SteemitPhotoChallenge #51 - Entry 1 - The eyes of a Grandmother lost

At some point, nature was a mystery to all with each breeze and falling rain a miracle to behold. It was something to be worshipped, and it was. Over time however, nature has been starting to be unravelled and understood by humans so much so that everyone holds an opinion on complex matters such as climate change, pollution and space travel. It hasn't taken long to get from revering nature to arrogant contempt. A societal god complex.

I think however that nature has a lot more to offer hidden among the folds of its cloak and even with all the advancements we have made, we have barely scratched the surface. How far we will be able to venture into understanding is going to depend heavily on if we survive long enough to do so. We seem more intent on global competition and destruction than cooperative discovery.

But, all of the issues of the world are beyond me, although thought about them is not. Life can be relatively simple if one chooses to explore the internal view before attempting to change the external. My daughter forces me to look inside myself in many ways from my habits, words to the development of myself to be what she requires to be her best, a testing ground for her skills and the support after she falls. I have the feeling, she is going to test her skills very heavily indeed which requires me to shape up in many ways.

But, she forces me to explore a past that is gone, as all pasts are, and that is one that had my mother in it. My daughter will perceive the world through her own eyes but will never meet the person from which she inherited their colour. My mother.

Nature chose the long shot over the expected as nature seems to do and gave my daughter bright blue eyes with a depth yet unknown. When I look into them, I am often reminded of my mother and a childhood that was far from traditional. My mother was intelligent but very calculating, passive-aggressive and somewhat of a narcissist who could manipulate with the best of them. I watched it often play throughout my family and wreak havoc many a time. Often I saw an almost nihilistic pleasure in her eyes as things burned, but for her life held meaning and that was to satisfy her own needs above all else.

She wasn't always in this frame of mind though and my mother was also there for me when times were particularly bad health-wise but not far below the surface was the animal looking to gain advantage. I learned a lot from her in many ways, a lot that I do not wish to hold within me. When I look in the mirror, I do not see much of her at all, I see more of my father, a simple man, a man easily manipulated.

And then I turn to my daughter with her piercing blue eyes burying into my own and realise, she is going to try to manipulate her father into getting whatever she wants. I have to train now, review the lessons from childhood, learn to recognise the signs, just in case she got more than her grandmother's eyes.

Has anyone else seen their parents shine through in their children?

[ Olympus EM-1 | ISO320 | 20mm | f1.7 ]

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]