Waking, Week 2: Know Your Joy

I spoke with a world-class photographer yesterday, a good man with a good eye and a better heart. Society is like a camera, he said, and these days, our lens is fixed on the negative, the shadow, the pain. He offered the obvious example—the political vitriol of the day. He mentioned the angry undercurrent of the 24-hour news cycle. He read violent tweets from his timeline. He read some self-aggrandizing tweets too.

The photographer—he’s right. So much media—traditional, alternative, social—is...