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!