Timing is Everything
123/365
Welcome back everyone! Thanks for taking the time to read more about design. This is new to a lot of you, so it’s great to see people that are passionate enough about their art to learn new techniques that will push it to the next level…or even to the top!
Sometimes in life, you experience an event that will teach you a valuable lesson (like my surfing catastrophe), or give you a glimpse of inspiration into a path unknown. You just have to be receptive and keep your eyes, ears, and mind in tune with your surroundings. This brings us to the story of timing.
On one sunny weekend in Hawaii, I was at a place called China Walls which, later, related to my photo journey to Allentown, PA. China Walls is a local surf spot near Honolulu, where the rock wall is about 15-20 feet high and the waves (on that day) were about 10 feet high. The waves would roll right up against the wall in sets, then crash on another rock wall about 30 feet away.
The scary thing is, in order to climb back up the wall, you have to time the waves just right so you can float up high enough and grab onto the rock ledge. Some people were treading water for about 15 minutes, ducking under huge waves, trying to climb up, then having to give up so they wouldn’t get caught in another huge wave and slammed against the rock wall.
I remember one girl, who wasn’t in the best of shape, treading water very long. Verrry long. Missing the rock ledge, time after time. Her friend trying to encourage her to get up quickly, with panic in his voice. Well, eventually she made it up, but wow it was pretty crazy. So, that made me think of my photo journey.
You can plan your future, and proceed when the timing is perfect, but if you wait too long, you will run out of energy and eventually drown any hope of pursuing your dreams. This is why I had to leave Hawaii when I did (in 2013). The timing was perfect, I had enough money saved, drawing class was about to start in Allentown, and I still had enough time to visit family in another state before then.
On the second day of landing in a new place, with new people and surroundings, I took the bus to visit my mentor, Myron Barnstone, at the art studio. On the third day, I luckily found a place to live which was five minutes away from classes. Several months later, and after only two semesters, Myron sadly announced that he was closing his studios. Talk about timing! If I stayed in Hawaii, I would’ve eventually run out of savings, and by the time I had enough money to move, the studios would’ve already been closed.
If you want to accomplish your goals, big or small, don’t wait around. Plan it out and make it happen because you may not have another chance! Some dreams are simply just dreams, but others are meant to be pursued…to be lived.
Here are some iPhone pictures of the China Walls and the waves crashing on the rocks nearby.
Can you see how close the person in the water is to the huge splash? Crazy!
