Where WordPress meets Instagram

About a year ago, I woke up early one Saturday morning and found myself parked across from this wall in Atwater. Not yet caffeinated, I was nevertheless transfixed at the shadows on the wall. I took a picture, then walked to get a coffee. While in line, my brain churned with ideas. I almost forgot to place my order when I finally got to the front of the line, deep in thought about what a concept about images of walls would be called and where it would live.

I walked back up to the wall and stared at it for a few minutes, perched against my car.

There was only 1 place to celebrate these types of images. It was 2015 after all. Instagram it was. And how would you describe this remarkable wall? Well, I thought it was just “fine.” And hence “finewallsoftheworld” was born. I  drove home to give my husband his long-awaited croissant and started taking pictures.

The other day, just before the year ended, I found myself back at the same parking spot. It had not been the first time I had returned, but I hadn’t seen the shadows of the lamps since that fateful morning. So much of my life has changed in the past year personally and professionally. I do feel older and wiser. But the wall and its shadow remains. When I took a new photo to mark the occasion, it looked exactly like the one before. There was something comforting that in an ever-changing world, sometimes those conceptual sparks can persist. There’s still so much more to do with #finewalls as there is with so many other ideas that just emerge in those decaffeinated morning moments, when the weight of the world has buoyancy and simple light and color seem inspiring.

I wish it was easier to write more on Instagram and I wish it was easier to share photos on WordPress, but maybe I’ll just work around them and make both “Wordagrams.”  Or maybe I’ll meet the designer that will help me realize these gaps in expressive technology.

Happy 2016.