I've begun taking the bus in to work, though it stretches an already long commute into a longer one - because I have the opportunity to experience the city and feel how it breathes. I've lived in the Seattle area for about 14 years, but all of that has been on the eastside. My home is in the easternmost suburb in the area, nestled into the mountains, a bedroom community of a few thousand, most of whom commute to the eastside's tech sector or into Seattle itself.
Last year I finally began to seriously pursue a lifelong interest in photography, and this study has been helpful in deeply spiritual ways. I like candid work, unstaged, observing and capturing a moment. It gives me a sense of the real life of a person, of the city.
I've found that this observation is much like sensing the leading of the Holy Spirit, or asking and expecting a response to the question, "Father, show me what you're doing.". Things happen that we wouldn't otherwise observe unless we've got our eyes open.
And yet sometimes, the best way to observe the city and its people is to actively pursue it, to ask. This is a picture of Michele, who works at one of the fruit stands in Pike Place Market, a well known landmark. Michele, it turns out, is a photographer as well, using the same camera body as mine. We traded websites, and I enjoyed her work - though she has a very different style than I do.
Michele's a great example to me of the power of asking a person to tell you their story. We chatted for a while and shared stories, and then I asked to take her picture. It was as hard for me to ask as it was for her to say yes, I imagine, but I think we both appreciated the connection. And I got to hear stories from within the belly of the whale, so to speak - what it's like to work in the Market and interact with locals and tourists alike.
One of the things I've rediscovered in the past few months of exploring the city by foot and by bus is that, as beautiful as our scenery is, it's the people that make Seattle what it is - both great and needy.
And it's watching carefully that I'm learning about the city I live in.
