Saturday, December 11, 2010

holiday cheer

I love the holidays.   It's a time of celebration, a time of giving and sharing.  The hype, the commercialism - that all makes me more than a little crazy. Because when it comes right down to it, we all have the most important gift of all to give another - the gift of ourselves.  Our hearts, our compassion, and our love.  THAT is what holidays are about for me.  Sharing of my authentic self, gift giving from my heart, and sharing my love with family and friends.  Creating my own rituals and traditions, the lights, the trees, the music, the food - these are like the jewelry, the accessories, that give the finishing touches.



Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season.  Whether you celebrate Hannukah, Christmas, Kwanza or Solstice, may you find peace, love and solace in the celebration of hearts and souls during this time.    Happy Holidays!!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

first snowfall

Ahhhh....first snowfalls.  Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.   I LOVE the sound of falling snow.  I love how snow makes everything quiet.  I love how it brightens everything up during a very grey time of year in upstate New York.  I love that it is the onset of winter, which means holidays and all the sparkle and joy.  I dislike all the commercialism, but do love the gift of giving, sharing time with family and friends, and all the wonderful foods associated with this time of year.   Smells waffling from my kitchen of warm soups and homemade breads.  I love bundling up in my hand knit sweaters, socks, scarves, mittens and hats and running outside to make snow angels.   And I love all of the wonderful memories I have of snow growing up.   Getting up at the crack of dawn, packing a thermos full of hot chocolate, a lunch pack, grabbing my sled and whoever was available and willing to spend the day outside playing in the snow until it was time to go home for dinner.  Day long adventures on Shay Hill, which was a one mile long dirt road that wasn't plowed in the winter.  It was a perfect place for sledding.  And ice skating on Pratts Falls Pond.  First snowfalls always remind me of the blizzard of 1966 - which was a TRUE blizzard, not the kind we call blizzards today.  Snow up to our rooftops, no power for weeks, having to dig a tunnel to get out of the house, helicopters dropping food in the middle of snowbanks for us to come and gather for our families, and sleeping in our snowsuits.  Fortunately, we had a wood stove to keep us warm.

Bonfires outside, with hot chocolate and the smell of fresh pine trees while catching snowflakes on my tongue.  Skiing on a fresh blanket of snow under a full moon lit sky.   I can't wait for snow shoes, cross country and downhill skiing, ice skating, and snow angels, sledding on Rice Hill, and lots of winter goodness from the kitchen after a long day of snow play.


Monday, November 29, 2010

time

My mother used to say "the older you get, the faster time goes."  I didn't understand.  I do now.  I dislike time.  I don't wear a watch.  I don't like having my days scheduled in increments of half hours and hours, weeks and months ahead.  I prefer to wake when my body tells me to, go to sleep when it's tired, to work my day around the phases of natural light.  

Time has become a much more pressing concern for me in the last two months.  Having my mother die at 79 (same age as my dad) and turning 50 a few weeks later, I am reminded once again of the fragility of time.  That all I have is NOW, this moment.

My mother gave me this clock when my father died 8 years ago.  It doesn't work.  Occasionally, it begins to tick on its own, but for a few short minutes, and then it stops.  I love the clock.  I particularly like how it works.  Time has stopped, a moment has been frozen.   It's one of the many reasons I love photography.  For a single moment,  I can illude myself that time has slowed down or stopped, oblivious to the ever-ticking pulse of the world around me. And then..... I am reminded, as the clock does on occasion, that time is still ticking...... faster than I would like for it to.

Time waits for no one.  And for that reason, I decided it was time to make my creative dreams a reality, to start taking small steps each day to live my life whole-heartedly, unabashedly, with intention, and without regrets.  So for now, I will stop, inhale the world around me, and continue to stop time long enough to capture those many moments behind my lens.  They are moments that will never be repeated again.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

sheepish

I promised myself that this would be a year of creative change - a year to finally be sharing my work with the rest of the world.   I've been taking pictures since I was 14.  Thank you Mrs. Bilbo, my 9th grade art teacher, for putting a 35mm Minolta in my hands and telling me to "just start snapping pictures."  She is also the one to introduce me to clay.  Little did I know that photography and working in clay would become two of my passions.

Technology challenges me.  Putting together a web site and a blog have put me to the test.  I am feeling a little sheepish about this process, but it's good for me.

I love to take pictures. My camera travels with me everywhere.  As a psychotherapist, I decided to start using photography as part of the therapeutic process with some of my clients.  I told them to "just starting snapping".  Incredible things happen when one takes the time to slow down and notice the world around them.  I have been inspired by the work of my clients.  It has inspired me to finally be doing more of my own work and sharing it with others as part of my own creative process.

I hope you enjoy my work.  Let it be inspiration for you to slow down and take notice of the world around you.  There is beauty everywhere. Take a camera, take notice, and just start snapping!