The more you chase, further away it flies said the protagonist in a recent romcom I watched.
“You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy” Jane Marczewski ( Nightbirde – Wikipedia ). I came across her performance for the first time while surfing Youtube and teared up when she talked about her then situation. Unfortunately, she is no longer with us, RIP Jane Marczewski.
The two statements had a profound impact on me, left me in a quandary. Should I be chasing the happiness before it is too late or should I not chase it because it is a futile endeavor.
Nightbirde (late Ms. Marczewski’s nick name) was ailing with terminal cancer and after a cycle or two of treatments, she appeared on America Got Talent. She was making a point that we focus so much making our (later) life easier before we relax and slow down. Often it may be too late. Essentially, her message was that do not wait for tomorrow and go after what you want without waiting.
For a long while, I wanted to capture Milkyway sky and was waiting to gain a certain level skill before I could attempt at it. In some sense I was waiting for my (photography) life to get easier before I decide to be happy or at least chase happiness,
Then the chase began, thanks to my dear friend, Viggy. One day four years ago. On a whim we decided to go to Lick Observatory ( Lick Observatory – Astronomy Science and Technology Leader ) for capturing Milkyway above the light pollution of Silicon Valley. As it turned out, it was a futile trip on that day because it was a full moon night. Talk about the rookie mistake. This is the kind of light we were having, with no chance to see any Milkyway.
The park ranger there suggested a location couple of miles before reaching the Observatory as a good place to try our luck, next time.
My chase continued with a visit to the location suggested by the Park ranger, with my trusted friend Viggy, and his ever supporting wife, Manjula, two weeks later, when it is full moon night.
Now that I started chasing the happiness (aka Milkyway), a good capture still remained elusive, proving the point about chasing the butterflies. The very next day, I went to our “backyard” of dark sky, San Vicente Ranch, this time ably assisted by my wife, Jaya. She had an app that pointed to Milkyway and helped me find right location to capture the image below. Typical locations for Milkyway are designated dark sky regions all over the world. Now this is at the edge of Silicon Valley, a veritable source of light pollution and a novice Milkyway photographer, stumbling in the dark (pun intended), Lo and behold, I came a bit closer to my happiness as you can see in the image below.
A lesson learned here is that I do not have to go distances to dark sky areas, and not waiting to get life easy in order to be happy. Alas, I was not happy. The above image was not exactly a classic capture of Milkyway you see, if you search for Milkyway images. Should I continue to chase my butterflies, or should I wait till my life isn’t hard anymore i.e. become more proficient in my skills taking Milkway genre?
Fastforward three years. In 2022, Viggy and I went on a photography workshop to Death Valley National Park in California. I hoped this trip would help me complete my chase of butterflies and also make me no longer wait till I become proficient. The rationale behind the hope is that I will be in the company of likeminded photographers who are better at it, and yet generous enough to lend their expertise, not to mention, the workshop leader would be present with us, throughout the trip. I am happy to conclude that the two seemingly opposing views are not necessarily mutually exclusive. We only talk about two sides of a coin, but in reality, that coin does not exist. A coin always has three sides, the thickness being the one that determines your attempt balancing the ying and yang. A coin having three sides? Who thought?
Ladies, and gentlemen, the above image is the third of that coin.
Epilog: This article is the 43rd in the series and is the beginning of my journey into 4th year of what started on a whim on a cold winter day in December 2020. Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous 2024.
