Celebrate :: Everyday

by Dotti

cel·e·brate :: verb :: to do something special or enjoyable for an important event, occasion, holiday, etc.

That’s a little more high-falutin than what I have in mind but it catches the essence of my word for 2016. After I wrote the post introducing our December theme, the idea of ‘celebrate’ stayed with me. Pretty soon I was thinking that I should ‘celebrate the moment’ all year long, not just in December. So that is my word, or phrase, really, I guess, for 2016.

Now, I should tell you that my record with a word each year is pretty dismal, not much better than the whole resolution thing. But this one, celebrate – is different. It really is something I think about each day, it propels me to look for things to celebrate in my ordinary, everyday life. It has also led me to see that celebrating the moments in my life is a form of gratitude. And I firmly believe that gratitude is the key to a happier, healthier life.

So what kind of things do I celebrate? I thought you’d never ask!

In my neck of the woods, the sunny days in January can be few and far between so anytime there’s enough sunshine to shoot indoors in natural light, I follow it with my camera.

I celebrate the morning light in my home …

the mid-afternoon sun in my kitchen …

the mellow late afternoon light on my porch.

I celebrated the first fire of this winter …

as well as my granddaughter when she experimented with her new chemistry set …

 and an unexpected Saturday morning visit.

Celebrating the moment(s) each day has given me joy I couldn’t imagine, my camera, and sometimes just my iPhone, are my new best friends.  Looking for the joy, the beauty, the specialness in my ordinary moments has awakened a new awareness of how blessed I am, how much I have to be thankful for, which brings us right back to the gratitude thing.

How about you? Have you tried celebrating the moments in your perfectly ordinary days? I hope you will – it could be a life changer.

Threshold

by Carol

"Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, 'It will be happier!'"

                                                                            Alfred Lord Tennyson

There's been a lot of talk this week about words. My word for 2015 came to me in the middle of the night, as I lay in contemplation.

threshold

It's perfect. It has so many connotations that its making my head swim. Even the basic definitions are exciting - Listen:

- A stone to be crossed as you enter the new.

- The point at which a psychological or physical effect begins.

- The place or point of beginning.

- The point above which something which is true and can take place, and below which it is not true or cannot take place.

That last one is my favorite. Because I am on the path to finding my truth, and it feels closer all the time. It feels as if I am standing on that threshold. I have always loved art, and photography, and writing. I have always loved learning, and exploring new things. I have always loved coming together with the people I care about. I love meeting new people and hearing their truths.

And now I find myself photographing daily and writing about it here, and in my journals. I am engaged with art - on the threshold of discovering skills I never thought I had. I am working on series of photographs to express myself, and I am studying our senses, and how they enrich our lives. 

And I am traveling, meeting people on-line and in person, whom I never would have found before I chose this path. I am stretching - reaching through to cross the thresholds that held me back before. 

"He had the vague sense of standing on a threshold, the crossing of which would change everything."

                                                         Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden

- I feel that I am crossing that stone.

- The psychological effects are emerging.

- I am at a point of beginning.

- I am running towards something true.

I think I am standing at a threshold!

"Once you cross that threshold you will never be the same. That is a fact."

                                                        Kamal Rivikent, Live Your Truth

krēˈāt

by Judy

When Carol handed this small ceramic star to me during our Focusing on Life Galveston retreat, I thought it was the perfect gift to give to a group of photographers and artists.  I don't know what words were on my sister's stars that they received, but I felt a connection with this word right away.

It has sat on my desk at home since returning from Galveston in October.  I see it every day. Sometimes I pick it up and run my fingers over it.  I feel the smoothness.  I feel the little dimple. And I feel the letters  C  R  E  A  T  E.  

For some reason, I haven't had much luck with the "one little word" concept in the past.  I've tried, I really have, but I just haven't been able to embrace it, and follow it, or rather, let the word lead me. But there seems to be something different about this word. When Carol placed this in my hand and I saw the word 'create,' my brain said, "yes, of course,  C R E A T E,  it couldn't be anything but this." 

For almost a year now I have had a creative idea floating around in my head.  I've been mulling it over, taking notes, scribbling things out, starting over.  Trying to figure out how I can get what's in my head to work, and to become a reality.  One of my goals for this year is to take the time to really work on this project and bring it to fruition.
Yes,  C  R  E  A  T  E

As I think about my creative idea there is one thought that really brings a smile to my face....There is no right or wrong way to be an "artist."  Think about that for a minute.  There is no right or wrong way to be an artist.  There is such freedom in that fact.  When we create art we are being authentic. There is no competition.  It's just 'us', delving deep and taking risks. We only need to find what resonates with us and then create what we feel.  

So, here's to creativity!  It doesn't matter where you find your "thing," or what your "thing" is.

Pick up your cameras, your pens, your paintbrushes, your metals, your clay, your yarn, your shovels.

Now,  go be happy and   C   R   E   A   T   E!!

1. • 
     

Tis . . .

by Kate

I've never been real crazy about my kitchen counters and back splash. They're both a plain boring white tile, without any pizazz. The grout and I have become sworn enemies, with me attacking it with a bleach bottle once a month, and the grout counter-attacking with yellow,  dingy, coffee-colored stains two days later.

And yes, the pun was totally intended.

But lately, I've actually come to appreciate the simplicity of the white tile . . . which totally ties into my little "word" for this year, "tis":

"T"houghtful.

"I"ntentional.

"S"implify.

I want to become more "Thoughtful" in my daily life, more "Intentional" in my undertakings and to "Simplify" my thoughts and focus. 

Whereas I'm busy applying those little words to my non-photography life already (what? there is such a thing??), while I was looking through my photos to include in today's post, I realized that the majority of my images already have those characteristics. I prefer shooting with just one subject in the frame with very little background distraction. I love negative space in photos because it really makes the viewer pay attention to the subject. This year,  I want to work even harder and more intentionally and become even more thoughtful where I point my lens. 

Simple is best.

So, as I continue my war with my white tiled counter tops, maybe I'll take it easier on them this year. After all, they provide a beautiful free backdrop for cabbage heads and blueberries!

What is your word or words for this year? We'd love it if you shared them in the comments!

And so it begins...

by Kim

"Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning 

but a going on with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us."

- Hal Borland -

Yes, and so it begins...a new day, another sunrise, and yet even at the start of a new year...it is still all about the continuation of life, not of starting over. In fact, I don't know of many things that are dependent upon the ending number of a year, except maybe for calendar makers. 

Most things are instead relegated to days, to snippets of time, minutes and seconds....to right now. I try not to blink, or make too many unrealistic plans or really long lists. Not that this doesn't work for many other people, just not for me. Because when life throws those curve balls, and we know it does, I need to be able to go with the flow.

Just the same way that these milkweed seeds will often find themselves quite a distance from where they started, but will grow where they land anyway. Because the Monarch depends on it.

And often, we will find ourselves in chaos, far from where we started and our lives will depend on being able to grow where we land.

Much of the time we tend to be so concerned with the end results that we forget about some of the small, sweet beginnings in between, the ongoing process of life.

"What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly." - Lao Tzu

Last year almost to the day, I shared here that because I'm an epic failure at New Year's resolutions that I have for the past three years chosen a word instead to be a sort of guide. My word was possible. Not just to know about the possibilities but to believe them possible. This last year was a difficult one for my family and through it all I learned possible in a way I didn't expect, and certainly not in a way I would have ever imagined it would play out. I learned what "possible" means from my teenage son through his diagnosis of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and his fight back to what he loves (if you're interested in the full story, click here). 

This year I want to be more mindful about moving with intention. More intentional about what is important and what can be left out, and more intentional about letting my passions drive my actions. This year my word has a wing man...intentional, while keeping it as simple as possible. 

In case you missed our announcement, we now have a 365 day project going on over at Flickr called Focus on a photo a day. We would love to have you join us and it doesn't matter if you start today or tomorrow because, "All glory comes from daring to begin." - Eugene F Ware

See you there,

Kim

Word Up

by Carol

Winter Tableau
 

"Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.."

                          lyric - The Sound of Music

And so 2014 kicks into gear and so does our new theme for January - beginnings! And it's time to choose my word for the new year. It was hard to choose this year. I loved last year's choice - "simplify," and I don't feel quite done with it, but at the same time I feel I need more of a kick to keep the process going.

•        I thought of toss -  for all the things I want to toss out. 
•        I thought of organize, trying to encourage myself to find a place for it all - but that seemed too much like work.
•        I thought of focus, clarify narrow - but I have too much variety in the things I need to re-think - it doesn't feel like time to close in yet. 
•        I thought of tranquility and serenity because of the way I want to feel once it's all done. But I am far from done and it doesn't seem like the right time for that yet.

Then it came to me! I wrote here about making the objects I own define myself better. Yet this morning, there I was, sitting in my comfy chair, looking through a stack of after-Christmas catalogues. They were full of sales and I was folding down corners and thinking about hitting that Paypal button, when I realized I was falling into my old habits. I don't need, nor can I afford any more "junk," just because it's pretty, or it would go with my room, or it's at a great once-in-a-lifetime price! It suddenly occurred to me that simplifying is not just about tossing things out - it's also about choosing more carefully what you bring in! 

That's when I found the word - ENHANCE!

"You don't have to sort of enhance reality. There is nothing stranger than truth." Annie Leibovitz

That sent me to the definition, and here are a few of the words I found as part of it's definition:    to better; to increase value, quality and attractiveness; to strengthen; to improve; to define; to elevate; to augment; to beautify.  This is definitely my word for 2014.   I want to do all of those things. I want to do them to my black hole of a cellar, to my website, to my photography. I want to hone in on my self-definition and to elevate my day-to-day life. I want to clear the clutter and ENHANCE  my style. 

So off I go - full speed ahead! Have you chosen your word yet? Let's hear it sisters! And let's get it in gear!  Good luck! And Happy New Year friends!

It's a new beginning