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A Photo from Crater Lake

I've been looking at this photo a lot lately.


I put it on Instagram with the caption "sometimes you just gotta jump" because I think that's a lesson that could be taken away from it, but I admit it's also because I like to pretend I'm a photographer on Instagram and that's what a photographer might say. 

I've been looking at a lot though, and I guess there could be several reasons. 

Maybe I look because I think it's a cool photo of me. Maybe I look because I wonder exactly how high that jump was. Maybe I look because I remember how cold the water was. 

Maybe I look because jumping off of something is freedom. Maybe I look because that moment of anticipation before hitting the cold water is the clearest moment of thought that a human can experience. Maybe I look because Oregon, and specifically Crater Lake, is beautiful.

Maybe I look because I used to be more comfortable with heights than I am now, and I remember how I was more comfortable jumping the first time than the 2nd time. Maybe I look because it's the truest "ignore the camera" photo of me in recent memory. Maybe I look because the rocky outcrop looks more intimidating than I remember.

Maybe I look because it's a moment frozen in time so beautifully that I wonder what my exact thoughts were at the moment. Maybe I look because there really is a life lesson hidden somewhere in this photo and I have just never quite found it. Maybe I look because the photo itself is the lesson simply by living a life worth photographing.

Maybe I look because there will be a time in my life when I can't be so carefree as to take a long hike down a steep path, climb up on a small rock wall, and safely, comfortably jump into the cold waters below. Maybe I look because there will be an extended time in my life when I'm physically unable to take that hike and make that jump. Maybe I look because I don't know if I'll be able to duplicate this photo at a later time for any of thousands of reasons.

Maybe I look because this photo is a representation of a specific day of my life and depicts that day more clearly than almost any other photo represents a specific day of my life. Maybe I look because I wish other days could be represented so clearly by a photo and I'm jealous, in a way, of how good this photo looks. Maybe I look because Jenna took this photo and the one I took of her is not as good as this one.

Or maybe I look because I think it's a really cool photo of me.

I guess a picture's worth 475 words.
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Location: Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, USA

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