the old door of an abandoned house. That seemed perfect for details photography!

I got closer. I took the camera and started shooting.

Slowly, in a religious silence. As if the door could get frightened and escape.

While taking the pictures, I was already dreaming of the result. I could already see the perfect picture that one of those shots will become. I had in mind a beautiful black and white picture, extremely well focused, where no minor detail could be a secret for an attentive observer.

I took about twelve pictures. Well satisfied, I left my door to keep on hanging around and shooting other details.

In the evening I was back to my apartment. Tired but happy, I started checking my shots with big expectations.

I scrolled down until I got to the shots of the old door. And then I was kind of frozen.

Wtf! None of the shots was in any way like what I had imagined!

The perfect picture of my dreams, where the calm sea of the paint covering the wood was interrupted by delicate injuries, like little scars made with a scalpel, was impossible to obtain! I had instead something like a table covered with stains of dried tomato sauce.

I was extremely disheartened. I decided that those shots had no value at all.

I decided to delete them.

But somehow, I forgot.

…Yesterday I was feeling tired and unfocused. It must be linked to the beginning of autumn. And also because during the last weeks I met many people every day. As I am still recovering from burnout and feel a bit weaker than usual, meeting people still drains a lot of energy.

I needed to isolate a bit and lose myself in calming activities with no objectives. So, I decided to go to a café and relax with photo editing.

I turned on the PC and went through my pics. I was surprised to find the doors one. I was convinced that I had deleted them. Anyway.

I looked at them. As I had no expectations at all on those shots, why not playing with them to have fun? I randomly selected one of the twelve pictures and started editing.

I had to be honest with myself and recognize that the disappointment of not having been able to get the shot I wanted was still burning inside. I tried to put it in b&w and play a bit with contrast, but I was not happy at all.

I looked at the picture for about a minute, with no idea of what to do. And then, boom!

I couldn’t have the b&w picture of my dreams so…

You know what? Let’s make the colours pop!

In the end, it was better to do exactly the contrary of what I had planned to do. I felt a bit like a conductor telling his musicians: “Hey guys, throw out your scores and play whatever you want! All together!”.

I just enjoyed going with the flow. I saw the colours getting more saturated and vibrant and felt that my blood was getting saturated and vibrant, too! My eyes were drinking all that light and energy like a man lost in the desert who has just found a bottle of clean, fresh water. I was feeling so much pleasure that all my senses were amplified. The smell of my orange juice on the table, the taste of my choco cookie on my tongue and the feeling of crunching it. It was a slow explosion. With my finger gently pressing the mouse, my wrist imperceptibly moving, my eyes were completely absorbed by all those colours dancing on the screen.

I took a long, deep breath. I smiled. The perfection that I had dreamt of was there, in that moment. Because THAT moment was perfect. It was something different from what I had expected, but perfect anyway.

By abandoning the result I had in mind, I could finally enjoy the activity of photo editing!

It was a gift after a storm of discouragement. It was a surprise. It was a rainbow shining in the middle of my frustration.

I was so happy at the end of this exercise that I wanted to share this story with you!

I thought that perfection means getting results corresponding to our expectations. Honestly, now I don’t think so anymore. Testing new ways and giving yourself the possibility to switch point of view can be way more rewarding than achieving your old goals. It is discovery, it is growth. It is life. And life is perfect, if we allow ourselves to discover new paths.

…And you? What do you think about perfection?