Journalist and author Krista Tippett suggests that the first practice in a life of wisdom is to see the generative narrative of our time. “We are fluent in the narrative of catastrophe and dysfunction and disarray” but that is not all there is to this world. “There is also an abundant reality of things going right at any given time.” Those practicing a life of wisdom “take in the good.”

Our brains are hardwired for protection, so we quickly look for the worst in order to build our defenses. But we also have a calling to be “friends, neighbors, family, citizens, lovers of the world.” We are called, Tippett says, “to wholeness.”

Seeing the generative narrative in today’s world can seem difficult. Yet there are artists, poets, writers, mentors, and friends who regularly take in the good, the wonder, the joy around us and share it with others.

Carol Highsmith is a photographer who has taken the time to notice and share the wonder.

While a student at Washington’s Corcoran School of Art, Carol began documenting the restoration of the Willard Hotel, once called the “Hotel of Presidents.” And it was there that she “first saw the astonishing images of Frances Benjamin Johnston, a pioneer female photographer who had also shot in the Willard Hotel 75 years earlier. She had donated her life’s work to the Library of Congress.”

I was inspired and energized by her work, and her generosity, and I was determined to follow in her footsteps. I, too, would give my work to our great national library — with no stipulations or restrictions, just as Frances did.

In a remarkable 43-year project, Carol has visited all 50 states and photographed the people and places of this incredible country. Tens of thousands of those images now reside with the Library of Congress. Hundreds of thousands will eventually be donated copyright free to the American people.

I came to know Carol’s extraordinary work through her photographs of the historic sites of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where I worked for more than two decades. Her evocative and timeless images of iconic Trust sites were imprinted on my mind.

Creative Commons noted that “by removing copyright restrictions from her photographs, Highsmith is engaged in the important work of growing a robust commons built on gratitude and usability; her singular archive at the Library of Congress is a testament to one woman’s passion and generosity.”

Here are a handful of Carol’s photographs that have caught my eye through the years.

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Ordinary people doing extraordinary things

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The passages of life

Carol’s work is, to put it simply, a gift to America. While we can purchase photographs through Carol Highsmith’s America Shop, we can also do what I’ve done here: simply pull them from the LOC archives.

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Lighting up the night

Houses big and small

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America the beautiful (and strange)

Anytime I feel the need to take in the good, I’m going to post 15-20 more photographs from the Carol M. Highsmith collection. So consider this just the very first appetizer in a long and delicious feast.

Thank you, Carol my friend, for your incredible generosity. As the old Carter Family song reminds us, “Keep on the Sunny Side.”

More to come . . .

DJB

Image of Mono Lake, a large, shallow saline soda lake in Mono County, California, and all other photographs from the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.