This picture remains to be one of my favorites. I just recently finished editing conference proceedings about social justice and the multicultural Asia-Pacific region. While doing so, I encountered this cliche which one of the participants kept saying, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts." Of course I had heard it said many times before, but then I had never really thought about its true meaning.
When I looked at this picture just a few minutes ago, the explanation suddenly dawned on me. Looking at it made me realize that I am not particularly fond of the person in this picture (who happens to be my ex-husband of almost seven years now). There is nothing exciting about the low mountains in the background, nor the shrubbery in the foreground. Yet it only took the light of the setting sun suffusing the clouds around it to make this picture greater than the sum of its parts.
In life, there should be no room for nitpicking. Ugly things can be beautiful if hit by the light of the sun in just the right spot.
Quick Travel Tip: To see the spectacular midnight sun, visit Norway from mid-May till the end of July.
For more information about the midnight sun, please click here.
