smiling at strangers

I don't think people smile enough anymore, myself included.  In New York City, most people are too caught up in the hustle bustle of every day. We move through life without looking up, often not connecting with any of the other 8 million people who live here. Believe it or not, sometimes it can be a lonely place.

 This is especially true underground on the subway where everyone has their own little routines and distractions--reading the newspaper, listening to music, swiping away on smart phones, kindles and iPads, or even sleeping. We have our commutes down to a science.  We know exactly where to stand on the platform to be in the perfect spot when the doors slide open at our destination so as to not waste a single moment.  And although we sit, stand and hover a mere inches from each other every day there is rarely any eye contact, and definitely not enough smiles.

So I decided to play my small part in trying to do something about it. I recently started leaving notes on the subway that simply say "smile at a stranger today."  I've typed them, handwritten them and even had some little cards made. I've taped them to walls in subway stations and train cars and I often leave them on the seats where they will catch the most attention.  Yesterday, a woman picked up one of the notes I left as she sat down across from me.  She read it, looked up, and smiled.  And today, these two people struck up a conversation after I left my notes on the seat next to them.  I don't expect to change the world but I'll take what I can get, one smile at a time.

How about you?  Have you sent any messages to the universe lately? Whether it's literally with notes or words, or creatively through your photographs, share with us today what you are saying to the world around you.

Images and words courtesy of iphoneographer Christy of Urban Muser. You can also find her at Mortal Muses every nine days or so. 

summer color

1. Picture Summer | Day Eight, 2. Coca-Cola from the 1980s, 3. got a thing for red shoes, 4. Untitled, 5. boom!, 6. My number one copilot.

I've got to admit, few things make me giddier than little splashes of summer red.

How about you? What is your summer color? Today show us the vibrant hues and soulful shades that are defining your summer life.

Photos from our Shutter Sisters Flickr Group

home life

One part truth :: One part fiction

This is me caught in transition. Happily holding back the walls. Embracing the wrinkled messes. Drowning in boxes as I sell all my belongings in preparation to move back to the East Coast in a few weeks.

But that's another story. What I'm interested in today is home life. As I sort and pack my space, as I go over all the nooks and crannies, as I fall in love again with my favorite spots... I'm curious to get a peek into your home life too.

Do you have a happy place in your home? A wall of favorites, a windowsill of love? A space you're drawn to again and again in your photography? Me? Well, I will surely miss my blue wall. But I trust it will reappear in my life at some other time as it has in the past.

Today show us a bit of your home, won't you?

nice package

Smart marketing and clever packaging are 2 things that are never lost on me. I apprecaite and make mental notes of every single creative little (and big) thing that people/brands/products use to get our attention. So much so that I have secretly held a dream somewhere in the back of my over-active project-minded brain of a regular offering called Nice Package where clever packaging would get the kudos they so deserve.

Since I don't imagine that coming to fruition anytime soon, why not just put it out there right now? After all, the little things I notice fall right under the category of this month's One Word, details. It is all in the details as far as I'm concerned.

How about it sisters? Do you notice all the many perfectly packaged items there are out there these days?

Grab a shot of something you find clever and/or endearing in the packaging department and share with us a Nice Package. *ahem* You know what I mean.

Pictured above, an empty bottle of Pom x Tea. And let me tell you, even beyond it's nice package, it's wonderful.

reoccurring themes

Sometimes we don't really notice patterns when we're too close them. Day in and day out we carry on with our routines and rhythms, repeating actions, activities, habits and rituals. We wake and walk and work. We lift our forks to eat, our pens to write, children to love, our cameras to click. Every day with little fanfare.

I've recognized my love affair with coffee mugs for years. The shape, the feel, the message, the color, the rim, the handle. I notice and take note of all of these things each time I lift my mug to sip. And yet, it wasn't until I began to use my iphone (and instagram) that I really noticed how much I really observe the beauty, simplicity, and poetic and hopeful aesthetics of this simple everyday object and how this one seeminly mundane item takes center stage in so many of my photographs.

Is there something you have found that often takes the center of your attention? The subject matter of your images that occurs again and again in ways that might even surprise you?

Take a good look at what it is that captures your eye and your lens and share with us the reoccurring themes of your daily work.