I Turned A Corner

So yeah....I took a spontaneous trip to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History here in Washington DC on Monday. I saw something on their website about a NEW permanent exhibit that they have called The Korea Gallery. As you would see if you clicked the above link, the exhibit information/annoucement is pretty much a big thing on their website. And with the text promising to present "...Korea's millennia of history and its distinctive culture..." I thought it would be worth the trip down to the Mall. (For those of you NOT familiar with all of my history, I spent 1995-1997 in Seoul, South Korea teaching English. And my brother was a Mormon missionary in Seoul. And his wife, Christy, was born in Korea and moved to Idaho when she was like 8 or something. So yeah...I have some ties.....)

So I made an instant 'I Can Because I'm Unemployed' decision to head there and check it out. I packed up my backpack, hit the Metro, braved the throngs of tourists, ended up helping a couple of lost tourists find their destination, and finally arrived at the NHM. As always, upon entering, I was welcomed by the large elephant-creature...and I arrived with such purpose today that I almost could've believed that his trunk was raised as a gesture of waving HELLO to me! I found a large, colorful sign at the information desk directing me to the 2nd Floor to find The Korea Gallery. By this time, I was getting pretty excited to see the exhibit, and probably recall some memories of my 2 incredible years over there. I'm pretty sure I bounded up the stairs and began to circle the circular marble hall. Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Other Rock Crap. No. The Tiffany Diamond. Been there, done that. The Carmen Lady Ruby. Whatev. Nature's Photography Exhibit. ZZzzzzzzz. Western Culture Hall. Please. Gift Shop. Nice Try. And then I was back to the stairs I had come up. Hmmm. This seems suspect. I make sure, by looking over the center rail into the rotunda, that I'm actually on the 2nd floor...and then I start around again. This time, when I arrive at the gift shop, I notice a smaller version of The Korea Gallery sign on a stand in front of it and an arrow pointing me towards the gift shop. And then another one turning before the entrance. And then another one pointing me down a long hall towards a set of elevators. And then ANOTHER one pointing me to turn RIGHT at the elevators.

"Hi MATT!" He seemed to say.

LOOK! Hoops & Yoyo insisted on coming along, too!

AND THEN.....in what could only be described as a space that was probably once a double-wide janitors closet, I found the Holy Grail of my search: THE KOREA EXHIBIT. And 6 and a half minutes later, I was done with it. Seriously....it was probably one of the biggest let downs of my LIFE! (SmashGFunk...pretty much on par with the MUPPET fiasco of last summer at the MAH.) The website script promised almost a GRAND look at years of Korean history and art and culture...and what we got was a few pictures of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, some pictures from the Korean war, a HUGE wall of Pak Se Ri - the famous woman golfer from Korea, and a big glass case with traditional wedding clothes. Oh and some pots and scrolls with writing on them. But TEXTBOOK, pedestrian, boring stuff. And not much of it. I snapped a couple of pictures (before my camera died) and then headed out the OTHER end of the exhibit to find the stairs down and out.

The sign outside the gift shop...KIND of pointing me in the right direction.

The main entry into the Korea Gallery. UNFORTUANTELY - it's pretty much the bulk of the exhibit. The exhibit goes about 15 feet to the left and the right of the big wall seen here, and as you can see through the wall, there is part of the exhibit back behind it, as well. But - that's about IT, folks. (And then my camera died. AURGH!)

As I stepped out of the exhibit/closet area, I noticed that I was at the OTHER end of what appeared to be the Nature Photography Exhibit. Figuring that atleast I knew how to get out of the building from that exhibit, I decided to cut through the room to the stairs. What I didn't expect was what came next. As I stepped into the long hall of pictures, I figured I might as well glance at the pictures on the way out. And in an instant of giving myself over to looking at the first picture, I suddenly was sucked into this AMAZING exhibit of photography from around the world. Picture after picture of vibrant colors and scenes and animals in action and nature at its best...and each picture complete with a small story of the sitation the picture was taken in. Pictures from professional, amateur and even youth photographers graced the wall - and as I slowly made my way through them, I was moved and inspired and touched by so many of them. I made it down the one side of pictures to the actual entry to the exhibit and found a large introductory wall, telling me that I had stepped into the winners circle from the 2006 Nature’s Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards and the National Wildlife Photography Awards competitions. (And at this introduction wall is where I found the PASSION quote I posted yesterday.)

I continued up the other side of the exhibit, LITERALLY losing myself in print after print - amazed at the stories told and the colors captured and the FEELING each picture was evoking in me. I made a complete loop back to where I had started...and then slowly moved back through the exhibit again, stopping at my favorites along the way for another glance or study. And when I finished with that, I sat on a bench at the entrance of the room and took the entire collection in as a whole before deciding it was time to go.

Slowly making my way down the stairs, past the welcoming pachyderm, I found myself lost in my own thoughts....amazed, first and foremost, at what an immense let-down the Korean Exhibit had turned out to be. But then how fortunate I was to stumble into the photography exhibit....that I ended up spending about an hour and a half in! But not only spent that much time in, but actually left feeling like I had benefited from it. Walking away inspired and touched and moved....and excited by what I had seen. And as I walked down the main steps of the museum, I smiled because I realized I had just had one of those priceless little 'Life Moments', where we are reminded what it's all about.

I walked down the street and realized that the story of my trip to the Museum on a late-summer afternoon was a fable for life in general. Who doesn't have elaborate plans of where they're going? Of what they're doing? Of what the perfect life or job or career or relationship or 'end picture' is for them? Who hasn't set off to see their own 'Korea Exhibit' - with grand thoughts and images and ideas of what that end idyllic picture will be? And how often, through no fault of your own, do you get 'there', and find yourself disappointed, let down, or just plain underwhelmed by what you find? I think in that moment, that moment of realization that 'THIS' isn't what you came for, you define the person you are and will be. Because in that moment, I think you find that you can either retrace your steps, back through the winding, confusing halls to get you back to where you started - lost and confused at the gift shop, only a little more bitter and jaded - or you can simply turn a corner...and see if there is another route, another path, another journey that will take you somewhere new. Your 'Nature Photography Exhibit' is waiting, and if you're willing to give it another shot, you may be surprised at the beauty and depth and experience that is waiting for you. You won't end up where you thought you would...I'd wager to say most of us hardly ever do...but most of the time, you'll be better off that way, so don't fret.

-------------------

The Nature's Best 2006 Photo exhibit has been extended at the Natural History Museum in Washington DC and can now be seen until October 28, 2007. The exhibit is FREE. Some highlights of the exhibit are available on the NHM website by clicking HERE. And for those of you unwilling to take the time to see them there, MY highlights of THOSE highlights have been added below. Do yourself a favor, though, and get down to the mall. They are fine here and on the website, but they are undescribably beautiful at 50" x 60" with a glossy finish mounted on the wall. You'll be glad you did. And for anyone SERIOUS about going, I'd love to go again. Just holler.