I’m continuing a collaborative project with my friend, the wonderful poet, Susan Carter Morgan. We are on the last leg of our year long photo-poetic project, Natural Histories. I’ve held this work closely, choosing not to share as I go, allowing for distance from the work. Time to percolate. Last week, I woke up in the middle of night with a fully formed idea of the structure of our photo book—ideas about how to organize the flow of images and what pictures were still needed. I could see the pages turn in my mind. Try as I might, I could not rest until those thoughts were recorded, the pages re-ordered, notes pasted here and there. Since then I’ve been thinking about the beautiful joy of creative flow. I give in and work through the night, knowing full well that I will need a long nap tomorrow.

 

How does a project mature?
It is obviously a most mysterious,
imperceptible process.
It carries on independently of ourselves,
in the subconscious,
crystalizing on the walls of the soul.
It is the form of the soul
that makes it unique,
indeed only the soul decides
the hidden 'gestation period' of that image
which cannot be perceived
by the conscious gaze.

—Andrey Tarkovsky, Instant Light

“If you know you hurt someone’s feelings, tell them you are sorry.
If someone hurt you, tell them.
We are all scared of conflict, but we all want to be known.
If we don’t step into the harder spots of life, we will miss deeper relationships.”
—David Blanchard, Handshake Quarterly, Volume 13

Seasons Greetings.

“We need to take time to slow down and thank the person across from us for their support or look out the window and be thankful for a sunny day.”

—David Blanchard, Handshake Quarterly, Volume 13

A lovely woman who owns a boutique downtown recently gave me some advice regarding shopping and choosing clothing. She suggested I ask myself, “Would I reach for this everyday?” If the answer was “Yes,” this might be a worthwhile purchase. I’ve applied this simple question to other areas of life that require decisions. And I’ve found the answers to be illuminating and helpful.

I’d reach for the Pentax K-1000 film camera with a 50 mm lens and a roll of Kodak Porta 400 everyday. No question.