Shutter Sisters

just be

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By sweet synchronicity, as I was reading the words that Lilia shared in her post yesterday, I was packing my camera bag for a little photo excursion with one of my dear Shutter Sisters Kristi of A Life Photographic. We still live in close proximity to one another and were dear friends long before either one of us got serious about photography but these days our mutual passion has only enriched our relationship. And even still our busy daily lives often keep us from spending time together.

But on this day, we spent our morning strolling and shooting, catching up and clicking and laughing about the laundry we should have been doing, shirking the emails we should have been returning, and delaying the work we should have been getting done. Instead we took the long way around the Nature Center and kept walking. And talking. And enjoying the sunshine, our love of photography and our friendship. I mentioned that I had been really making an effort to slow down and just let myself be for a change. To let magic unfold. It doesn’t mean my to-do list is getting smaller, it’s just taking me a little longer to get through. That’s OK, right? I urged of her.

She replied without hesitation, Tracey, I just lost a good friend to cancer. It can go so fast. Yes, it’s OK. In fact, simple moments like these are all that really matter.

I cannot tell you how glad I am that I allowed myself a day of reflection and wandering, and most of all connecting with a soul sister. It’s going to be part of my new routine of just being.

I ask of you today to take some time to yourself. Breath deep. Appreciate the vibrant miracle of life that you are and all the gifts that you are given unconditionally each day. Look around you and capture with your lens of few of the things that you are grateful for. The kind that remind you that you are allowed to just be. Delight us with your visual reminders.

Comments

  4. On Sunday night I attended a gathering with Amy Krouse Rosenthal for her "Beckoning of Lovely" tour. There was a decent sized group gathered and there was also this darling 18 month old boy there with his mom and dad. You know their attention span is zip, so dad was constantly chasing after him and trying to keep him still. Not until the night was over and people were leaving, dad managed to find a way to keep his little one still: he read a book to him. In the midst of all the noise and activity and people, this was their moment of stillness. I’m glad I caught it with my camera.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeroldssis/3485825346/

  15. What a wonderful post. Life is fleeting and it is so important to enjoy the small moments, to create the memories, because all the other stuff – the dishes and bills and laundry, will still be there. My sons are grown and out on their own, but I relish phone calls and emails. When I come home from work, I’m greeting lovingly by these two – it is nice to have someone/something to come home to:

    http://dailyvignette.com/2009/04/29/pet-parade/

  22. we had a freakishly warm day yesterday. 94 in parts of maine in april is unheard of. but for me a sun loving warm weather worshipper, it was a day of reprieve. a day to open windows WIDE, feel the warm breeze, smell the warming earth, listen to children playing outside my open windows, and just breathe. i noticed how beautiful the curtains looked dancing in the breeze.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/14811117@N02/3485693745/

  29. Being a family portrait photographer (mostly), I still find time to catch my kids doing different things, but I usually end up with memory cards full of photos I never get around to editing because I’m under such tight time constraints editing everyone else’s photos. Well, tonight my house is in disarray as I am rearranging stuff, and my help didn’t show up tonight to move some heavier pieces, so I said "Ya know what? I’m going to edit and post and blog about pictures of MY BABIES!" and that is exactly what I did! Here’s the link: http://eyecandyphotog.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-big-girl-cheyenne.html

    Lovely post – and I go on my weekly "photocations" with one or both of my shutter sisters, usually on Tuesdays. 🙂

  30. I am one of the Shutter Sisters that Candy B is talking about. We run away from our daily lives and immerse ourselves in the soothing click of the shutter and random conversation. We love our "photocations" as Candy dubbed them.
    Just a hint, I let my daily chores fall to the wayside quite often to play with the kids. And of course, it is all caught by my camera.