Shutter Sisters

one happy word

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congregate: to bring or come together into a group, crowd, or assembly; to gather

I love words. Some for how they sound when rolling off my tongue. Some because they pull out my inner 9 year old and never fail to me giggle. Others for how they feel…. ‘Gather’ is one of those words for me, so I was delighted when it was chosen for this month’s One Word Project. I love to gather, or to be invited to a gathering. The word just feels warm, and good, and happy. Usually a gathering in my circle involves food, maybe some wine, music, kids, laughter and love. I am blessed to have beautiful friends in my life, many of them a road trip away, but when we gather it is always good. We come together, we share the load, the meal, the preparation. We laugh and linger (another very good word) I always leave full. Full belly, full spirit, full heart. When I find myself missing them I have my images of our times spent together and they never fail to take my heart right back to that day, that meal, those laughs. To gather is to love.

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All month long you have gathered here.

You gathered the light, treasures, and with ones you love. You captured nature’s gatherers in spring.

We announced Oasis, and will gather together in Palm Springs this October.

Thank you for gathering here.

Thank you for sharing your words in our comments and your images in our photo pools.

As the saying goes, ‘friends gather here.’  Thank you friends.

Today share one more image here celebrating all the beauty of gathering, and on Monday we will return with a new one word for April. 

you can.

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The first step, believe you can.

Today is that oh so strange extra day on the calendar, leap day. It only comes around once every 4 years.  One extra day to let go, believe you can, and take that leap.  What leap? Only you can answer that.

Perhaps a leap into photography business.

A leap into film.

Leap into learning a new photo software.

A leap of faith and trust. (oh those can be hard)

Leap out of auto and into manual mode on your camera.

Perhaps you took the leap into a 365(+1) project this year. (I did)

A leap into posting here to our group, sharing your art, your voice, you.

Thank you for leaping, literally and figuratively, with us all month long here in our One Word Project Pool. Your participation and inspiration is vital to this community.  Just tonight while pouring through that very space I came across an image with these words…

“My path unclear,
  I leap forward into the unknown.
  Because looking back has never been an alternative.”

I am so moved by those 3 lines.  They are powerful and brave. Thank you Kristen.

So, go ahead, stretch your arms way up high, let go of fear, believe you can, and leap into the unknown.  You are braver than you know.

leap frog!

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Do you remember being little? Jumping was an everyday event back then wasn’t it?  You just wanted to leap in or over puddles, jump cracks in the sidewalk (of you’d break your momma’s back), leap off that big hill, hold hands and jump with your friends, your sibling, or hold a growup’s hand and leap really high knowing you were safe. Hopscotch was an every day thing, and of course the trusty old leap frog! Can you imagine playing leap frog now?  Makes me giggle even imagining that, but maybe a good old game of leap frog is called for.  I am not sure where that urge goes as we grow, perhaps we become less adventurous, more grounded, less playful?  That is a little sad isn’t it.  I fully admit I am not a jumper. Even when I was MUCH younger and a cheerleader in high school I dreaded the jumps!  It felt like gravity had an extra amount of influence on me and no one else.  I admired those girls who could get such great air with ease. 

Lucky for me I have kids who are at the ages where jumping is an everyday event.  They LOVE to jump, leap, hop.  This makes for many fun photos of them.  Jump on the bed?!?!  YES!!!!  Go for it!  But wait, let mommy grab her camera…  (lol) …. I do and they jump and jump and jump, laughing and smiling and getting great air.

So today, in celebration of February’s One Word, LEAP, get in touch with your inner girl and go have a good jump. On the bed (go ahead, we won’t tell), in a puddle, off a bench… Or if you feel like gravity is just not your personal friend, then share any jump shot you love.  If you are like me, and are around kids at all, I know you have one… or 20…    🙂

Let’s be playful today.

JUMP!

 

* Still need a little extra motivation?  Check out The Jumping Project.

trust

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What a great month it has been watching all ‘your words’ appear here and in our One Word Project pool on Flickr. However you chose it, may your word serve you well. May it guide you, encourage you, remind you, inspire you. May it whisper to your soul when you need it most. May it push you past the not so good days and help you celebrate all life has in store for you. You have only just begun your journey this year,  now you need to have faith that your word is the one, and then trust in the process. Embrace this new year, as you have embraced your word. If you are still searching for your word, it will come, trust in that. Perhaps when you least expect it, or stop trying to find it, it will find you. If you need a little extra inspiration check out all the amazing images contributed this month in the OWP pool, or perhaps re-watch that great video Chris so beautifully curated last week in her “power of one” post. (if you missed it last Tuesday, do click on over now) I love that video, it feels so powerful.

I can wholeheartedly say I really feel my word this year. It was not at all the word I thought I needed.  In the beginning of January when I began contemplating a word for me and my year, I was feeling words like simplify, center, & balance, all good things, but internally I knew something was missing and it was holding me back from fully committing to any one of those words.  Then a dear friend and I spoke and she shared her heart with me and that she too was feeling many of those words but that they did not feel proactive enough. That was exactly it!  As soon as she said that I knew that was what my heart was longing for, an action word!  Those, to me, seem riskier, scarier, therefore making me more vulnerable.  That may be true, but that is just what I need to push myself this year. On my drive home that day my word hit me, become.  Now I am embracing it, fears, nerves and all. My word is speaking loudly and I am listening.

Tomorrow we begin a new month and announce a new one word, but we have right now to celebrate all of our individual words one last time. Tell us, how do you feel about your word, are you trusting in the process? Do you feel it doing its work?

a look back

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               (January 29, 2011.  My husband’s hands making a loaf of his homemade bread. )

 

Today let’s simply take a look back.

Where were you this day one year ago?

What did you capture in your lens that day?

Looking back can be fun.  You may be surprised by what you find.  I hope the look back brings with it a good memory.

Share your look back with us here.

Happy Sunday everyone. 

 

reminders

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 She gets me. Do you have that special someone in your life that builds you up, reminds you of all the goodness inside you and awaiting you? Oh how I hope you do. Those irreplaceable members of your tribe that stand with you side by side, through all ups, downs and in betweens. Life has felt a little uncertain lately. We all have those times, those times when things weigh on our hearts and dampen our creative spark. ‘All will be well’, I remind myself, again and again. Then the mail arrives, and tucked in an envelope amongst a few funny magazine clippings and handwritten notes, was this tiny tag. A token of her morning tea no doubt, but she saved it just for me and added a little extra love to seal the deal. How did she know? But of course she knew, she just does. Someone else might think it silly, not me, it was just the thing I needed. I tucked this little tag on my bedroom mirror right under this sticker.

Some days you just need a little reminder. I AM limitless, and just in case you forgot, so are you.

Have you found a message you needed in your tea, at your feet, or embodied in a token?

Do share it with us today.

sunday story

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Sundays, don’t you just love them?  The slowing down, a hot homecooked breakfast, or maybe a trip to your local donut shop for something sweet. Gathering around the table, a newspaper, maybe some knitting, a book.  Your favorite mug with something steaming in it. Perhaps a day or worship or gathering family for a meal. Or maybe a day spent lingering in your pj’s.  🙂   I love Sunday stories and capturing them in my lens. These shots above are from a few years ago and they still make me smile.  My little ones were really little here. (the old days of sippy cups. my youngest one is even sitting in a booster seat for goodness sake! so small…  sigh.)  Acting silly grabbing the newspaper and hiding behind it.  Looking at these shots takes me right back, I think I can even hear their giggles.

What does your Sunday story look like today?  Click and share.  XO.

searching for the words

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Words can be little gifts for your soul. You find the right one and it speaks straight to your heart.

I gravitate towards words all year long; grace, hope, and trust (pictured above, handwritten on a the tiniest seashell. A treasure from a friend who constantly inspires me with words.) Sometimes words choose me. That very thing happened this past year on my trip to California for Camp . On our first night there pre-camp, we gathered for dinner, randomly choosing our own seats at the table. At each seat was a mug with a medallion tied to it,  each medallion imprinted with a different word. I sat down and the medallion in front of me said “journey”. It was the perfect word for that very moment. That was exactly what I was on, a huge personal journey. I fixed that medallion around my neck for the entire week.

All month long we are celebrating “your word” . I love pouring over the One Word pool  on Flickr reading all your chosen words and seeing the images you have captured to convey your word. Some an interpretation of a word, others the word is the image, and some choosing to layer their word over their image. I can feel the purpose in your chosen words, the power they hold. Helping you set your intentions for this year ahead. Your word may be a reminder to yourself, a word to empower you, or maybe a word to help keep you on a certain path. Perhaps you have not chosen a word yet, no worries, you are not alone. Give yourself permission to take your time. I have not chosen one in particular, instead I am feeling a pull toward a few words this new year; balance, center, simplify...  I think I will embrace all 3. That is what is so great, it is your word. You can have more than one, you can change it if you like, only you know what word you need and when. Do you write it down? Wear it around your neck? Ink it permanently on your skin? Or try it out with a marker? What words are whispering to your heart these days? 

 

grand finale

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Can it be? Is today really the very last day of 2011? It hardly seems possible, but of course it is. What a year it has been. We have grown and accomplished so much this year here. We welcomed new contributors. We saw the fruition of our very first Camp Shutter Sisters. (so exciting) Through it all you have been right here with us. You were present, open & brave. You paid witness and honored. You contributed, encouraged, connected, and grew. You constantly inspired us with your words, images and love. We thank you.

Each month you helped us celebrate a new One Word. January was ‘your word’. February, ‘words’. March, ‘numbers symbols & letters’. April, ‘inspiration’. May we went ‘mobile’. June, we sought beauty in the ‘details’. July was full of ‘life’. August you took us on an‘adventure’. September we shared many a ‘story’. October was all about ‘you’. November we were ‘thankful’. And all of December we ‘savored‘. For all your enthusiasm and participation, again we thank you.

If you began a 365 project on Jan 1 2011, today is the culmination of 365 days of clicks. Congratulations! YOU DID IT! Even when you wanted to stop (you did right?), or forgot (and then quickly forgave yourself), you kept on and here you are 365 days later, mission accomplished. Job well done. Thank you for sharing your year in photos with us.

Today is a celebration of all these things. We have shared so much together this year. 2012 holds many new wonderful opportunities and surprises here at Shutter Sisters, the new year is going to rock ladies! But before we begin those new year’s resolutions, and intentions, let’s honor all we have seen and done with our cameras this year.  Let’s send off this last day in style. Pick any image from 2011 you love and share it here. If today is your 365 finale, DO share that with us. Happy last day of 2011 sisterhood, we are so very grateful for you. XO!

changed

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Have you ever bore witness to something photographically that changed you?

Perhaps capturing the true miracle of a birth.

The struggle of poverty; in your town, in our world.

The enthusiasm of a race.

Activism.

Being there, fully present with your camera in hand, clicking away, acknowledging, honoring, seeing. Images can make a real shift in your heart and even inspire you to do things you never dreamed of. Perhaps planting a seed to a start a journey you had not even imagined for yourself until that very moment. Photography holds that power to move us in great and mysterious ways.

I know this feeling of change first hand. I live in a small new england town. Winters are cold. On New Years Day there is an event called The Lobster Dip. I had heard this mentioned in conversation, but never truly paid it much mind. I honestly assumed it was a few crazy guys on the beach on new years day that maybe had a little too much new years eve celebration (if you know what i mean) and they decided it would be fun to wander down to the cold Atlantic and take a dip. ‘Crazy people’, yes that is what I thought… I was so wrong. I woke on New Years Day 2010 wanting to do something different. Not knowing exactly why, I decided I was going to take myself and my camera to the beach to see this so called ‘Lobster Dip’. It was snowing and windy. My first clue that this was not at all what I thought was the fact that I could not find a parking space anywhere near the beach. I parked rather far away, now worrying I would not be able to reach the designated spot in time, I began to run (ok jog), camera around my neck, in the sand, against that snowy wind and crowd in front of me. A huge wall of people were there all in winter gear surrounding this really large group of ‘dippers’ in swimming suits, lobster costumes, capes, and tutus. No wet suits, those were reserved for the fire and rescue guys out in the rough surf on surf boards waiting to pluck anyone out of the icy waves if in distress. I often feel like it is always a ‘you had to be there’ kind of story, and I guess that may be so. All i know is it changed me that very day. I witnessed this grand group of individuals all gathered together to take one crazy cold dip, all for a wonderful cause. The excitement and enthusiasm was infectious. I could feel my own face smiling so much it hurt. My heart pounded for them as the countdown began. I felt my heart race as they ran in, no fear, smiling faces, into that FREEZING water… All ages, all backgrounds, all for their own reasons. When it was over I returned to the refuge of my warm dry car completely energized by what i just witnessed. What a gift it was, and somehow the feeling felt even more special being new years day. I felt like anything was truly possible! I knew right in that moment I would do the dip next new years day 2011, and I did. It was as amazing as I thought it would be, and yes it was cold but worth every minute. That year I took many photos pre-dip and then handed my camera over to my husband who captured his crazy wife running into the water and returning all smiles. If you had told me 2 years ago that I would be doing this ever, I would have laughed really loud and told you you were crazy.  That me would have been wrong. New Years Day 2012 is fast approaching, with it another opportunity to honor that change in myself and give back to the world around me by dipping once more. Am I nervous? Yes! Will there be lots of pictures? Double yes! {this year I have convinced (twisted an arm or 2) of a certain someone to take the plunge with me… someone you all know… sister power! } I guess my whole reason for writing all of this is to simply say, if I had never gone down to the beach that day to take some pictures I would never have known what I was missing, and in turn I would never had been changed by it.

I encourage you to take your camera and witness something a little crazy, or odd, or inspiring near you in this new year ahead. Perhaps there is something out there just waiting to touch your heart and the heart of others through your vision and your lens…. Dream big!  Be crazy sometimes! Why not right?

Today, share an image or story that inspired you in any way, big or small. It is an infectious spirit those images and stories hold.

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If you feel moved to do so, you can make a donation to my 2012 Dip here. All monies raised go to The Special Olympics Organization of Maine. I thank you.