“Solitude, says the moon shell. Every person, especially every woman, should be alone sometime during the year, some part of each week, and each day.” -Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Steve and I took a mini road trip up north yesterday to Deception Pass. Although we were together we spent most of our time apart. Wandering around aimlessly, stuck in our heads, we soaked in the nature around us and mentally decompressed. I’m sure its no surprise that I took lots of pictures. I’ll trickle them in throughout the week.
For now, I want to tell you all about what I’ve been discovering this week with the book group.
(FYI: click on the images to see them larger.)
Sometimes it takes a leap of faith to follow our fascinations. The last challenge from chapter three of “The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women” is about bolstering your staying power. One of my biggest challenges is being brave and following through with my creative ideas. I’m the first to duck and hide out of fear of being wrong or looking foolish. But I am growing and by simply acknowledging this challenge in myself I am finding ways to overcome those obstacles.
“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” -Oprah Winfrey
I get some of my best staying power from my husband and my family. Their encouragement and praise is sometimes all I need to keep my camera with me or write another story. And this blog too, has been an incredible source of inspiration and optimism. I want to make you all proud. I want to WOW you! It’s the incentive I crave that I never knew I needed.
Of course sometimes those very things that boost me are the ones that make me freeze. Those are the times when I need silence to listen to my heart and shush my nerves. I use this time to visualize. I see my self successful. I rehearse the words I’ll say and imagine the finished piece. I can talk myself into anything. I can be very convincing.
“And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.” -Erica Jong
I’m “putting it out there” these days. I’m being brave. My calculated risks are taking me back to my true loves and launching me forward towards new friends. Sometime in the next month I will be co-launching a very exciting second blog. Just writing these words, knowing that everyone will read them and hold me to it is somewhat frightening. A flutter of butterflies are dancing in my belly. But that’s how I know I must say it “out loud”. Because now it’s certain to happen.
This week I also opened my mouth about taking my friend Shauna’s maternity pictures and to my relief and joy she said yes! Oh boy for belly joy! There may be at least two other opportunities for maternity shoots this year which inevitably leads to two precious newborns to peek at through my lens. And then there’s weddings. So far I have two pending weddings for this year, one of which is in Hawaii so I’m really looking forward to that. Also this week I sent out a message to my friends with kids pimping myself out to photograph their little tykes. I’m totally on a roll and I love following my fascinations.
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