Saving My Child From The Disappointment That Is
The National Geographic Photography Contest
My sweet, caring, enthusiastic child entered the National Geographic photo contest. We go to their website often … she is a lover of animals and people and differences … and we study each photograph … its colors and layers and meaning.
She decided that she could be such a photographer … and set out to capture all forms of beauty … to capture things of significance that might help her win said contest. I may have forgotten to mention that she is a competitive neanderthal … beat it, kill it, dance on it, eat it. This philosophy applies to all sports and was now to be applied to the sensitive and fragile nature of the art of photography.
With a child’s eye and bullish determination, she set out to capture the moment, and the prize, but alas, she did not win. Her photographs, which are quite wonderful, all things considered, didn’t even buy her a seat at the table … or a thumbnail on the website. The disappointment was overwhelming … not necessarily noticeable, but a huge emotional sacrifice … the kind you make behind closed doors … the kind girls make when they don’t want to be thought of as ‘girls’ anymore.
How do you know, as a mother, when to pull them back and when to let them go? How do you decide ... to save them from disappointment or allow them to succeed ... when the outcome might be either? How do we put that control in the hands of strangers ... control of our chidren's self-esteem? How do you know, as a mother, which band-aids go on which boo-boo's and which scratches just need to be left alone ... to heal? Is love enough?
And so, with a mother’s love, may I present to you …
the photography of my daughter:
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