I started having the idea when thinking about whether Photography is an art. That’s another discussion, but this got me thinking about what I think art is.

According to one definition, art is something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings. I’ve also heard some say that an artist is someone who explores the unknown.

When making pictures, I do most often strive to share the beauty I see. When playing instruments, I strive to make the instrument sound as close to the beautiful original composition as I’m able. When drawing, I want the same.

In none of these, however, do I feel like I have either the skill, the ability, or the strong motivation to do something original. Instead, I’m trying my hand at a particular “art” using what others have done as my guide. My best work is a pale imitation of the best art I’ve seen.

Where I am following my own path, however, is in my life itself.

While there are many people who have lived lives far more fascinating than my own, my life is something that I am creating with imagination and skill. My main motivation is to create beauty and express important ideas and feelings. I’m not trying to imitate what some other person has done with their life.

This means I often find myself exploring the unknown, with no certain idea where each decision will lead me, left to my imagination and creativity to twist potential outcomes into something beautiful and meaningful.

When I met Anna, I had come to a point in my life where I felt finished with romantic relationships. I was not bitter about this. Quite the contrary! I felt elated and ready to explore the world on my own.

When we discovered a mutual romantic attraction, no one was more surprised than me.

She is 27 years younger than me (an age difference, coincidentally, that matched the age difference between her adoptive father and her mother, a fact that helped convince me to give the relationship a try).

As with many explorations into the unknown, our relationship brought both surprising joys and heart breaking disappointments. The exploration nearly ended multiple times and eventually de-escalated to something more akin to a distant friendship.

At one somewhat difficult time, over a year into our relationship, I collected the massive number of pictures we had taken, including selfies, screen shots of video chats, Anna modeling for me, and more, into a single book to share with her.

Collecting everything and organizing it helped me revive the lighter times in my memory, which helped me continue the romantic relationship a little longer, although I knew even then that part of the beauty of life, and love, is its transience.

Of course, as with most of my single subject books, I only printed copies for each of us.