Self Portraits

Have you ever taken a self-portrait?  Turned the camera on yourself?

I am taking another workshop at http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/ and was tasked with taking a picture of myself.  I tried to do it a few weeks ago after admiring Georgia's portraits over at http://www.itsjusthowiseethings.blogpost.com/, but was not happy with the result.  So when I saw that I would have to try again, I was mixed with emotion.  I was happy to give it another go, but apprehensive that I wouldn't be satisfied yet again.

And I was right.

I took shot after shot.

I tried different spots in my bedroom.  (I had to hide in there, because I didn't want to explain myself to my husband or kids.)


I shot.

I deleted.

I processed in Photoshop.  and then...

I couldn't help but make fun of myself.

After posting my second shot, which is above, I went and spent sometime in the class gallery.  I saw how other people captured themselves and although I am truly not surprised, most had a hard time with it.  They took a lot of shots.  They deleted.  They used the healing tool in Photoshop.  And on the rare shot, they showed us themselves. 

Raw.

Natural.

Unaltered.

Beautiful.

I have to say that those are the shots I loved the most.  The ones that I felt really showed the woman.  Showed their strength.  Showed them, raw, natural, unaltered, and beautiful.  I find courage and strength from the woman that did.  I think it is beautiful and I thank you for sharing your raw natural beauty!

Blog Hop

I am so excited!  I am participating in my first ever Blog Hop!!!  Yahoo!!

Because I was mourning the end of the Picture Winter workshop that I took at http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/, I decided to sign up for another workshop. I mentioned it in another post. It is called One Little Word.  The premise is that you pick on word an make that your focus for the year.  Embrace your word, live your word, and change your life because of your word.

You know what "they" say about noticing the good around it?  "They" say that it becomes a habit.  You know what I mean.  When things aren't going quit the way you want it is easy to focus on those things, but it is a bit harder to stayed focus on exploring all the positive things around you. 

My word this year is Joy.  People have chosen words like Light, Faith, Focus, etc.  What would your word be?

Check in on Tuesday, March 1 and see what my fellow bloggers chose for their word and how they captured it in their photography in the month of February.

I Lost 3/4.

Yes, I lost 3/4.

3/4 of what you ask?

3/4 of a mile.

The other day I discovered something. It is something that I have discovered many time before, but slowly forgot. I discovered that I love the gym.

Yes, I said, it.

I love the gym and that is where I lost 3/4 of a mile.

I started running again in January 2010, but like I do every year, I stop excercising around mid-summer and don't start again until the following year. Yes, I gain weight. Yes, I feel out of shape. Yes, I have done it every year for YEARS!

Today I returned and had so much fun at the gym. Although I love the way excersing makes me feel and there are days that I am in my own little world at the gym, today wasn't one of those days. Today I did some people watching and there was a lot of it!

I started to run and looked to my right and saw a guy in his mid 20's on the elliptical banging his head. Yes, banging his head to his music. It was hysterical. Then I looked to his right and saw a woman dancing on the elliptical. Yes, dancing! I can't even explain it. You had to see it for yourself. I was holding back my smile, because I didn't want to look like some crazy lady smiling while running on the treadmill.

I didn't want to smile, because someone might think I was crazy; yet these people let it all out. They don't care. They aren't self conscience. They do their thing!

Although I don't consider myself self conscience, it is times like these when I discover that I really am. I would never enjoy my music and bang my head or dance like no one was watching in the middle of the gym. I just wouldn't. I wonder if that makes me sane or crazy.

Acting Like Children

Sometimes we do things we shouldn't.

Sometimes we say things we shouldn't.

Sometimes we act exactly the way we tell THEM not to.

We act like children.

Impulsive.

Mouthy.

Not nice.

But what is our excuse? We are adults. We are supposed to know better; at least that is what we tell THEM. Don't touch that. Don't talk to me like that. Be nice to your sister. Think it through before you make a bad choice. Use your manners and talk politely. Don't annoy your brother.

Still, even as an adult I forget these basic principles sometimes. I act impulsive and say things that I later regret. I don't always say please and thank you. And I am not always nice. Still, I hold my children to a high standard and think that they should always do these things. Always think before they act. Always use their manners and talk with respect. Always be nice.

If I can't ALWAYS do it, how can they?

Who’s Cleaning the Kitchen?

I walk into the kitchen after my husband says after dinner, "Go sit, I will clean up."

All I see is a mess. Covers to pots still unwashed. Glasses of 1/2 drunk milk left on the table.

Generally I would say something negative like, "Who is cleaning up???" With a nice dose of sarcasm.

But in the past year, I have done a lot of soul searching and that journey has made me truly realize that he doesn't see what I see. He can't. He is not me. His idea of clean and mine are completely and utterly different. Our perspective is not the same.

After taking the Picture Winter workshop from http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/ I realized that this is true of most things. The daily prompt/inspirations conjured up different images from everyone. I would always get excited when someone took a similar shot as mine or had the same subject, because it meant someone was thinking like me. Still, most of the time I would stop and ponder saying, "Wow, I wouldn't' have interpreted it like that ." I absolutely loved the different perspective. It was very thought provoking.

My blogging friend over at Its Just How I See Things posted this photo for the prompt "Cracked Open."

My photo was this:

Totally different. Neither right. Neither wrong. Simply different interpretations of the same prompt.

So when you think about it, it is just like the kitchen duty. The prompt “clean up” meant one thing to my husband and another to me. Totally different. Neither right. Neither wrong. Simply different interpretations of the same prompt.

Things Don't Always Turn Out Quit as Planned

My plan was for this post to be about my new love. My new

shiny

beautiful

KitchenAid!

I planned for it to be about our love of inanimate objects.

I was going to post a picture of it and the beautiful chocolate chip heart cookies that I made. But things didn't work out the way I planned. The chocolate chip cookies that I tried to make into cutout cookies didn't work out. They looked like flat over cooked chocolate chip cookies. They certainly didn't hold their heart shape.

Usually my response would be frustration.

Aggravation.

But this time I wasn't either. Instead of getting aggravated, I ate a few;

which were still yummy.

Then I moved on.

We make plans. We think we know what the future holds.

But then something happens, whether good or bad and our masterful plan is ca put! Ruined. Or simply just changed. The problem I have found is that when I was younger if a plan went ca put, I just made a new plan. But as an adult, I have stopped making plans. I am not talking about what to eat or plans for a vacation. I am talking about life plans, parenting plans, financial plans.

I planned to only live in this house for a few year. We have been here for 12 1/2 years.

I planned to stay home when I had kids, but have been working outside the home for 8 years.

I planned to not yell like my mother. I yell.

I planned to be financially secure. I have debt coming out of my eyeballs.

It all just happened and I didn't move on and make a new plan. I just muddled along.

But that is all going to change. I am going to start making plans. I am going to attempt to stick to it. But most of all, if the plan doesn't work out, I am going to make a new one. Because you generally don't get anywhere without a plan.

Time Cruncher

I don't like to be late. The thought of being late sends me into a tailspin. Rush. Rush. Rush.

I don't like to be early. It means that I could have done something else in the 15 minutes that I am wasting "sitting" around.

Does that make any sense? Really it doesn't, but it is exactly how I feel and how I create some of my own chaos.

Just the other day my daughter twisted her ankle. The next morning she woke up still complaining. I decided that it was better to be safe than sorry and have it checked. She has an unbelievable pain tolerance, so when she says something hurts - it HURTS.

Did I mention that our pediatrician is about 25 miles away. Sounds kind of crazy, right? I am sure there are very qualified and fantastic doctor's in this "neck of the woods", but when my kid's health and well being is on the line, I am going to the best (in Massachusetts)!

So back to my time crunching. Our appointment was at 10:00. We were early. I was thinking of all the things I could have done at home with those extra 15 minutes. We left with a prognosis of pulled tendon. Prescription - Rest. I drove the 25 miles back home - dropped her off at school at 11:00. My boy child had to be in school at 12:00.

Plenty of time!

I went home. Feed him lunch. Switched laundry. Played the game Trouble with him. Took some self-portraits (I should say tried to take some self-portraits) and then looked at the clock.

My time was up.

We were going to be late! The whole saga began again. Rush. Rush. Rush.

But as usual, we weren't late. We were right on time. So, maybe next time I will be 15 minutes early and just relish in the time to do nothing? Notice the question mark!