Pivotal Moments

Pivotal moments are those which change our feelings, our thinking, our choices, our pathways in life. People can provide them, or experiences.

Think back. Who or what was pivotal in your life?

As a child, one person was my only grandmother, who rescued me again and again from an increasingly dysfunctional household. I had an aunt and a cousin who did the same. So right there, three people, who removed me from an unpleasant environment, nurtured me, and taught me that the world was composed of a lot more than a sad family situation.

As a teenager, the wife of my father’s business partner told me I had beautiful hair. From that time on, when life seemed tough, I could say to myself, “well at least I have beautiful hair”. Whether it was true or not was not the point; it was an asset noted by someone else and shared with me.

As an adult, a doctor suggested that I learn Transcendental Meditation. He said it had been helpful to him. I respected his opinion so I tried it. It was a turning point in my life in the most positive direction I could imagine. It was the baseline for so much of what was to come.

The day I saw my first Blue Heron was breathtakingly pivotal. From then on, I wanted to capture such experiences by camera in an attempt to share my own sense of wonder.

We all have certain times and people in our lives of extraordinary influence.

I am grateful for each of mine, and for having an awareness of their presence. These are the moments that propel our lives onto a different level of being and if we’re lucky, push us onto a higher spiritual platform.

There may be lots of highlights in our lives, like the day the dog had her puppies in my lap, or the sense of relief when the electricity is restored after days without it, or the wedding of a friend, the birth of a child or even the immersion in a really good book or movie.

While pivotal moments may be highlights, usually those moments are more subtle, coming to fruition with the consequences of that moment. Like discovering a perfume scent that suits you and you choose to use for the rest of your life.