What am I breathing in today? Life’s all around me. How am I inhaling it, taking it deep inside me and releasing it back for someone else to absorb?
I’ve been asking myself these questions over and over and over again. The inquiry began about a year ago when I saw an initiative by SmallBox—a web marketing firm in Broad Ripple. They were holding their annual 24-Hour Web Project, which finds a local non-profit and makes a website for them in 24 hours. Basically, they give up to give back. They pass on sleep and profits to pass on goodwill to others.
I remember when I saw it, it made me stop. Made me think. I’m doing this Joetography thing—and that’s nice—but is that all? It’s clearly a necessary creative outlet for me, but what dust am I kicking up with it? How am I stirring up anything or anyone around me? What’s the air I’m giving others?
And that’s when I began dreaming up The Aperture Effect—my first planned way at using photography for good. The greater good. To hopefully raise some dollars for Charity: Water and give someone access to fresh water. Yes, just one step…but one that needed to be made.
And so I thank you Smallbox. You made me catch my own breath and release it in this way. You made me think about why I’m doing what I’m doing and how it can be done better. Your 24-Hour Web Project became a 365-day project in my life. And it’s much, much appreciated.
I dig the words of Bob Dylan on this subject:
You say to yourself just what am I doin’
On this road I’m walkin’, on this trail I’m turnin’
On this curve I’m hanging
On this pathway I’m strolling, in the space I’m taking
In this air I’m inhaling
Am I mixed up too much, am I mixed up too hard
Why am I walking, where am I running
What am I saying, what am I knowing
On this guitar I’m playing, on this banjo I’m frailin’
On this mandolin I’m strummin’, in the song I’m singin’
In the tune I’m hummin’, in the words I’m writin’
In the words that I’m thinkin’
In this ocean of hours I’m all the time drinkin’
Who am I helping, what am I breaking
What am I giving, what am I taking