Shutter Sisters

choosing what to focus on

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Lately it seems like all of the various projects I have been working on are all teaching me the same thing. Funny how the Universe can work like that sometimes. I’m finding that the clearer I am, the more clear this truth becomes to me. What I choose to focus on becomes my reality.

I began the year with my trusted companion Simple Abundance, a gratitude journal and a creative journal, all of which I use during my first moments of quiet time after the morning shuffle of breakfast, packing lunches, and carpool. That 20 minutes I spend focusing on creating and maintaining the life that I want has made all the difference. My life just looks better. I know it’s my same old life on many levels but with the right focus on the right thing the entire picture changes.

I suppose it’s a perfect photographer analogy to liken a life’s focus to the sweet spot in an image.

When these dangling water drops caught the light, all I could see was beauty. Each time I walked past these new tomato plants on my kitchen counter, the water glistened; winking at me. I couldn’t ignore them any longer. With my trusty macro lens and my heart and aperture wide open I focused on what I wanted to see; the light, the clarity, the camaraderie, the determination, the beauty. I chose not to focus on the dirty dishes, the remnants on the cutting board or the water spotted window. Those things are all there if you carefully decipher the blurred background. But, they are not what I wanted to focus on and sure enough, you barely see them.

Amazing how that works.

Do share what you are choosing to focus on lately? Give us your picture.

Comments

  5. I LOVE the Simple Abundance book, and my favorite book of all time is her follow-up to it, Romancing the Ordinary, which I highly recommend if you haven’t checked it out already!

    The ideas are so simple, so pure and filled with joy, that they cannot but please. 🙂

  7. I SOOOOOO feel you on being and staying focused. My word for the year was !LIVE! and in doing that I dont mean to just have a wonderful party every second of every minute of every day but even in the simple small acts, I want to be aware of the moment. If that means water droplets and their beauty ( like here) than so be it. If its the excitement and adrenaline rush of a basketball game like here

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/valeenwashington/4282958040/sizes/o/

    then so be it. I want to enjoy every waking minute of it.

  18. Today the wind is howling around the corner of the house and the rain is pounding on the patio roof. I’m hoping the power won’t go out. Last week out on a video shoot with a friend, we took a break to have lunch. She was tired and didn’t want me to focus on her face while we waited for our crepes, so I focused first on her hands (checking email) and then on the effervescent bubbles in her glass. That’s what I’m focusing on today, trying to remain light as air and not sinking into rainy day doldrums.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/7687752@N03/4290275697/

  19. great image and post! I too have been focusing more on life around me. I think I’m just trying to be more aware and conscious of what is happening in my life. It’s sometimes too easy to just coast through it.

  22. I’m realizing as I look through my 365 photos that many of them are my family. I think it’s fitting…focusing on what makes me happy shows in what I choose to photograph.

  28. I recently found shutter sisters…so glad I did. I really don’t like winter…not at all. But when I focus on the beauty of it, the unique characteristics of the season, the joy in seeing God’s creation returns.

  32. i needed to "hear" this analogy for life. and i love that the dishes in the background are just as much of what makes this photo beautiful. the color is amazing! so, i like that, too. with proper focus, even the humdrum or the necessities of life can be colorful and exciting!

    as far as the photo goes, i love it! i used to take macros all the time with my little canon a470, because that is what that camera did best! it really had a quite amazing macro feature for the kind of camera it was. makes me miss it. but i still use it on my bigger camera and still enjoy the macros.

    here is my most recent macro — also with dew drops.
    http://itsjusthowiseethings.blogspot.com/2009/11/synonymous-labyrinthine.html