O is for Opportunity Knocks

Do you remember the ITV talent show, very popular in the 60s and 70s, hosted by Hughie Green and featuring the good old ‘clapometer’? Yes, that’s right – Opportunity Knocks – one of the forerunners of today’s multi-million dollar global talent show empires. And yes, unfortunately I remember the show but if you are of a younger age you may need to use Google to figure out to what I am referring.

But don’t worry – that is not the subject of this blog post. I am referring here to the old saying that ‘opportunity knocks but once’. The idiom intends to convey that you usually only get one chance to achieve what you really want to do. It may not seem too pertinent a piece of advice for those of you in your younger years, when your whole life stretches out ahead of you like a blank canvas and you seem to have all the time in the world to colour it with experiences. But believe me, the older you get the more apt this saying becomes. The time for an opportunity to present itself anew is ever decreasing. But let’s not get too morbid!

I have already written during this A-Z Challenge about the opportunity I had recently to start up a community choir in my home town. The timing of this just seemed so right that I could not pass up the chance to take it on and there was certainly no guarantee that the opportunity (or indeed that the absence of a community choir) would be there in the future. So, I decided to ‘go for it’!

That particular example is a rather big one – involvement in a group like a choir, whether as musical director, as a singer or in any other capacity, has the potential to be life-changing and it is certainly changing my life! But opportunities are not always as big or as obvious as that example. Let me tell you about a couple of smaller opportunities that came my way in the past year that I could have passed up but am delighted that I did not.

Last summer, the Tall Ships race paid a return visit to Dublin. I drink coffee with friends every Saturday morning and the owner of the coffee shop where we meet knows that some of us are into photography. He himself is owner of a yacht and he kindly invited a couple of us to join him, with our cameras of course, on a trip into Dublin Bay for the departure of the Tall Ships. I knew this was an opportunity highly unlikely to occur again so I said ‘yes’ and the next day had one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. The weather was fantastic; the ships were resplendent as they embarked from the quays of the River Liffey and approached us as we waited out in the bay. As soon as they hit more open waters, they raised their sails. We set our own sails and raced alongside these splendid vessels as they took their leave of Irish shores. The photos I got that day I will treasure for the rest of my life. Here's another one, with one more at the end of the post:



The second opportunity I want to relate is again pertaining to photography. I got a call a few months ago from our local Arts Club saying they’d had a cancellation for their next monthly Arts Show and would I be interested in doing a presentation on my photography. I was actually a little more nervous about this opportunity than I was about setting sail out into Dublin Bay! Apart from posting my photos online on Facebook and Flickr, I had never really publicly presented my shots before. But I decided to ‘go for it’.

Thankfully, the audience was very warm and welcoming which helped me overcome my trepidation on the night and they were very kind in their reaction to my photos. While this may not seem like a ‘big’ opportunity as such, had I turned down the invitation it may not have come my way again. It turned out to be an important step for me in terms of building up confidence in my own photography (I tend to be my own harshest critic) and in making some new contacts on the local arts scene.

So, a couple of personal examples of how it pays to recognise opportunity when it comes knocking. Now, off to think about tomorrow’s post. It may come as no surprise that, being P, it is about Photography!

Bridges and Tall Ships

By nature I’m a bit of a nosey parker. I like to know things. On the Enneagram I’m what is known as a Number 5 personality and the animal which represents this number is - yes, you’ve guessed it – the owl. Remember the wise old owl of nursery rhyme fame? “The more he saw the less he spoke, the less he spoke the more he heard” – that’s kind of like me. I’m still working on the ‘wise’ bit but overall I am a gatherer and hoarder of information.

I’m also a little bit lazy (which may explain why I like cats – unusual for an owl you would think!). You see, I’ve long wondered if the Samuel Beckett Bridge in Dublin lifts up to allow ships pass down the River Liffey. Since it was opened to pedestrians and road traffic in December 2009, I have admired the architecture of this stunning bridge which is named after the eminent Irish writer Samuel Beckett. Moreover, in the past year the bridge has been a frequent subject in my photography. Indeed, this spectacular construction rapidly has become an iconic landmark of our capital city. Yet it has taken me 3 years to find out anything much about it – all the more amazing when you consider that my place of work for the past year has been right beside the bridge! The truth is, I simply hadn’t bothered to go and find out. Until this week.

As I write this blog post, the Tall Ships Race 2012 is visiting Dublin and there is a right old carnival atmosphere about the place. Last week, while perusing some advance information about the festivities that would be taking place along the Dublin quays, I discovered that some of the visiting vessels were due to berth up-river from the Beckett Bridge. Aha! So the bridge must able to open. But how? Does it lift up? At the next opportunity I consulted YouTube to see if anyone had a video clip of this bridge doing its thing. Since you can find a clip of almost anything on YouTube, needless to say I found what I was looking for within seconds. Instantly, my question was answered – the bridge does not lift up – it swivels 90 degrees to open and close!

As if spurred on by this small yet, for me, pleasing discovery, I was destined to find out even more about this bridge as the week unfolded. The theme for my ‘52’ photography project this week is Architecture. Since the topic was announced 4 weeks ago, I decided that my first choice of subject would be the Beckett Bridge. Knowing that the quays would be lined with tall ships and thronged with people in the latter part of the week, I set out at lunchtime last Tuesday to take my shot (which you can see below). While posting my shot to Flickr earlier today I decided to find out a bit more about who had architected this marvellous work.

It is actually an Argentinian architect by the name of Santiago Calatrava. He has a string of notable and imaginative bridge and building designs to his name around the world. In particular, he has 5 bridges of the cantilever spar cable-stayed kind (there’s a term you don’t hear every day of the week!) of which the Samuel Beckett is one. However, what he has managed to achieve with the Beckett Bridge is to deliver a design which is reminiscent of a harp on its back (see photo at the top of this post)and that’s what makes this bridge unique. As you look towards Dublin city centre from the mouth of the Liffey you see a structure which is functional yet a striking symbol of our nation. It spans two districts of our city which were in need of rejuvenation, a lot of which was delivered during the fabled Celtic Tiger years. A few unfinished structures stand as a reminder that the Tiger years came to an abrupt end with the banking crisis of 2008. Thankfully the Samuel Beckett Bridge was sufficiently advanced to make it to completion.

Interestingly, this is Calatrava’s second bridge across the Liffey in Dublin. He also designed the James Joyce Bridge, constructed in 2003 at Blackhall Place further up the river. I wonder will he get to complete a hat-trick of bridges across the Liffey? Unlikely, one would think. Not much money around for such projects these days. But then money isn’t everything. As I ventured out last Friday lunchtime for a quick look at the visiting ships on the quays, it was great to see so many people – office workers, families, students, senior citizens - despite the wet weather, partaking in the Tall Ship festivities in the shadow of this great bridge. We certainly haven’t forgotten how to enjoy life. And that’s a good thing!

Thankfully it didn’t rain all the time, as you can see from this shot I took of the masts on the first of the tall ships to arrive in Dublin earlier this week. It’s the Guayas from Ecuador.

Click on the images in this post to view them in larger size.