Course Corrections — Donna Hopkins

I’ve been listening to a new podcast, Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus wants to know why the hell we don’t hear more from older women, so she’s sitting down with Jane Fonda, Carol Burnett, Amy Tan, Diane von Furstenberg, Isabel Allende and Fran Lebowitz (and more!) to get schooled in how to live a full and meaningful life. Join the Emmy award winning-est actress of all time on her first-ever podcast, where each week she has funny, touching, personal conversations with unforgettable women who are always WISER THAN ME.

I’ve been giving thought to my own third act and what I would like for these years to look like. It feels good to look back. And necessary.

Working with film over the last 6 months or so has helped me to slow down and settle down. Learning something new has given me confidence and reassurance. Waiting to see the pictures, living with uncertainty. Allowing for frustration. Walking away and then coming back again. It feels like learning a new dance where we keep stepping on each other’s feet. But so worth it in the end.

For the last 8 years this space has been a lifeline for me. Part photography but mostly a journal to sort through my feelings. Creative expression is healing; it’s like medicine for me. And maybe for us all.

I’m ready to switch things up a bit. I’ll continue to write my heart out in tattered notebooks and journals long-hand with a ballpoint pen. But I don’t need this space for that purpose anymore. I do need a home for my work, and this will be where my photography will live. I plan to publish a post each month to share what I’m working on. Pictures I’ve taken. Poems and prose. Projects. New things I’ve learned. Directions and course corrections. Books, exhibitions, celebrations and challenges. I’m interested in living in that place where there is no one right answer, and I hope that sitting with things for an extended time will help my creativity to thrive.

Stop by or write anytime. I’m always happy to hear from you!

I’ll aim to post near the first of every month.