safety nets

 

Taking risks is not easy for everyone. Who am I kidding? Taking risks is not really easy for anyone. Because taking risks usually means doing something that makes us feel unsure, uncomfortable, unsafe, or uneasy. And that is hard.  Yet, people  take risks every day. Some big and some small. But, no matter the size, or the significance (or even insignificance) of the risk, what does matter is that we stepped out of comfort zone for a while. We pushed ourselves, put ourselves out there, leaped, took the plunge, dove in.

One of the best part of a community like this one here at Shutter Sisters is that in each other, we have a support system, a cheering section, a life ring. It doesn't always make taking risks less scary but knowing that there is a safety net of sisters here for you can really help remind us that we're all in this together.

Are there risks you've taken that you'd like to share? How about risks you want to take but are afraid to? The more we share our fears, the less power they have over us. Remember, you are not alone. We're here for each other.

Stumbling Upon Kindness

What this world needs is a new kind of army - the army of the kind. ~Cleveland Amory

I recently shared an Instagram image of my husband and I standing on a street corner in NYC near a chalk-drawn heart at our feet.  A friend asked on the feed, “Did you bring your own chalk?” The comment made me laugh. It sounds like me actually, to do something like that but in this instance, it was someone else who brought the chalk. In fact, it was what I would consider a random act of kindness. We found a number of these chalk hearts along our walk around the city that evening.

Sometimes when we engage ourselves in activities like leaving hope notes, or sidewalk messages, we forget that others might be doing the same. To stumble across gestures of kindness from strangers is nothing short of wonderful. It reminds me that we are all called to be a part of “the army of the kind”.

Today, share a story that expresses the power (and beauty) of kindness.

taste

“Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.” -Henry David Thoreau

This is the time of year when the weather begins to turn and with that, the food and drink we serve up follows suit. Is it me, or does this time of year beg for soups, stews, pastas, and bread? Everything warm, rustic, and deeply satisfying. Autumn is officially upon us. Today, tell the story of what you taste this time of year and share it with us. In other words, make our mouth’s water!

self

These women. You women. Yes, all of you reading this right now. I'm talking to you. I'm over here, waving humbly from the corner of my family room plunking away on the family desktop computer, surrounded by piles of paper, a to-do list a mile long, and bad light. I'm tired. Already weary of all the small curve balls that this first week back to school has thrown. I sit here, feeling displaced. Because, my office is too much of a mess to sit in. Because my own computer (that is usually in my messy office) crashed. Because life is imperfect and I am just making due, as all of us do when we need to.

I can share all of this with you because I know you understand. Because I know you can relate.  You're nodding your head empathetically, supportively, kindly. I know you are. Because you have been here before. Because you care as much about the struggle as you do about the successes. This month, you've applauded my new book. This week, you wished me happy birthday. And today, you're being kind and gentle with me because you know I need it. It's what you do. It's what you've always done. It's just who you are. All of you. I have grown to know that about you over the past five years. It's what makes this place so special. Thank you for that.

This month has been a grand celebration of elevating the everyday. Every single one of your images has meant that you are with me, with us, as we share our lives with one another. That we are all in this together. That's what it's all about. Thank you all so much for joining me, for joining us as we explored what it means to elevate the everyday in honor of my book. It has meant so much to see your responses to each prompt.

And now today, as we wrap up the month, I want to see more of you. We want to see more of each other. Today we are asking you to share yourSELF. Because you so lovingly point your cameras to the world around you, capturing all that matters to you with such tender and kind eyes, it's time to capture yourSELF with the same kind of love. And if for a single minute you feel shy or unphotogenic or not enough, I encourage you to visit the I am Enough Collaborative. The stories there will give you the perspective you need to be good to yourself and share a shot of your beautiful, unique and awesome SELF.

Every comment left here between now and Sunday 9/2 at midnight will be entered to win a copy of my book Elevate the Everyday: A Photographic Guide to Picturing Motherhood. And don't forget to tag your images #sselevate.

something blue

 

Blue skies, bluer than blue, got the blues, once in a blue moon, true blue, out of the blue, into the blue, playing the blues, blueberry, blue bonnet, wild blue yonder, baby blues.

As you observe the big blue marble today, seek out the various blue hues that surround you.

No matter how ordinary such a simple color might be, the bluest of blues can soothe the soul and elevate your everyday like no other hue.

Share your blues with us today.

Self-portrait courtesy of my teenaged daughter who wants to enourage your teenage daughters out there to join us today in seeking out and capturing the color blue.