A Day in the Mission

I love walking in the Mission! Mostly, today, I walked around Mission and Valencia Streets, between 17th and 24th. While on a search for interesting folks to take portraits of, I also continued my obsession with murals. The Mission District is a gold mine for both.



This woman was waiting at a bus stop with a cart full of laundry and shopping bags. Set on top of the overflowing cart were several round breads wrapped in plastic. She seemed tired from her errands, but when I asked if I could snap her photo she gave me a slight nod and drew herself up. I think she gained three inches in one breath.

It's easy to see how the murals and people both reflect the diversity and richness of experience in the Mission. Most of the murals are in alleys. They may last months, weeks, or only days as graffiti is imminent.

With a guitar on his back and the perfect hat,
the image of the Mexican musician is everywhere.


I approached this man as he panhandled on the corner. While he was open to being photographed, he told me that he didn't think he'd be able to smile. I told him that he didn't have to do anything at all. He said that life is too hard. It was painful to feel how much he needed a break. It's much easier to close our hearts to those having a more difficult life than ours, but I think we pay a terrible price when we allow that to happen.



Michael was putting up artwork as I approached. Instead of a mural, it was artwork printed onto paper and pasted up. His work invites you to visit a website (vototron.com) that is really wonderful. After being assured that I was not with the police, he was sweet enough to let me take pictures of him. Please visit his website. He tried explaining it to me several times and I didn't understand, but the site itself is quickly self-explanatory and very intelligent.

I love the dreamy, druggy ideas of many murals. I find it comforting that our brains are full of ideas that excite and disturb. I want to believe that we each have an inner world that distracts us and creates a uniqueness unseen in our daily lives. I suppose I need to know that I am not alone in this intensity of experience.

This couple looked happy in a little bubble of love. I asked them how long they'd been together and they replied, "Three months". I made a comment about that being the reason they're happy - and regretted it immediately. Cynicism hides my own desires for love and that's really never pretty.


This man put a huge smile on my face. He was following behind me, saying somewhat rude remarks and attempting to sell ipods simultaneously, when I suddenly turned to him and asked if he wanted me to take his picture. He was ecstatic and really hammed it up!

Every area offers glimpses, however fleeting, of what makes it special. It might be balloons waiting to be twisted into animals.
Or wrestling masks hanging outside a store. Maybe it's the murals. Or the people we take the time to talk with. For some reason, I desire and devour these bits of life outside of myself. They feed me, enrich me, and give me faith that my daily concerns are just one strand, one speck, of a much larger picture. What a great day!

Shalom in your home. Libby