Day #4 of ‘Free Will’ week at The Napkin Dad Daily
Wow, what a dilemma this quote brings up. Does it mean we are not personally responsible since we can’t determine what we ‘will’? Does it mean we are destined by our genes, our DNA and parents, our heritage from centuries and millennia long past? What is in our control if that be the case?
The quote made me think about the photo lecture I was in charge of last night. We had a guest lecturer for our photo group. She is a landscape photographer here in Oklahoma, Kim Baker. What we got out of her lecture was one thing: Passion. She is passionate about the rivers of Oklahoma. She traipses through the most incredibly difficult terrain to camp out the night before, often by herself, so she can get up at 4-5 AM and capture the light, mist, dew, and atmosphere around the river before and as the sun rises. She ‘wills’ to do those things.
Two months before that lecture we had another guest, this one was into macro photography. He was photographing flies, insects and spiders of Oklahoma. Some have never been photographed in detail, ever. He is getting famous for his ability to capture them. To do so he has to do much the same as Kim. He goes out in the middle of nowhere and sits still in the dirt or brush or trees. He waits. Sometimes for hours. He has one successful photo out of perhaps 100 taken usually. He does it because he has one thing: Passion.
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| © 2010 Thomas Shahan |
The will is strong when there is passion behind it. Why we have the will is an interesting question. But it is basically about science or God or whatever else you can intellectually think about. But why we have it is not as important as if we exploit it. Do you ACT on that passion or do you just wish about it?
If you want to contribute to the world, you must ACT on your passion, not just think about it.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Arthur Schopenhauer, 1788-1860, German philosopher