The Rainbow Connection

Robert Frost the famed American Poet once wrote; two roads converged in a wood, I took the road less travelled by and it has made all the difference. As I reflect on this often I honestly believe that I too have taken the road less travelled by and I feel it has made the difference in my life also…and has ripples that continue to emerge that indicate the same.

Though when I make the mistake of comparing myself to my peers or most of my friends, I at those times feel inadequate for the temporal things that I don't have compared to that which they do, hence why I don't allow myself the mental exasperation of comparison often. There will always be people who have less and people who have more than I. Most of my friends have been on a path for many years that for some they have chosen, and for others whom circumstance has necessitated. However I have only really discovered my own path within the last few years to the degree and passion I now feel toward my hopes and dreams. The discovery of what I want to do with, or how I wish to shape my life more than anything else.

I have a brother who was an exceptional talent in photography, yet for reasons of circumstance has hung up his camera and passed the reins to his very capable daughter Talia who has developed his talent and made it all her own. He no longer engages in what was once a passion. He mentioned to me, that photography was just a means to an end. When that was said I felt then and now, how sad that comment was. For me, I have struggled to bring my talent to fruition. I really have excluded most everything else in my life to nurture the need for self-expression and in that wonderful process have begun to see the world differently. I treasure the ability that I have developed with photography and having a form of expression. I love that I get exposed to a vast array of humanity, in both good and bad situations and I also get access to places that would otherwise be closed or limited at best to me. I feel very fortunate to see the world or the slices of it that I do, I feel enriched and enlivened by it.



Having said that, I am also a fan of other people’s photography that I stare at and absorb when I see it. Works by Ken Duncan, Steve Parish, Philippe Halsman, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams and many others works are simply inspiring. When I was in Paris a few years ago, I was in a constant trance staring at the posters, billboards and magazines that had images that I felt so inspired by. John Farnham, a talented Australian musician made the comment of a mutual friend and said, “first and foremost Glenn A. Baker is a fan of music”, significant because Glenn A. is a writer of some 15 books, a researcher, media presenter and archivist. But is indeed a fan of what he writes and says…as am I, of imaging and photography generally.

I believe that talent and natural ability is a gift from God that blesses not only the person who is in possession of the gift, but all of those who are touched and inspired by the gift. I think it a truly amazing and selfless thing that God allows us all to have gifts that touch others, and also bless those who have the gifts themselves. I believe further that our creator may be somewhat disappointed when we on occasion mistakenly feel that because we have a talent in a certain area or field of endeavour, that we are better than others. I get disappointed, and sometimes angry, with people I know who have certain talents and choose to discount their talent or ability or worse hide them altogether. Essentially, I love photography, as I have said many times, it is a vehicle that helps me see the world and people differently. I get to look a little deeper than the occasional glance and then get to see that we are all very unique and special people, and as a great man once said, we will one day see that we were a part of something too wonderful for our present understanding. John Lennon made the observation in a song directed at one of his son’s when he said life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans. How right he was. I have come to understand what it is or can be for some creative people who struggle to realise the elements within, they yearn to be expressed and sometimes have this way of getting you up and propelling you forward when you might wish for a moment to remain still, I am not alone in the feelings I have, as I wrote in Chapter 1 listed on the blog, that even actors who take up being waiters or carpenters or plumbers until they get their chance, there is even the case of the Australian cobbler who most wanted to sing and now gets that chance, he sings around the world, records albums and has found, even late in life, the chance and opportunity to become the person he dreamed about. It is I guess truly the space that Paul Williams wrote about for Kermit the Frog, Someday we’ll find it, the Rainbow Connection, for lovers, the dreamers and me….

If there be any who may read this and have an inward desire to be something other than what they are, or are wishing to do something more than they are...just Do it. Like the Nike brand suggests. Goethe as much said the same. Whatever you can do, or dream you can, BEGIN IT. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it! so what are you waiting for?



The pictures I chose for today's post I took some time ago and I still treasure, they are of a Tamarin monkey, Tom a cougar and a rare Sumatran pure bread tiger in a private zoo that the public doesn't normally get to see.