Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams. — Ashley Smith
This month, Allie Edwards team had a brilliant suggestion for my word this month… take photos! And so each day I captured some photos of what filled my days. It was fun… and very different from what I did way back when I captured one photo of my day. I made sure that photo was the perfect setting… edited for more “perfection” and when I look back on all those months of photos I feel very removed from them, as if I am an outsider looking in. They absolutely did not bring to mind the day or what happened that day or what I did that day.
This exercise, however, felt entirely different. They are not “perfect” photos… but I feel very present in these images and I hope that a year from now when I look back on them I will remember more of the day, what happened, and what I did… that this exercise will actually help cement the month in my memory!
I noted the changing light.
I sewed.
I knit.
I did lots of spinning.
I picked so many tomatoes.
I made pitas more than once.
I knit my “gninth” gnome!
There was painting and more painting.
Poetry…every single morning.
There were happy hours! Ha!
And, of course, Sherman.
All this is not to say that it was a perfect month… it wasn’t because there were struggles as well. I tried to remember that being a listener is better than being an advice giver… so I let my ears fill up and worked on keeping my mouth shut! (Sometimes I succeeded even!)
But!! There is still five more days in September and I am eager to fill the coming days with good things!
As always, I would like to thank Carolyn for providing a landing space for us all to share what we learned, how we grew, and how our word showed up for us each month!
See you all back here on Wednesday!
every single time I do not give advice I feel like I accomplished something. Ha!
Keeping quiet and listening can be SO very hard! Love your pictures Kat – they are wonderful (and you look great).
I love your attitude toward taking those photos, and I think it shows in the pictures! They are quite lovely and being “present” in them and all the things you did is so much more important than being “perfect”. Here’s to a full September!
I think most of us miss all that we could appreciate around us if only we could be quiet and focus on listening and noticing. I’m trying to be better about that. I think your photos do an excellent job of capturing what you were about to fill your life with this month that was good and worthy of notice.
You have it so right. Those pictures were in the moment and of the moment, your life as lived to the max. Loving the gninth gnome!
Beautifully captured Kat. And any day you get to type the word gninth is a great day! 🙂
I love your photos. You are so right about just being present and not expecting every detail in a photo to be perfect. And that business of keeping one’s mouth shut – some days it’s hard but when I manage to do that I know that I have done the right thing.
I love what you managed to capture in your photos – it’s clear that September was full of (ha!) exactly what you need, even if there were some not-so-great moments scattered about. That’s what I try to do with my notebooks – use them as a reminder that I HAVE been doing things for myself, even though it feels like I haven’t. Somehow it manages to help me feel much better 🙂
I love the way this month’s prompt spoke to you, Kat. Photos (or written reflections) are so much more meaningful (to me) when I take them/write them just for myself . . . instead of for “display.” While there are reasons for both (I mean . . . I’m a blogger after all), I think my deeper story comes from those “real” and more raw photos I take just for myself. XO
There are so many ways to express ourselves and record our memories through photography. I’m glad you found a way to connect to your word this month by taking photos.
Your photos capture such a rich month, Kat. Your post makes me stop and think about all those untouched-up, unedited photos of the ‘film’ days. ‘Flash cube’ days! And those photos, really, are my favorites…so easy to remember myself, or people I love, *in* those moments/times/days.
And…I spy my little eye on one of my favorite poetry collections! I read that one on silent retreat at the monastery last February. Makes me smile here to see it with you. xo