Shutter Sisters

everyday life is sometimes messy

By

Looking forward into a hurricane.
Looking back into the muck from where we grow.

Everyday life is sometimes messy, we all know this. And yet so often we try our best to clean it up. We shine it and polish it and make it presentable. We photoshop and airbrush and texturize and soften and I do all these things too because I want to see what is aesthetically pleasing and so I sweep the dust bunnies under the rug. I arrange photos to put chaos into order. Yes, I do. But what is real is what is true. And if photography is mostly optical illusion, then there’s something to be said for hidden beauty that is found in the mess. In the cluttered table top, the forward the backward dance of multi-tasking, the child hanging from the apron strings, the toys scattered after a morning of busyness.

This is the truth of how I work. Old school headphones to drown out the mess. In this moment I realized how funny this must look. And yet how important it is to recognize this time of my life. So I put myself at arms length to see my life for what it is right now: messy.

Messy is still beautiful to me.

Today I challenge you to put yourself at arms length. Take a look around you (or at yourself) and revel in your life for what it is. Chaotic, turbulent, or a peaceful oasis. Try to see the mess as the canvas, as the backdrop to the story of our life. Put it in your frame…today share with us what is real and true about your life. What is hard for you today? What are you trying to overcome? What makes you, you? I’m finding that when we share our truths and even our (gasp!) flaws, the more real and beautiful life becomes.

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Comments

  1. I'm always working on several things at the same time so my work area is always kind of messy. It's funny that the minute I tidy it all up I have a hard time finding things.

    http://dychedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/08/sneak-peak.html

    and I have a tendancy for spreading out and taking over other areas of the house like our kitchen countertop when I'm prepping things.

    http://dychedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/09/new-this-week.html

    I have a very understanding husband!

  4. Loved the post. Going through empty nest syndrome right now, so I am evaluating a lot of my life. Also leaving my job that I have been at for the last 5 years to begin some new adventures. Photography and writing being at the top of my to do list!

    http://sarah-huizenga.blogspot.com/

  5. Life sure does get messy, doesn't it? Not just the usual messes either, sometimes it is the crowded thoughts are in our own heads and it's a tough place to climb out of. I've had a lot of personal loss this year and it's been very difficult to pick up my camera and shoot anything that might remind me of such a dark place and time in my life. I've just been so darn sad and that's not my gig, because, I'm the happy girl yanno? I was driving home from Whole Foods the other day and I had my camera on my because I was going to visit my favourite garden; however, I passed by this fountain and thought, hurray, I've always wanted to play in a fountain. I drove around the rotary, checking out the scene, parked, set up my tripod and took a long overdue self-portrait. Me, in the moment, in this moment… and yes, it's possible to feel happy again. When life gets messy just wash, rinse and repeat. . .

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedivinemissm/6127010520/in/photostream

    thanks very much for this thoughtful post; it is an apt reminder on this cool, rainy day.

  6. I think life is generally messy, but you have to stop to make time for yourself and your work!

    http://www.michellebodamer.com/blog/2011/9/8/what-i-almost-missed-on-my-way-back-from-lunch-roadside-phot.html

    The link above was during a particularly hectic day and I just felt like I had to hit a pause button and take some photos. It was awesome to just take a few minutes to explore a place even if it was only for a few minutes en route to another location.

  7. Yep, we are all so messy!! And it's good to know we have that in common. I am much more at ease in my mess than I was years ago…..but I still try to be that "organized" woman….a place for everything and everything in it's place. We need both, I guess 🙂

  9. We always want to put our "best foot forward" but that's not always the reality of the situation. It takes so much more energy to present something as it isn't. I find I'm not very inspired by capturing the mess of my personal life, whatever it is. I have to clean it up to get to a creative place.

    This photo is not of my personal mess, but I share some insight into the mess that resides in my brain sometimes. Being honest about it helps me deal with it, clean it up…
    http://www.kateyeview.com/2011/08/afraid-we-fade.html

  11. I'm trying to be more authentic in taking pics w/o cleaning up everything in sight, wiping off faces, washing hands….THIS is our life, not the clean shiney one in most of my pics!! I want my kids to know that its ok to be real! And that starts with ME

  12. Walked into my daughter's room this morning and realized I can't turn around in it. Yay for messy lives!

  15. every morning i face the same mess
    in a way i love it, because it's a visual remains of all that was going the day before
    in a way i hate it, because it reminds me of all the things i still need to do and i already know that i probably won' t have time for most of them
    i can clean it up, but it inevitably returns
    so i have decided to live with it and see it as part of who i am
    a disorganized, chaotic, creative, impulsive, flexible, original, loving human being

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/61760618@N08/6127075175/in/photostream

  17. Wish I could write something more eloquent but I wanted to say that I can relate to this photo. I raised my daughter as a single mom and that was h*e*c*t*i*c.

  19. We have hired someone to come clean every couple of weeks, and we are still totally drowning in clutter a few days after cleaning. Sigh.

  22. though I do get quite stressed about the mess in my house, I have to admit I'm not that organized in general. If it is clean on the surface, I am fine. Just please don't open my closets! Yesterday my house was particularly messy on the surface–an accumulated mess from the week and into the work week because I was not finding time to get out the vacuum in the face of some more important obligations, so instead I drowned out the mess by focusing on the details: some water drops on a leaf (sorry I know it it not the point of your post):

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjakobsen-martin/6126831276/