What Albert Einstein Was

/ LivE

… aside from being a genius—and perhaps this even served as the stimulus for his being one—was incredibly curious. He said so himself:

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.
~ Albert Einstein

I grew up hearing the old adage, Curiosity killed the cat. But I think now that this might hold true only for things that (cough, cough) one perhaps has no business being curious about. But curiosity, in and of itself, is I believe a wonderful thing. For doesn’t every amazing quest for knowledge begin with a questioning mind?

A big part of curiosity is wanting to see beyond the surface, searching for the unusual in the commonplace, seeking the extraordinary in the ordinary. (And funnily, at the end of that road is often the discovery of miracles that, far from being rare and few and far between, are actually unfolding every day right under our noses, if we but choose to really see).

All of which brings us to my contribution to this week’s WordPress Photo of the Week challenge, with the theme Unusual:

{ Click on the image for a larger view}

Edward Weston said, Anything that excites me for any reason, I will photograph; not searching for unusual subject matter, but making the commonplace unusual.

I love that. I have always been a firm believer in searching for the special qualities that lie underneath what we otherwise take for granted as ordinary and mundane.

What does the image above look like to you? To me, it looked like some alien creature’s double-tongue helping itself to a taste of tree sap. What it actually is: sliced strawberries surrounded by crystallized and caramelized sugar. Unusual-looking but really just your usual everyday stuff that goes by the name dessert. Ordinary yet extraordinary. (Awesome tasting, too! :D)

So to my dear extra-special friends, here’s to an incredibly extraordinary day filled with curiosity that brings happy surprises to your doorstep!

16 thoughts on “What Albert Einstein Was”

  1. As I read, I thought it might be some sort of insect, eating another insect, or squirting something gooey and gross. And then I read on and it was gooey but not gross at all 🙂
    Yummy delish! Your words are inspiring as always. A million thanks. I admire your extra effort with the videos. They add an extra pizzazz ( and message of hope and cheer).

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    • haha, yes! i totally get what you mean – when something is not immediately familiar, one feels a weird compunction to simultaneously cover one’s eyes and yet look closely. i remember growing up with National Geographic World magazines (for kids), and at the back would be a grid of photos of the most ordinary things but which were taken in such a way that they weren’t immediately recognizable. the objective was to guess what each image represented… that was my inspiration for this theme. 🙂 you can guess how much fun i had with this one, haha!

      thank you very much for your very kind words, gemma. it’s so nice to know that the videos are appreciated – it isn’t always easy to find one that matches the theme and my post (and that’s part of the extra challenge for me haha), so it is immensely gratifying to know the effort reaches out and touches someone. big hugs!

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  2. Love your post. Not only it open one’s eyes to what is important in this world but also why we should follow our passion for learning and curiosity. These words were really beautiful, “A big part of curiosity is wanting to see beyond the surface, searching for the unusual in the commonplace, seeking the extraordinary in the ordinary.” thank you.

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  3. Are you trying to copy me? We love Albert Einstein over here! I had a photograph of him on our front door so the last thing they saw every day before leaving for school was him… along with the quote “Imagination is more important than knowledge…” We moved about a year ago, and his laminated picture is lost somewhere in the shuffle in the remnants still in boxes in the garage. My daughter asked me about that today & told me we need to put him back up. Every year for their first report, each child has chosen him as their subject. Anyway… ramble, but it’s crazy how much we have in common Miss LivE! (((hugs))) xo

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    • ooh, yet another thing to cheer about! great minds think alike, they say! LOL. you are awesome, yvonne. do take him out of his hiding place and put him right back where he belongs. heehee. 🙂

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    • thank you, gerry, you are most kind! the video features mandy moore’s song “extraordinary” (and she doesn’t know me from eve, haha) – i just like posting songs along with photos, because i find both music and photography to be great art forms that speak volumes in their own way – plus it adds a bit of a challenge for me to find a song that goes with the photo theme for the week. just a bit of more “play” for me 🙂 – glad you like the song!

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