So much of what reaches us online has been shaped before it arrives – data, information, images, all passing through some filter or another before they land in front of us.

The photos you see on this site are recent, and I was deliberate about that. When I got them back from my photographer, I asked him not to filter the images. I felt rather righteous about that request, if I’m honest.

And then, of course, I chose the most flattering ones.

It didn’t take long to notice the contradiction. The makeup. The lighting. The particular angle that catches you just so. Aren’t those filters too? Just ones we’ve agreed to overlook because they’re familiar – because we’ve always done it that way.

I’ve also included a few casual selfies here – no photographer, no lighting setup, no deliberate anything. Just me, as I actually am on an ordinary day. Make of that what you will.

There’s another kind of filter, though. One that has nothing to do with a lens.

When I meet someone new, I make a quiet practice of looking for what’s beautiful about them – something physical, something in the way they carry themselves, something in how they think. It sounds simple, but it changes everything. When we look at one another through the filter of genuine kindness, we get to see and be seen at our very best.

Maybe that’s the only filter worth keeping.