{this moment} – A SouleMama Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
Tag Archives: photography
A Hawaiian Pause
6 FebIt must be a sad soul who does not feel almost immediately refreshed and relaxed upon waking in Hawaii.
Livin’ the Dream
12 JanI just came across Martha Metzler’s blog where, rather than making New Year’s resolutions, she’s giving herself a new challenge each week. And I decided to play along, when the mood strikes. I’m just going to state right off the bat, that I give myself pull permission to just pop in on any of the weeks that jive with me.
Her first challenge is what hooked me… because rather than cataloging all the features and habits that we dislike about ourselves, turning them into aspects to overcome… she asked us to list 5 things we DON’T want to change about ourselves. Even for the relatively confident… it’s hard to do!
Here are my five.
- I’m very open to new things. New thoughts, ideas, perspectives… I love to hear other’s explain their own beliefs and opinions. New places, flavors, activities and experiences.
- I’m a great beginner. I love to learn and don’t mind asking questions or admitting when I don’t know something.
- I love to read. And as much as I love blogs and ebooks… I will always love holding a book in my hands.
- I’m creative. I enjoy making things, and I make some pretty dang cool things.
- I’m a good listener.
It is… um… nourishing… to think of the things that I appreciate about myself. Rather than the ones I’d like to change, or work on. Thanks for this fantastic idea, Martha.
As a last aspect of that first week’s challenge, she asks us to post a photo that we don’t analyze or critique of ourselves.
Most of the photos taken of me in the last few months have not been taken alone. So here is one of me and my little one.
this post inspired by:
The Artist’s Way – Week One
19 Sep
I have tried to do the Artist’s Way dozens of time for about the past three and a half years. I’ve tried to do it solo and I’ve recruited friends… I have yet to make it past the second week. The morning pages are something I’ve managed to keep, however sporadically, and remain one of my little source of sanity.
So here I am, once again, at the beginning of the twelve weeks. Mary and Megan! I’m keeping an eye out for your posts!
Week One.
I actually do not like this chapter one bit. The reading is interesting, but the exercises… the monster hall of fame and writing a letter in my defense are not in any way appealing to me. Nor is drawing a villanizing picture of one of my past jerks. I know that she says that the things you resist are supposed to be the ones that are really cathartic for you… but really, I just can’t think of people in my history who have been particularly discouraging to any budding creativity. You know, besides myself. If I reach… I could say a couple art teachers. Only because if you turn work in late, and my work was always late, it gets completely discounted. Other than that, I’m at a loss.
The Champions were a cinch, two of my lovely college professors and a former boss. And actually, they stand out to me more so because they were supportive and encouraging of me as a person, in creative endeavors as well as most other things.
And of course… who doesn’t love the imagining 5 different lives exercise?! Always one of my favorites. (btw I was a writer, a professional dancer, a model, a teacher and a full-time mom. I want to know what you were!)
And of course… who doesn’t love the imagining 5 different lives exercise?! Always one of my favorites. (btw I was a writer, a professional dancer, a model, a teacher and a full-time mom. I want to know what you were!)
My artist’s date… I always feel like I have to pack a bunch of really amazing things into a couple of hours… but I tried to start “feeding the well” slowly this time. So, I spent an hour in an art store. Art Essentials is conveniently located two doors down from one of my jobs. I didn’t buy anything… I just looked, and touched, and read descriptions of tools I didn’t recognize, and entertained a variety of potential projects in my head as I walked through the aisles. Simple, yes. But I had a blast. I didn’t even realize an hour had passed until I was out. I flipped through books, looked at the phases of painting sunsets, different drawing techniques, metal art pieces and suggested camera angles. I picked out the kinds of portfolios I would want to have, should I ever have a need to fill a portfolio. I looked at dye, clay, woodworking tools, walnut oil based paint, canvases, composition books, and rows and rows of gorgeous papers and textures. Did I mention I had a blast? And of course, I couldn’t resist snapping a few photos with my phone too (at the top)… literally a feast for the eyes, hands and imagination.
As for my morning pages. I did miss one day. But I decided to go easy on myself because I’ve been pretty damn good with them otherwise. I even got so caught up in complaining one morning… that I went straight through to the fourth page. Is that something to brag about?
Okay girls, passing the torch! And I’m far more excited for Week Two’s exercises.
Reinventing the Dog Walk
20 AugOkay, I’m about to admit something that I’ve never admitted to anyone for fear of sounding like a beast of a human being, a spoiled brat, or at the very least a bad pet owner… but I do not enjoy walking the dog.
I feel terrible saying that! But it’s true. And I adore my dog, love to cuddle, love to rough house with her, love her crazy noises and stubborn sneak attacks to crawl into bed with us after she thinks we’ve fallen asleep. And I envy those people who list long walks with their dog among their most favorite activities… but I’ve tried to love it, I’ve pretended I love it… I do not. I get bored. I make frequent pleas to her as we walk to do her dog business as quickly as possible so that we can head back home (sometimes I even read a magazine as I’m walking). I’m sorry! I really am… but it’s also something that had started to believe just isn’t going to change.
And then one day, the sun was in my eyes…
On one of our trips outside, I brought my sunglasses. And WHAT a difference! You have no idea what a little tint and color did to change my whole neighborhood into a brand new eye candy filled place! It sparked a little memory in me… followed by a little idea…
Whenever I come back from a vacation… I swear that I’m going to treat the town that I live like a foreign city. It’s not hard to imagine really, old Mediterranean style tiles and buildings, views of the water and hills, bricked pathways, parks galore. And when I’m traveling, my favorite thing to do is walk. I walk for miles, eating up the architecture, the scattering of leaves colored for the season, people watching to no end and lingering whenever I think something deserves a little more attention. I only succeed in this in Santa Barbara when I have friends or family in town. A little excuse to play tourist. But who needs an excuse to do something that will give their eyes a little feast and perk up a sadly unbeloved event!
So I pulled down the leash, rallied the little dog leaping in excitement, grabbed my sunglasses and a camera, and went off to pay attention as I walked.
The Result Follows…
Oh! I almost forgot to add. Yesterday I also came across a site with a challenge… to imbue intentional creativity into every day. I like this because it refers to creativity in a really broad sense. Meaning I don’t have to be specifically creating a piece of art… but creativity can be brought to doodling, cooking, playing, or as in my first day, walking. Yes, this was intended for the year of 2010 and yes it’s halfway through August of that year.. but hell. I’m in. The (optional) theme this month is fire. And since I’m feeling like my attempts at creativity are needing a little jump-start… “fire” for me is being translated into anything that sparks my creative fire again.
My first day involved the reinvention process of the dog walk, and resulted in a handful of photos, most taken through the lens of my sunglasses because it had the coloring and provided the shadows that I loved. Today… I uploaded them to flickr and meant to just write mini descriptions to each one… and ended up getting so enchanted by my walk all over again that my descriptions ended up taking the form of a rambling traveling kind of poem. It might not make as much sense to someone outside of my head… but it was really a lot of fun!
So really this time…
Walking Ruby:
Led by anticipation and whatever smells new
Intent on seeing things through a different hue
When the colors tint and shift and fade
The light shines through webs and tangles
that deserve to be noticed,
Romanticized by a passerby.
With each step and a quick catch of breath,
pausing to glance back,
the realization hits me
that as lovely as the image
of what was planned might be,
It’s just not yet for me.
So we keep moving down the path we’re on
led by the steps and spurred on
by the occasional sweet jaunt of blissful contentment.
Holding the small blooming in my heart
amongst shadows and light.
Rekindling that firey red inside
and the violet blue that was and
(I’m finding) still is my creativity.
Stopping to play along the way
Because isn’t that what we say
that we’re missing most days?
A moment to contemplate
the clash of free thinking schemes
with the big shuttered house dreams.
And realizing that maybe its not a conflict to be solved.
That maybe its the juxtaposition that creates the beauty.
That not only have the white picket fences learned to live with and be enlivened by wildflowers,
but also that the wildflowers are enhanced and supported by that white picket fence.
Ah, the crossroads we come to,
the hidden rainbows we’ve climbed.
The ease we find after redesigning the stories in our mind.
The alluring and reassuring play of colors right above
the path that leads to home.
Love,
Me
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