The Playground

I remembered that as a kid growing up in a community of well-off families and going to a pseudo-prestigious school, my mom always reminded me to count my blessings. She always said that we were lucky to have the things we had. I didn't really understand what she meant until I was a bit older because back then, everyone else in our community had more than what we had. I didn't grow up envying the other kids but there were also times that I wished I had more. Of course, I was a kid, and every kid wished for the best toys and stuff.


Just last week, I remembered what my mom always told me. I was attracted to a bunch of school kids playing on a felled tree. Sure, I played around dead trees and other dirty environments before but back then it was more of a choice. The kids I saw didn't have much of a choice; they didn't have a playground at their public school. The experience made me look back at what I had when I was a kid and realized how lucky I was even though back then my family didn't have much of the luxuries other families enjoyed. I felt that taking photographs of these school kids was my duty and it wasn't for artistic purposes. I matured a bit more while taking these shots. I cannot begin to describe the thoughts running through my head during the time it took to capture the images. But the kids had fun even in such conditions; I couldn't say that it was fun for me. Perhaps enlightening would be a better term.

These kids still find reason to smile. Kids will be kids. Ignorance to reality is bliss. But then again, how can I tell that then do not know what their reality is? Perhaps, they just chose to ignore it and just have fun.