Norma or Bust

These photos are from a web series I am working on called “Short Tales from the Life of Norma.”  It is based on a sub-reddit called the Life of Norman that I’ve written about before on this site.

I started the project in winter, but it stalled in spring and for a brief moment seemed like it might not be.

“Norma” retreated back to that dark cavern where ideas are both born and still-born.

Ideas like bats at dusk, fluttering

shadows against cavernous pings

I have known the dark end of ideas.  

What good is there in speaking?

But just because an idea returns to its dim source doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. Patience is key.  A good set of binoculars.  A scientist’s eye. But also an appreciation of the natural rhythm that all creatures are subject to, the ebb and the flow.

Sometimes when the idea returns, you realize it has grown since last you saw it.  “How delightful,” you say.

But it is not in its nature to stay still for long.  Ideas always beg to be captured and therefore indistinguishable from the chase.