Decades ago, while watching PBS (Public Broadcasting System), I discovered a most amazing person, Monty Roberts. You may have heard of him? He had a whole new way of working with horses and was known as “The Horse Whisperer”. His programs were mesmerizing, watching him work with unruly horses and transform them into calm, enjoyable beings. He worked with horses and their owners all around the world and always said he “rehabilitated the horses and trained their owners”. While doing so and raising his own family, he fostered over 50 troubled young people using his gentle abilities of rehabilitation. The horses, and the fostered kids, were always brought to him as the source of the problem, yet it was clear the horses (and kids) were simply reacting to their own experiences. You can read more of this story in his excellent autobiography “The Man Who Listens to Horses”. I’ve watched him weave his magic ever since.
A few years ago, another person came to my attention, Mr. Cesar Milan, who is known for his expertise in working with dogs. I think I resisted tuning into his shows as I assumed he was just playing off of Monty Robert’s fame by using the “whisperer” part and how different could an animal trainer be anyway (sadly, sometimes I amaze my self at how narrow-minded I can be!). One night, while channel-surfing, I accidentally came across his show, The Dog Whisperer, stopped and watched for a few minutes. ZAP!! I was hooked. Cesar Milan’s methods are very similar to those of Monty Roberts, so intuitive, kind, firm, humane and brilliant!
Now, you might be wondering what all of this has to do with the goals of this StoryStars blog, which are to enable us to write effectively with our photos and make real differences with those for whom we care. Well, while watching one of his shows, I heard him say for the upteenth time “I rehabilitate dogs and train their owners” and something clicked with me. A light bulb went off in my brain, and I realized that’s exactly what I did with myself to get out of “photo freeze” and into action! And, it’s a nutshell description of what I do with photos and their people! While I’m in no way a Monty Roberts or Cesar Milan, who are truly amazing, one-of-a-kind people, it hit me that my whole focus in helping people IS to “rehabilitate photos and train their owners”.
How so??? In my next post, I’ll tell you how plus some cool things to come.
Are you familiar with Monty Roberts and/or Cesar Milan and can see how their philosophies could relate to how we approach our photos/images? Please share your thoughts below and subscribe to the blog in the upper right column on this page.