Destruction and Creation in Life and Nature

Lately, I’ve been thinking about our journeys through life–thus far, and looking forward. Journeys, that is, oftentimes defined by extreme situations, and by destruction and creation.

Award-winning, legally blind photographer, and HIV and AIDS long-term survivor Kurt Weston, touches on this subject in his biography, Journeys Through Darkness.

Here’s an excerpt:

Although people can always find somebody in the world whose situation is far worse than theirs, stopping at this realization should not be an option. The next step is to be proactive in using their creative energy to do something efficient and useful to help those who have less. The experience keeps them from [feeling down.] Depression leads to destruction (“the D word”), which is just the opposite of creation (“the C word”).

[…]

For [the artist], it comes down to a “D and C” argument. […] Creation is the whole purpose of being an artist. Art has helped him survive [HIV] and his visual loss.

Mother Nature brings up, if you will, the “D & C” argument on an ongoing basis. Mother Nature is a balance between destruction and creation.

Here’s an image to speaks, I believe, to that delicate balance:

I captured the image posted below many years ago, while flying in an open-door helicopter over the lava fields of Hawaii. The image, “When Lava Meets the Ocean,” captures Pele, the goddess of volcanoes, at work. The fiery lava scorches the island, destroying everything on its way to the ocean. When it reaches the ocean, it solidifies and thus adds to the island.

Thank you all for stopping by.

Alina Oswald