Confidence
“the mind needs proof that you are someone who can begin, recover, learn, try again, and survive the awkward middle without turning one bad day into a biography.”
Color Therapy
Sometimes life is just a series of snapshots.
“I am not looking for great, award winning images, I am looking for moments that slow me down, make me pause and take a breath.”
Of all of the things that land in my Inbox, the posts from Still by Paul Saunders are consistently those I find most helpful. This week’s newsletter focuses on mental health, and this is truly the most doable list I’ve ever come across. This is a plan I want to try. Thank you, Paul!
Here are my five top tips for looking after your mental health:
Do something creative every week - everyday if you can.
Walk barefoot on the grass or sand at least once a week.
Have a real face to face conversation with someone.
Limit your screen time and stay away from online arguments.
Wake up ten minutes earlier, make a cup of tea or coffee and then either sit outside or with the windows open and listen to the birdsong.
Twenty Years Ago Today
Mother’s Day 2006
For many years, this day was about my mother or my mother-in-law. I loved them both and was always happy to celebrate them, but over time, those Mother’s Day visits and gifts and meals began to feel obligatory and often stressful for me. Now that the mothers in my life have passed, I choose to celebrate differently.
“I prefer, where love’s concerned, nonspecific anniversaries
that can be celebrated everyday.”
I give a handcrafted gift to my friend Lisa’s mother, who treats me as kindly as if I were her own daughter. I send a thoughtful email to both of my sons and thank them for the joy they bring to my life. I plan an activity that I enjoy to honor that I have done my best (this year it’s a short trip to Culpeper to visit a favorite antique mall and nearby garden nursery). However you choose to celebrate (or not), I get it. I really do.
Core Beliefs
“I had this notion of what I called a democratic way of looking around, that nothing was more or less important.” - William Eggleston
This way of seeing the world isn’t about negating the desire or need for a photograph to have a subject, but rather, allowing that anything can be that subject. There is no hierarchy where one subject is deemed more valuable or worthy, and every element in the frame is relevant. Really successful photographs are built on a scaffold of supporting pieces.
