Photo taken by contributor Craig A. Miller, a 37-year-old author, speaker, photographer, and suicide attempt survivor from Boston. For many years he struggled with OCD, extreme anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. After a suicide attempt nearly ended his life at age 20, he became dedicated to understanding what led him to such a decision, and more importantly how he could gain control of himself and his life to ensure it would never happen again. He published a book in 2012 titled, This is How it Feels: a memoir of attempting suicide and finding life. He is a member of The Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention and regularly speaks everywhere from libraries to state conferences sharing his story and the steps he took to move forward.

About this photo: “I recently saw this woman painting a horizon on the beaches of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She sat quietly among the tall grass while countless people walked the sands around her tossing Frisbees, flying kites, and splashing in the waves. She stared off to the side, brush in hand, capturing a scene the way she saw it. And though the landscape she focused on was beautiful, what I thought was even more spectacular was her-  a woman, sitting silently, surrounded by an active ocean beach as though the only thing existing in that moment were her and a brush.

She was surprised when I approached her. Not because she was startled by the interruption , but because she was confused as to why I thought it was important to capture a photo of her when the beauty that she saw was in the horizon she was painting. 

I wish I had gotten her name. I wish I was able to send her this photo and help her realize that despite the breathtaking landscapes a Cape Cod beach offers, the real beauty that day lay in a woman who took the time to appreciate it.”

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