Like most, I take the standard touristy-type photos when I go somewhere. I think it’s required somewhere – we wouldn’t be good tourists if we didn’t. That said, I also tend to snap photos of artsy/abstract things, stuff that amuses me, or prompts me to think or appreciate. (Well, at least I try.)
I was looking through some of the photos I snapped while we were in Monterey last weekend and noticed one from Sunday evening (taken about 9pm):
To most, this photo would seem odd, weird, or a waste of a shot. To me, it captured a moment to which I could assign a single word to:
contentment
Not that being in Monterey caused that state – I’m content at home as well. It’s just that we’d had such a wonderful day that it was nice to simply kick back, watch & listen to the ocean, have the fireplace going, talk, and do pretty much nothing else.
I think we too often neglect stillness in our lives. We always tend toward activity. Maybe appreciating stillness comes with age – often when it’s too late. It’s funny, when we first were married we always were active on trips – you know, on a mission to see stuff and do things. I think it’s only been the past few years that we have actually purposefully built down times into our vacations…and really have come to enjoy and relish it!
160 hours ago: contentment.
Right now: contentment
(OK, without the waves crashing in the background though…)
So, to totally put a dose of reality on the picture above, at one point, I’m sure the people in the next room were wondering what was going on in our room – maybe those walking by on the beach as well. We were both laughing pretty hard for a long while as I was reading some select “definitions” from UrbanDictionary.com that related to some funny instances and sights throughout the day (only the clean ones, I promise.) …yeah, we’re boring – BUT CONTENT!
So how do you define contentment?
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