Words

Words were everywhere at Camp Shutter Sisters, and they were plentiful.  If we didn't see them, we heard them, and often.  Words or phrases like Shoot with gratitude, Give yourself permission and you are beautiful. For me, some were easy to do or believe while others, not so much.  Shoot with Gratitude?  You got it.  Give yourself permission or you are beautiful?  Meh.  Maybe.  But as the weekend progressed, the words and their meanings started to sink in.  So, I gave myself permission at camp to be alone or skip dinner or take a nap.  And you know what? Every single one of those women at camp, myself included, are beautiful.

Words.  Lots of them.  What a gift.

Today, share your favorite uplifting or positive words.  Have a photo to go along with them? Share those, too.  And remember, you are beautiful, too.

A Story of Receiving Love

Image inspired by the work of Brian Peterson

A long overdue trip to my post office box yesterday delivered all kinds of sweet surprises. I was overjoyed and grateful for the bounty that was waiting for me inside such a meager metal box. Notes of kindness and gifts of friendship. Sweet melodies and generous offerings. And The Blossoming of the World.

I poured over the stack of papers, devouring each word, holding each token, feeling the intentions of each sender. Smiling. Nodding. Heart full of gladness.

But, it wasn’t until late that night when I crawled into bed and opened this book that I was overtaken. Every page, written for me. Each word I needed to hear. Every image soulful, simple, stirring.  I took in just a small fraction of this offering, poignantly and poetically written by Brian H. Peterson intentionally, as not to take in too much at once. I wanted to savor every page and let the words swirl around me as I drifted to sleep. And I will do the same tonight. And the next…

This book will become a classic for me. I already know this to be true. Something I will cherish and depend on like an old friend. That’s already how this book feels to me.

This excerpt, from the very first page of Brian Peterson’s The Blossoming of the World, is all I need to share with you to leave you knowing exactly what I mean—

"Suddenly I was no longer looking at the mountains, the sky. I was looking at Love, embodied in the stuff of the world. Love was flowing out from every atom of creation. Love was everywhere, in everything. In me. But not contained, not limited to me, not limited in any way, just flowing, singing, vibrating, dancing, everywhere, in everything."

Share today your story of Love.

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And remember that with your comment comes the chance to win a very special September gift; a $100 gift certificate courtesy of Paper Coterie in honor of the Everyday Storytellers and our One Word Project this month; story.

When There Are No Words

I received a text that my best friend was in the hospital, a text that was not unexpected.  Within 24 hours, her core group of girlfriends, myself included, fill her hospital room.  At times serious, we discuss chemo and medical procedures and pain management.  At times funny, we talk about some of our best times together, our laughter so hysterical and loud that a nurse comes to the room and closes the door.  My girlfriends know and expect that my camera is with me.  It's my security blanket, my safety net.  When I can't find the words to speak, I let me camera do the talking for me.  When a hand reaches out and takes a hand resting on the hospital bed, I lift my camera and quickly take a shot.  With a lump in my throat, I know this photo speaks all that I or my friends cannot speak and without a doubt, we will cherish it forever.

Today, show us those special photos that do the talking for you.  We'd love to *hear* what they have to say.

Living in Color

'A picture's worth a thousand words but you can't see what those shades of gray keep covered. You should've seen it in color' -from the song In Color by Jamey Johnson

My best friend Alejandra and I have known each other since we met in 2nd grade.  That friendship continued all through our school years and our high school graduation.  Once we were out of school I went on to my civil service career while she went on to marry and have three babies.  Like many do, we lost touch over the years while both of us went on to live our lives.  Last year at our high school reunion we reconnected and it was like we've never been apart.  We've both had our ups and downs over the years, both of us losing our siblings to cancer and now, my sweet friend is fighting cancer of her own and fight it, she does.  She fights it by choosing to live.  She lives by travelling to the most exotic places and seeing the most amazing things.  She lives by choosing to only drink wine from the cutest wine glasses she can find (as seen in the photo above).  She lives by laughing her infectious laughter, a lot. She lives by spending quality time with her girlfriends, making us her famous Mickey Mouse waffles for a late night snack after a full night full of laughter and good times together.  Recently we went away for a much needed weekend at a beach house with four other high school girlfriends.  Some of us were discussing the pitfalls of getting older from bad knees to poor eye sight to menopause. Suddenly, Alejandra began laughing hysterically.  At the quizzical look on our faces, she said, "You're all falling apart and I'm the one with cancer!!!", which then threw all of us into fits of hysterical laughter right along with her.  Not only is she living her life to the fullest, she's living it in color.  How awesome that I get to photograph her colorful life.  How awesome that she's my friend.

Today, show us with your photos how you're living your life in color.

Shutter Sisters is honored to help promote the America Cancer Society’s More Birthdays Campaign. They want to see your artistic expression that is inspired by the lifesaving work of the American Cancer Society.  Submit your photos, art and/or music, spread the word, and vote for your favorites - you choose the winners and who gets the big prizes! There's even a "cool categories" contest hosted by Gabrielle Blair of Design Mom fame that our own Tracey Clark is helping to judge. How serendipitious that this month's word for our OWP is Life.  Life = More Birthdays!

We are Beautiful

We are beautiful women who have no idea we are beautiful. We stand in front of the mirror and tear ourselves apart, going over every seeming imperfection, every flaw, every bit of evidence that we are not as we were once so long ago.

This is insanity.

In five years, we will salivate for this skin. In ten years, we will have nothing but respect for this ass. In twenty, we won't care about any of it--scanning our pictures instead for signs in our eyes that we were present and willing to be honest and real and incredibly brave, no matter what the state of our abs.

We are aging, every one of us, everyday, all the time. This body will not stay.  It will morph and change. It will get weaker, and yes, it will die.  And until that moment, this body will house the very essence of us.  This body will play host to all our hopes and fears, our most true and alive moments.  This body will hold every second of our existence on this planet, and it will remember down to the cells everything that made us laugh and cry.

Today, get out your big camera, your phone or your point and shoot and honor your body.  Your perfection (or lack thereof) is not the point.  What matters is that you turn your gaze on what is holding you together right now.  What matters is that you love and cherish the essence of who you are before it's too late.