"Self-Expression"  [Reflections on Chris Orwig's Book Visual Poetry - Chapter 2 - Generally] (Romans 12:1-2; 1 John 4:18 )

To up one’s creativity, make change from inside out;
Renew your mind, and heart, and sight, then take a look about;
Renew your living these three ways increases quality,
For photos come from deep inside, in pix we artists see.

You cannot hide the one you are, for where you point the lens,
And focus on some detailed part, on inner life depends;
Your point of view, your station, and your way of doing life,
All show quite clearly in your pix, especially when there’s strife.

For under pressure we protect our core from outside view;
Survival is an instinct old, we dump whatever’s new;
It’s hard to be creative when we’re trying to save our lives,
So what’s depicted under strain shows partly what it hides.

So how can we stay calm in stress and think creatively?
The loop’s connected here I think, in that we’ve been set free;
For perfect love casts out all fear; and death has lost its sting,
Which frees us to creative be despite what pressure brings.

Which says to me, engage the world in life in Him each day;
When under pressure disconnect, step back, come out and play;
Take look around, see parts they miss, and capture what you see,
Then ship your pictures out, for now you’ll under radar be.

He says create a flow somehow, somewhere, so when you’re done,
You’ve made some room to get some more, now giving’s just begun;
It’s not about yourself alone, but others on the globe,
There’s plenty who are crushed in life, let photos shift their load.

I’ve got a friend who’s now a chef, much better chef than me,
We use the same ingredients, but differences I see;
That’s like with photos, Photoshop, and Internet today,
Same tools, but add the person in, it shifts the things we say –

And how we say it, artist shows through photos we create,
Just like the chef or baker shows through decorated cake;
So get involved, improve the source of view from deep within,
Then more creative pix you’ll make, and impact you’ll begin.

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