Círculos de Crecimiento: The Spiral Path of Becoming

The morning light falls differently across Barcelona today, casting elongated shadows as mid-November marches forward. It's just after 9AM, and I'm watching pigeons gather on the rooftop across from my apartment, their movements creating patterns that seem both random and purposeful—much like my own journey these past weeks.

Looking back at my recent reflections, I notice a spiral pattern forming. Each post circles back to similar themes—identity, belonging, obstacles, witnessing—yet each time I return, I'm standing in a slightly different place. Como una espiral que parece volver al mismo punto pero siempre a una altura diferente.

This morning I was reviewing photographs from the past month, and something caught my attention: the evolution isn't just in what I choose to capture, but in how I see. Three weeks ago, I photographed an elderly woman in Barceloneta with technical precision but emotional distance. Yesterday, I photographed a similar scene—an older fisherman mending nets—and the image holds something entirely different: a vulnerable intimacy, a shared humanity.

The change isn't in my camera settings but in my presence. I'm learning to photograph not just with my eyes but with my whole being—allowing myself to be changed by each encounter rather than remaining safely behind the viewfinder.

Perhaps this is what mastery truly means: not perfection of technique but deepening of presence. Not accumulating knowledge but developing the capacity to be transformed by each experience, each obstacle, each relationship.

I see now how my sprained ankle, the broken filter, the language barriers—all these apparent limitations have been invitations to move beyond comfortable patterns into new territory. How each person who has allowed me to photograph them has, in turn, photographed parts of my soul I couldn't see alone.

Growth isn't linear but cyclical, returning us to familiar landscapes with new eyes. No avanzamos en línea recta sino en espiral, revisitando viejas verdades con nueva comprensión.

We don't advance in straight lines but in spirals, revisiting old truths with new understanding.

Sofia