February 9, 2020 • 52

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #83: Envisioning the Future

The future depends on what you do today.― Mahatma Gandhi

For this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Ann-Christine asks us to envision the future.   A wonderful idea.  I think the future shouldn’t be mysterious or scary.   In fact, I think our future is right here, right around us, if we open our eyes to it.  How can that be?  I’ll explain.

When we plant crops, we are already envisioning our next harvest, our next meal…

New Corn, Pine Island, NY

And as the grapes ripen on the vine, we’re already tasting our next glass of wine.

In these budding flowers we can already see a beautiful bouquet…

Pink Posy. Queen Victoria Gardens, Vancouver, B.C. Shot with a Fuji X-T2

As we optimistically erect buildings that stretch towards the heavens, we imagine these apartments filled with people who are creating a new community here.

Look Up Vancouver.

But at the same time, we recognize that some day these buildings will decay, crumbling slowly to earth, and their occupants will move away…

Abandoned pink house. Gilford, NH

As we live here on earth, we recognize that we are part of the wonderful (yet perplexing) cycle of through time.  We are born, we grow, we mature…

Girl Scouts in Holland, MI

And, ultimately we die.   But often, many of us try to convince ourselves that we are going to live forever…

The cycle of life is absolute.   We are always heading inexorably towards the future, our shared future here on earth.

I sincerely hope we remember the sanctity of this earth and human life, not only for our present generation, but future generations.   Our shared values will help us move past our differences and end the divisive political, economic, and territorial battles that are raging around the world.  The need to work together for a brighter future has never been more pressing, more urgent.

As I end my post, I’d like to give a special thanks Viveka’s at My Guilty Pleasures for hosting last week’s “Capital” challenge. As always, I enjoyed your wonderful, creative posts.  For the rest of February, we’ll return to our usual weekly Lens-Artists Photo Challenge schedule:

As always, Amy, Tina, Ann-Christine, and I look forward to seeing your creative responses to Ann-Christine’s challenge this week, and sincerely thank you for your support!

Categories: Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Photography

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52 replies »

  3. What a terrific response Patti, really clever! Love that way you described, both in words and images, our envisioning the future from the present. And your plea for civility sand discourse could not be more important or timely. Well done!

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  4. A thoughtful and beautiful post, Patti. And yo are so right – everyday we envision what will come out of our seeds, crops, endeavor to create things. They are all in one: Future, Present, Past. But the circle of life is nothing we can leave for money or for anything. We will all crumble and die – but live on we will through our children, books we write – marks we create while we are here.
    Wonderful images as usual! The last one is fantastic – you were there in just the right moment to catch the two of them and a green bike in the sunlight. Well done!

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  6. I love your take on, Patti. Well said about the future via your beautiful photos and words.
    Thank you for your insights. “heading inexorably towards the future…”, indeed.

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    • Hi, Siobhan. Thank you! I believe you’re right. The architecture in VAN is amazing. Every time I go back I love to check out the new buildings. Our son says this building pictured here just opened. I appreciate that you stopped by!

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  18. Hi Patti – your words of wisdom and photos you chose to go along with them moved me this morning. I appreciate the pops of color and the leading lines you always capture so well. That last photo made me wonder, is that an elderly person with a baby in the carriage or are they using it as a cart to push their belongings? Humans are resilient despite the obstacles in our lives – a dream of a future keeps us all going. Nice job on the prompt!

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  21. I really like your variety of images and perspectives on the prompt. Nature is always moving towards the future, no matter what we do. And what we do to nature is the key to what that future will ultimately look like. That cycle of life goes forward one way or the other. The Girl Scouts are a perfect snapshot of the most important “future” – our kids.

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  22. Pingback: Lens-Artist-PC-83-Future – WoollyMuses

  24. Love how you emphasized that life in full of cycles. Stunning photo of the grapes. ❤ Hopefully the Earth continues to allow harvests of plenty in the future. Drought is already a big factor in some areas of the world. 😦

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