You made me beautiful, she answered, after seeing the photos.

In my world, there could be nothing more fulfilling than hearing those words. To find beauty – even better, to help someone see their own beauty – is the highest act, the greatest good.

For me, creation is celebration. I celebrate this world as it is. I am not an activist; I do not seek to change the world. The world will change of its own accord, for better and for worse. But I do believe that injecting joy and celebration into this world of ours is the one truly revolutionary act.

Whether it be a description of a person whom I just met, the recounting of an apparently empty moment or a photograph of the light falling in the corner of a room with a swirl of dust rising, it is all just my attempt to celebrate – worship, really – this world.

Yes, every word, every pixel, every note for me is an act of spiritual rebellion against the void.

Creation is celebration.

Celebration is worship.

Worship is meaning.

Meaning is living.

And if I can reveal the beauty that someone thought they had misplaced along the way, then I am satisfied.

Deeply satisfied.