Family is Forever, Jai Johnson

After an entire season of photographing the eagles in Shiloh, TN, I have finally compiled their family portrait.  I was hoping they'd all just pose for me like this, and although it got close on a couple of shots, it never quite made the final picture I wanted to see.  Therefore, I created it myself.  

Family is Forever is a compilation of three separate photos and about eight textures in total.  I've been working on it for a while, but didn't come up with the title until this week.  It was after hearing the song "Grandpa" by the Judds (sung by a contestant on The Voice this week) again that the title came to me.  

As the song says, our world has simply gone crazy.  And I think part of the problem is the decline in the family dynamic over the past fifty years or so.  I can remember growing up, we had dinner as a family almost every night.  At least when my brother and I were younger.  Once we got older, that changed.  Then my Dad left to work out of state and it changed even more.  It was not pleasant.  Family wasn't fun anymore.  My family members were all too "busy" for me.  And to this day, that hasn't changed with my original family.  In fact, it's worse now than it was then.

I remember when my children were younger, and I saw all of these other parents around me signing their children up to be in all kinds of activities.  The families never seemed to be together anymore...one kid was at a school event, another at a ball game, another at a retreat, another was spending the night at friend's houses every weekend, etc.  I made a point to not have it be that way at my house.  I wanted that family dinner....just the like good ole days.  I told my children they could pick ONE activity to do at a time.  And that was it.  I wasn't going to be running around from this to that constantly, and we were going to have family dinner together...PERIOD.

I've witnessed it getting worse over the years as I've watched other families in this day and time.  Family dinner is maybe a once a week happening in many households, if that.  Some children only see a parent once or twice a week for an hour or two during waking hours because of all the activities kids are involved in.  Kids are going to bed at odd hours because of their numerous events they're being shuffled around to constantly.  And it's not just the kids activities...it's the parents, too.  Parents are involved in this and that and gone all the time to different events and functions more than ever before.  People are so "busy".

Frankly, it's no wonder the world is in such a mess.  We have teachers raising children, or worse yet, kids raising kids, because of the lack of parental interaction with their children.  And I'm not talking about the activities interaction...I'm talking about the moments spent at home, talking across the dinner table or breakfast table every morning as a family.  I'm talking about parents being interested in what their children want to do and become and parents having actual conversations with their children, rather than a passing wave in the hallway at bedtime.

Kids these days spend more time in their rooms alone, with their friends at numerous events, or with their face in their cell phones than they do interacting with their parents, grandparents, etc.  The busy-ness of the world has put a severe wedge in the midst of what used to be a great family dynamic.

As I watched these eagles, I thought about this.  There they are, "stuck" in the nest.  All day.  Every day.  Until it's time for them to leave.  The only interaction they have is with the parents.  Even when they leave the nest, the parents are right there beside them, teaching them the ways of being an eagle in this world.  The baby eagles aren't being shuffled out of the nest and sent to fishing games with other little eaglets.  They aren't being taught the ways of the world by other eagles.  They're being attended to, taught, and having meals with their FAMILY.  Their parents and each other is their life.  And I have no doubt the family connection is stronger with these wild birds than it is with most human families these days.

Just watching them reminded me of the good ole days.  And it reminded me of how I've tried to maintain our "family nest" if you will, as our children have grown up.  It made me think about the separations of families these days and how so many family members don't even know each other and how many parents don't have a clue as to what their children are doing because they're so busy.  And it's really sad.

In addition to the above image, I created a separate image with a quote regarding family.  It kind of says it all.

Family is Forever Eagles Art Poster Print 36A

 

"Like branches on a tree, we all grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as ONE."

 

 

Families are spreading out in so many opposite directions these days.  Yet, deep down, they are still connected by their roots.  It's just a shame today's families seem to try everything they can to break that connection, or to distance themselves from it.  But no matter how hard they try, they will always be connected by those roots.  Forever.  No matter what.  And it's just sad that so many families these days miss the journey together.  They end up coming back together and reuniting later in life when there's a problem.  And sometimes, they lose a family member...and then you hear things like "Oh I wish I'd have called her more often."  or "I should have spent more time with him."  And the thing is, everyone has the choice to do that now.  Before it's too late.  

 

 

--Jai