Always be curious

Reflection

This photo was taken when I saw the little one looking attentively at her own reflection in the puddle of water from the melting snow. That moment lasted for almost 5 minutes. I am not joking. I stood by the side taking pictures enjoying the moment of peace and quiet. Just this moment, a lot of thoughts went through my mind.

First I thought it was funny when the little one stared at her own reflection for that long. Then it quickly triggered some thoughts about curiosity about the world. One of her favorite book is “The greedy dog”. It is a story about a dog trying to get the bone of its own reflection but lost its own bone in the pond. When I read this book to her, she always happily repeated the reflection and the silly dog. Now when she saw her own reflection in the real world for the first time, I wonder what was going through her mind. Did she recall the silly dog? Was she observing what a reflection was in the real world? Or she was just purely curious about what it was but was not able to put the book into the context? Well, she is only two years and half, I wonder how much her mind can process, but she was truly doing some deep thinking to her own reflection for 5 mins.

After all of this wondering, I started to think about myself. I was born as a curious kid, which led me to be a scientist. I have many other interests, which led me to pursue my photography path. As we grow older, sometimes we lose the curiosity, due to the busy life, due to the overwhelming information in the modern world. The level of curiosity can certainly separate people but can we always keep that mindset and how far can we go being the overwhelmed mid-age adults? I don’t have the answer. I always think about this myself.

Lastly, I am imagining as her parent, after 20 years when I look at this picture, this will remind me of the important milestone of her life. It is the first time when she saw her own reflection in a puddle…This moment faded away but I documented it. It is a photo journal and I can always come back to it. Maybe she will laugh at me for being emotional, but after another 10 years perhaps when she has her own children, I will show her this picture and ask how she feels as a mother…

Maybe I think too much, but you see how much a picture can tell you? There is a always story behind it (maybe even a very long one)…Please make sure you document it when you can. That is one of the many true meanings of photography.

-Rachel Hao

April, 2022