A few years ago, I remember looking through a photography book at the library when one particular photograph suddenly caught my attention.
It was a photograph of an elderly woman somewhere in a foreign country.
Her sun-weathered skin was deeply lined with wrinkles, and she was looking straight at the camera.
Her gaze wasn’t sharp, but it was powerful.
I knew nothing about her, but somehow, I could sense that she had spent her life in a harsh natural environment.
What kind of place had she lived in?
What kind of life had she led?
Beautiful…
I haven’t been able to forget that photograph ever since.
Recently, I came across another article in a magazine, this time about someone living deep in the mountains of Japan.
My eyes were drawn to the dog in the photograph.
It had a lean, tightly toned body with a deeply tucked-in belly, and yet it seemed to radiate an incredible sense of vitality.
There was no leash, so I imagine it was probably allowed to roam freely in the mountains.
What is it about these photographs that gives me such a strong sense of power and beauty?
Is it the beauty of the wild?
Or perhaps a deep longing for the vitality that comes from being nurtured by nature?
I hope that, over the course of my life, I can become a woman who is this beautiful.
That’s what these photographs made me feel.
Thank you for reading!