As I was searching for an image for today’s post, I couldn’t find one that felt right. Often I simply post what I’ve been shooting lately, and things like that, but there are days that I don’t have anything ready to post from recent shoots, so I have to dig up something from the archives, or the personal images, and often what I choose is based on how I feel. For some reason, every image felt inadequate for today, until I came across a stack of “rejected” polaroids, where this one stood out to me. A blank polaroid that I originally messed up on, but for some reason kept because it was a polaroid, and it cost me a little over a dollar to use.

As I came across it, I paused because somehow I saw it more than just a polaroid that I “messed up and wasted $1.50 on.” I saw it as a blank slate, a realm of possibilities.

A beautiful white image.

When I originally took this photograph, I was excited, expecting a lovely image of whatever I took. But unfortunately something prevented that original image from coming, whether it be my fault, the camera’s fault or the film’s fault. I was disappointed.

But this doesn’t mean that it’s not something beautiful, something of an image, something that can surprise you down the road.

We need to stop expectations we can’t always control and prepare for the unexpected instead. The unexpected in images. The unexpected in people. The unexpected in life. Cause if we miss those while being upset about our missed expectations, we may miss something great.

This is something I’ve been trying to tell myself a lot of lately. I’ve been putting a lot of expectations on things, events, and people – and when I get let down, I get pretty darn upset, and I’m sure that if I only let go of such expectations, the world would be lighter.

If we expect too much, we’ll only be let down. Expect nothing, and be surprised in everything.

Hope your day is full of surprises. :)

(p.s. yes, i know the title isn’t a real word ;))