learning to breathe…

So my plan to post several times a week seems to have stalled right out of the gate, but I promise to try and rectify that.

After such a long spell of neglecting the creative side of me, I seem to have lost my words, and I’m having a hard time relocating them. More than a lack of words, I seem to have lost my confidence, and I don’t know why…

Anyhoo… I’m really going to try and push through this (hopefully temporary) rut I find myself in and try to find my center again. I think part of it is that I have gotten so caught up in the rush-rush-rush all the time of homework, work, school, yada yada, that I have forgotten how to take time to pause, reflect, and connect with the beauty that’s all around, something which is vital for the soul, at least mine.

The photography class I just started, Kim Klassen’s “Be Still 52,” is just the thing I need to push myself in this direction. Like a divine reminder, the first week’s lesson was on the need for stillness and solitude to be able to connect with our creative side, and the photo assignment for week 2 was to shoot a subject with “breathing room.”

While it really isn’t a “still life” photo, this hummingbird spoke to me as he took a breather from his frenetic dance, resting at the feeder and taking his time to enjoy the bird version of a Starbucks chai latte, and relishing the world around him. Last Saturday I spent several hours glued to my chair at my husband’s camp-spot, enjoying the sights and sounds of the stream, all the different birds, the rock-chucks chattering… all of life’s rhythms that I’ve been too busy or distracted to notice. I would have gladly stayed there for hours more, but as always, laundry, house cleaning, and grocery shopping beckoned and I had to hurry back to the rat race!

Now that I’m remembering how good it is to just “be,” and take time to breathe, I will return…

A good friend just reminded me to remember the words of the Psalmist (46:10): “Be still, and know that I am God…” How I need that reminder!

See you soon. ❤

Photo processed with Kim’s “shine” texture.