The Key To Understanding
There are many matters that I cannot and do not need to understand, such as Love, and God, and why I became fascinated with an intersection in downtown Fargo, North Dakota.
I was in Fargo last week to lead an Open Space session and a Genius Workshop for Jodee Bock and the wonderful people that she always gathers for her annual Bigger Small Talk Summit.
The Scout and I arrived on Sunday, the events were Tuesday and Wednesday. On Monday we drove north of the city to see whatever we might see along the infamous Red River. I had my camera along, but found the flat landscape and ubiquitous grain silos uninspiring. The day was gray, and the color of the sky offered a close match for the color of the silos. The snatches of river that we found were lined with debris and broken trees, and didn’t seem camera-worthy. I also felt uncharacteristically reluctant to snap photos of weathered faces peering out at us from beneath the bills of John Deere caps.
In Fargo though, the intersection just outside our hotel mesmerized me. I clicked my camera’s shutter button a mere dozen times during the days we were there, and nine of the shots are of the corner of 1st Avenue North and Broadway.
Back home, while viewing my paltry photographic booty, The Scout was greatly amused by my fixation on 1st Avenue North and Broadway, and I was puzzled by it. Why?
I came up with several plausible sounding reasons but they all felt hollow; rationalizations after the fact rather than resonant truths.
My experience with 1st Avenue North and Broadway, and its aftermath, reminded me of a hard-won lesson that I too often forget: the key to understanding is understanding that there are things I will never understand.
Some matters are best left to experience and don’t bend themselves toward intellect. Many large matters, such as Love and God, are like that. And some smaller matters are like that as well, such as my fascination with First Avenue North and Broadway in Fargo, North Dakota. Let it be.
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Tags: Fargo, genius, Jodee Bock, Peace of Mind, Photography
Thank you for this post. It causes me to breath a big sigh. Not always a lesson in everything – Just is. We treasure you both – Joy, Kelly
Great to hear from you Kelly! And I am always pleased to provide a “big sigh.” Thanks for telling me.
Was it Freud or Jung who said about dream imagery, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”?
Some moments are meant just for “being present”. Not for being analysed to death. Not for being sought out for perfect hindsight. Just for being.
It’s a lovely corner, Dick and I thank you for sharing it. You’ve captured it beautifully. Sorry to hear about the river.
It comes to me that you recognized beauty in something otherwise and largely considered ordinary. And that in and of itself is beautiful.
Geetali – “just for being”…it can be that easy when I get out of the way.
Kathryn – your kind of pictures, aren’t they?
Laura – interesting…for some reason beyond my understanding, I didn’t see it as ordinary but very interesting. I think it was the complexity and variety of the shapes and colors…a delight for someone trained in graphic arts.