Confession: My mind has been a jumbled mess lately.
Between school starting for the kids, new photography courses in the works, and a constant barrage of depressing world headlines, I've been feeling completely out-of-whack. So yesterday morning, I said out loud, "Enough."
I wanted to adopt a policy I've seen my children (and dog) following more and more these days: gazing out at the world and simply having "a really good think."
I took my morning coffee (iced, milked, and sugared, because I don't like coffee unless it tastes like coffee ice cream) and parked myself in a comfy chair facing the forest in our back yard. I forced myself (yes, it was a physical and mental effort) to just sit quietly and watch the morning unfold before me.
It was as though the back yard (which had seemed lifeless) came alive before my eyes.
A tiny white butterfly flittered between blades of grass, drinking its dewy breakfast.
A chickadee landed on the kids' swing-set, briefly.
A golden aspen leaf drifted lazily to the ground.
There were quite a few comical chipmunk skirmishes around the back yard. "High-tailing it out of there" is a perfect description of what chipmunks do when they decide to give up on a fight.
In between these observations, I realized how long it had been since I'd gifted myself with pure time in the morning, just to ponder and observe. Much too often, between various work tasks and household chores, I've been guilty of checking in on the world's nonsense and noise (a very nerve-rattling business indeed).
Now more than ever, I need to take time just to be still.
[Before I begin: I've always hated the telephone, except from about 7th to 10th grade, when it was somehow exciting to talk about nothing much on the phone with my friends. I think of my cell phone now as my smallest camera, and for that, I'm VERY grateful. It's also helped me on more than a couple of occasions when I had car mishaps or minor emergencies. But for the most part, I still don't like phones of any kind.]
What did we do way back then, before cell phones? (Or B.C.P, as today's texters might put it?)
We got lost--a lot. But eventually, we found our way. Usually with a rumpled map from the glove compartment and perhaps a nervous prayer.
We read with real paper pages to touch and to turn. Sometimes we got paper cuts. (Those were the worst!)
If we wanted something new to read, we went to the public library and wandered around in the quiet stacks that smelled (wonderfully) of very old books.
If we didn't know the meaning of something, we looked it up in Webster's or the Encyclopedia Brittanica, or we'd ask the librarian to help us find a book about it. She used the Dewey Decimal System, scribbling cryptic notes on little scraps of paper and leading us to our book like a mother duck guides her ducklings along a pond.
If we wanted to take a picture, we'd dig out the Kodak Instamatic, check if it had enough film, and hope the picture would come out the way we intended. We'd hope "the people at the lab" would develop our pictures soon and send them back to us, a thick envelope in the mail amidst the handwritten letters.
There were many awkward moments while waiting in long lines, staring up at the ceiling or pretending to think about our private concerns instead of our discomfort at standing so close to complete strangers. Occasionally, we might glance at them and say "good morning", or make a trite comment about the weather, or laugh about how men never had to wait in line for restrooms.
We thought our own thoughts instead of jumping from news flash to news flash about celebrities making questionable decisions.
Nobody took selfies. Daily self-portraits would have involved tripods and a rather embarrassing amount of vanity. We took photos of family vacations and random objects that did not include what we were eating for lunch.
We noticed our surroundings more, and things moved slower, although they didn't seem slow at the time because there wasn't anything to compare to it. The rest of the world stayed in the distance, like Mars or the Big Dipper--there, but very removed from us.
We played cards and board games and went outside to look for neighborhood kids who were also outside and wanted to play kickball or hide-and-seek. There was no such thing as a "playdate" pre-arranged by moms. Kids rang doorbells instead and asked if their friends could come out to play. Parents stayed inside and did parental things, or worked on their gardens.
Barbie Dolls were all the rage. So were tree houses.
We watched shows on TV sets that had wire antennae, channels on dials, and no remote controls.
If we wanted to play video games, we went to an arcade or to the cool kids' houses who had Atari systems in their finished basements. It was more of a loud social gathering, and potato chips were usually involved. Occasionally, a mom would come downstairs, proffering cookies and "checking on things."
For music, we played vinyl records on turntables, and we had to place a needle precisely onto a groove to get to the song that we wanted to hear. Sometimes, we missed the mark and gritted our teeth at the terrible scratching sound.
At restaurants, people who dined together actually spoke to each other and looked at each other. We glanced at the people around us at other tables, who were immersed in their own conversations.
We took long walks unencumbered by devices. We were unreachable for the duration of the walk. Imagine having to wait until you arrived home to call somebody! We turned a rotary dial instead of tapping out the numbers like a magician.
Imagine fishing around in the bottom of your purse or your pocket for a dime (usually covered in lint and gum wrappers) to put into the public telephones (which were often gross).
Imagine a whole day at the beach, undisturbed by the world outside the beach.
Imagine going to sleep and really going to sleep, not surfing around the world to follow petty stories from your pillow.
I am showing my age for sure, but in many, many ways, I miss life before cell phones.
It's been very quiet around this blogspace lately, hasn't it? That's because I've been feverishly organizing my life. Planning out courses. Clearing out clutter. Reducing distractions. Making my lists and checking them twice!
One of the big things I've been doing to clear out clutter is sending my collection of magazines to the recycling center. I gave up reading newspapers years ago (I get all of the news I "need" online--although I drastically limit that, too), but magazines have been harder for me to thin out. (Something about those pretty pictures on glossy pages!) But here's the thing: There's just no need for me to keep magazines anymore because if I really, truly want to see an article or photo again, there's this little thing called Google. Perhaps you've heard of it? ;)
The one exception to my magazine purge is the quarterly publication called Bella Grace, which is really more like a coffee table book, filled with the dreamiest photographs imaginable (plus no ads!). I'm pretty sure that angels must have copies of Bella Grace on their coffee tables in heaven. (Nope, I'm not getting paid to say that; I just LOVE it.) Anyway, I borrow all other magazines from the library. (Libraries are great clutter-busters, especially if your particular brand of clutter--like mine--is reading material. The curse of the Bookworm/Highly Visual Person!)
Another thing I did to declutter: Donated MANY bags of toys, baby stuff, accessories, books, and what-have-you's to our school's annual holiday sale. (The students bring in $2 for each family member's gift and then they can do some gift-shopping on their own, choosing from the never-used or gently-used items on display in the cafeteria. It's a fundraiser, so it's a winner all around!)
On the business front, I decided to super-simplify the way I offer discounts to my online photography students. Instead of having just one week of the Early Bird rate on my e-courses before bumping up to the regular rate, I'm creating a little monthly e-letter, called Joyful Scoop, and I'll be offering exclusive e-course discounts to its subscribers. This will HUGELY help me by having all students and prospective students on one master list, and it will help YOU so you don't miss any course announcements, registrations, or discounts. (If you're already a subscriber to Joyfully Green, no need to unsubscribe from that list. Joyful Scoop will be a different animal altogether.)
The monthly e-letter won't just be for photo students, though. I'll also be featuring some mini tutorials, inspirational goodies, and photo freebies. If that sounds good to you, you can sign up by clicking here.The next photo e-course announcement (with the subscriber discount) is coming VERY soon so I really hope to see you on the list! (No spam, EVER. I promise. Just e-course discounts, inspirational stuff, and eye candy.)
I'm also reducing the social media noise in my life, focusing only on the platforms that inspire me instead of exhausting me. This might sound funny in a post about letting things go, but I just rejoined Instagram. To be honest, I never gave it a fair shot the first time around. I posted a grand total of ONE (!) photo before deciding I just didn't have the time to figure out another social media thingee. But now I'm back and it actually seems...simple?! And fun?! (Plus: pretty pictures!) So if you're on Instagram, let's follow each other and share some snaps, yes? (My Instagram link is here.)
I hope the holiday season is treating you kindly so far. If you need some help simplifying your holidays, here are a couple of posts you might've missed:
I know it's funny for a blogger to say this, but sometimes I really need a break from the online world. Not from my blog (which I still enjoy--and I hope you do, too!) but from the incessant chatter of the internet. It can be mentally exhausting, getting constant updates from every sector of your life and the world at large.
So I think it's important, from time to time, to step away from it. To take a digital detox.
That's exactly what I did this past Memorial Day weekend. Truth be told, it wasn't a clean break--I did check in twice, briefly. Not for FOMO (Fear of Missing Out); just to make sure nothing was terribly amiss. But I didn't engage.
I've finally learned that I don't need to answer every single question or comment immediately. I don't have to add my two cents to every discussion. Sometimes, it's better to just ponder. To let thoughts travel a natural course before automatically responding. Usually, the world can wait.
So this past weekend, if I got the urge to "check in", I checked out--outdoors. I got a LOT of gardening done. (Pulling up weeds feels really, really good!)
I treated the kids--and myself--to ice cream. (Dairy Queen never gets old.)
We visited one of the local farms, where we met this handsome hog...
Naturally, I took even more pictures of my dog. (Can you ever have enough pictures of your pet? I don't think so!)
I chipped away at Laundry Mountain. (I've come to terms with the realization that it will never be Laundry Desert.)
We gathered with relatives at a pretty French bistro to celebrate the interesting life of an aunt who had passed away. She was into yoga thirty years before it became "hot."
Back at home, naps were taken (not by the kids).
Books were read. (I'm still on my Anne Lamott kick.)
Life was quiet.
And now I'm back. Recharged.
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How 'bout you? Do you take the occasional break from online life, or are you completely plugged in? Do tell!
I'm happy to be back here, tap-tap-tapping away at the keyboard. The holiday break with my extended family was the longest break (actually, the only break) I've taken in blogging since opening up shop here in July 2012. I love my little corner of the internet, but it was good to step away from it for a bit and really, truly focus on the people I love whom I don't see often enough.
Sometimes, you really have to give yourself permission to rest.
I remember reading a thoughtful post called Extremely Important Priorities from Tammy, one-half of the brilliant blogging team at The Great Jollyhoombah (one of my all-time favorite blogs, which is sadly no more), about how we often concoct these long to-do lists for ourselves, chockful of tasks that (if we're really honest about it) we don't actually NEED to do.
Yes, it might have been beneficial for me to keep on posting away through the December holidays, as the third session of my nature photography e-course was starting in January. (It started yesterday and I'm loving my new students already!) But as I watched more and more of my blogging friends sign off until the New Year, I felt a little twinge of envy, and it just felt right to join the holiday parade and hang up the "CLOSED" shingle for a while.
But as I said, I'm happy now to be back. Refreshed. Recharged. Revved up to go again!
That's the whole point of vacations, isn't it?
While I was "on leave", I took LOTS of pictures (no surprise there), especially first thing in the mornings. I haven't quite figured out how to work a camera while wearing gloves, so my outdoor photo shoots would usually end when my fingers and toes went numb. And then I was doubly thankful for a toasty-warm house!
Because I like to give experiences instead of stuff, as a Hanukkah present, I took my two teenage nieces out to dinner and then out for a shopping trip. (Yes, I know, the shopping part negates the non-commercial aspect, but they're teenage girls--I can do only so much green-preaching! And I admit, I did have fun scoping out makeup with them.) I love my nieces to pieces--funny, sweet, and whip-smart girls who have somehow escaped "Sullen Teenager Syndrome."
Our uncle treated us to an afternoon in New York with a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's "H.M.S. Pinafore" at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. It was good ol' silly fun! I hadn't seen a G & S show since childhood with my dad.
I also saw some very good movies, including "Into the Woods"--twice! That's always been my favorite musical. I saw it on stage in London ages ago (oh my, the set designs were GORGEOUS!), and then I saw the taped Broadway show with Bernadette Peters. I loved the movie (obviously--I saw it twice), and Johnny Depp ROCKED IT as The Wolf (no surprise there), but here's a crazy opinion for you: I didn't think Meryl Streep was as good as Bernadette Peters. (There, I said it!) Don't get me wrong: Meryl Streep is amazing (naturally), but she missed the comedic timing of Peters. Lines that had the audience roaring with laughter in the play with Peters were met with near-silence in the movie theater. (It was a little shocking, I must say!) So if you liked the movie, look up the Broadway version with Bernadette Peters and let me know what you think.
Lastly, I played "Master Chef" with my kids a whole lot during this break, whipping up yummy things like french toast, Chinese broccoli, fresh breads, and cookies. Life is really too short for bad bread, so once you get the hang of making homemade bread from scratch (I promise you, it's not that difficult), you won't ever want to eat the bland stuff in the cellophane bags again.
All in all, 2015 is off to a very yummy start!
How 'bout you?What has kept you happily occupied lately? Let's hear it--I'm all ears! (Email subscribers: Click on the blue title of the post to get to the main site; then you'll see the comments section at the bottom.)
Here's one of my favorite ways to spend a lazy weekend morning: Making a creative, slightly crazy breakfast with the kids. (They're in full-on "Chef Mode" lately, thanks to "Master Chef Junior.") What's the dish they concocted, above? It's challah french toast, sprinkled with powdered sugar, chocolate chips, pomegranate seeds, and maple syrup, of course! It won't win any awards for good health (although the pomegranate helped me feel slightly less guilty), but it was good fun to spend Saturday morning whipping up something wild and wacky with my two little chefs-in-training. After making sure they stay safe in the kitchen, my most important kitchen rule for them is "be creative!"
And my most important rule for the weekend is this: Let the kids relax, rest, imagine, play, create, and generally do their own thing (within reason!), without hustling them off to activity after activity. I'm a huge believer in underscheduling children. How 'bout you?
Although it's typical for me to forget where I left my eyeglasses on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis, I can still remember the front page of The New York Times from September 1, 1997. My boyfriend (now husband) and I were coming back from a long and lovely Labor Day weekend away with his parents. We hadn't turned on a TV or radio the whole time, the internet was in its infancy, and there were no such things as iPhones and iPads. But there it was, the newspaper on his doorstep, waiting for us with a large headline that at first perplexed us:
"Charles accompanies Diana back home to a grieving Britain"
It wasn't long before we, too, were plugged back into the worldwide news of sadness and shock. Even if you go on a "news diet" for a few days, the Big News most definitely will catch up to you.
Depressing as it can be, it's not so much the Big News that worries me. It's the "little" news, the faux news, the non-news that has a way of insinuating itself into our everyday lives like an airborne virus. The Big News may catch up to us, but it's the Little News that sticks in our throat like a nasty cough that never quite goes away.
In the book Simplify Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter, author Elaine St. James writes about two of her friends: "He is a physicist; she is an artist. They've never watched the news on television. While most other people are reading the morning news, this couple is reading their favorite novels. They are well-educated, literate, interesting, vital people who long ago came to the conclusion that reading the daily newspaper did not contribute to their mental or emotional well-being, and they arranged their lives accordingly." As the author says, "Cutting back on the negative input you're subjected to every day is a positive step toward simplifying your life."
I've never been a newspaper person, but as I admitted in "Changing the Focus", I used to be a chronic Huffington Post reader, checking in to the latest headlines several times a day. It made me a little nuts and a lot depressed, so I gave it up and haven't looked back. The truth of the matter, at least for me, is that the news I "need" to know finds me (with social media, it's a given), and if I want further information on a news story, it's ready and waiting for me with a few clicks. (News is like that: eager and available.)
So, unless your job requires you to be plugged in to the minutiae of the universe, consider a "news diet." Start slowly: Try one morning without reading the news. Read a book or listen to music instead. Or go for a walk. Or cuddle with the dog. Anything but scanning the headlines. See if you feel better or worse. I know how I felt, and how I still feel, without the endless barrage of "news."
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How 'bout you? Are you a news junkie or a news avoider? How long could you go without checking the latest headlines? Could you put yourself on a news diet? Let's hear it in the comments section below! (Email subscribers: Click on the blue title of the post to get to the main site; then you'll see the comments section at the bottom.)
When I was a little girl, my favorite gifts from my parents were always new sketchbooks. I could spend hours alone in my room, drawing and doodling, filling up sketchbook after sketchbook with pictures, ideas, and (let's face it) a healthy dose of nonsensical ramblings! My parents were both artists (one by trade, the other by hobby), so they knew first-hand the importance of starting with a blank canvas.
Just recently, I had one of those Oprah "Aha!" moments: I realized that even after all of these years, I still can really benefit from a blank canvas. Starting off the day with an open sketchbook gives me the focus and direction I need.
I came to this realization while I was eating my breakfast last week, with a view to the woods, re-reading (and heavily underlining) Walden and feeling a sort of corny kinship across the ages with Thoreau. (I totally "get" his desire to live in the woods and work undisturbed!) I had a sketchbook near me on the table, a pencil ready. From time to time, a thought would flutter by and I'd scribble it down, then go back to my reading.
After breakfast, I moved to the couch with my sketchbook. I had a different view of the woods, still tranquil. My velvety-eared dog, Delilah, curled up next to me on the couch for a good dog-nap (snoring included), and I let my hand just wander across the pages with a pencil, making random designs and notes, catching little wisps of thoughts.
Almost an hour went by, and then the phone rang. The ringing jarred me out of intense concentration. I realized that I'd been totally "in the moment" with my own thoughts, completely unplugged from the outside world. I felt creatively rejuvenated.
My mother used to say, when she was frustrated with her painting, "I can't hear myself think!" It puzzled me when I was a little kid, but now I know exactly what she meant. If you can't hear yourself think, you tend to move through the day on auto-pilot, without any clear focus or direction. You have to have the time, the space, and the silence to tune into your own frequency.
These are some ideas that help me to focus so I can hear myself think and tap into my creativity:
Pick a "sacred time." For me, mornings are sacred, which means that I don't schedule any appointments or meetings before 11:00 a.m., if I can help it. I don't make any phonecalls, and I limit any internet time. Block out a time on your daily calendar when you're going to focus your attention fully on your creative work. Mondays and Tuesdays are my biggest creative workdays, so I try not to commit to anything else on either day.
Choose a room with a view, but not one where you're watching a whole circus pass by. If you don't have a calming view, find some tranquil pictures for your office or work space.
Use the power of silence or chimes. I know it sounds terribly "New-Age-y", but wind chimes soothe me. My good friend Alex sent me wind chimes as a housewarming gift many years back, and it's still one of my favorite gifts. It's so calming and meditative to hear the wind playing its own little tune outdoors, and its rambling "melody" is perfect for random idea-generating.
Don't get overwhelmed with trying to think up "The Big Idea." Just doodle. Free-associate. This is called "Mind Mapping" in the corporate world; for creative types, it's called art journaling.
Aim for at least 15 minutes of uninterrupted, super-focused time every day. If you have a full schedule, don't stress yourself out with trying to set aside an hour or two. If the only time you're not going to be interrupted is when everyone else in the house is asleep, then use that as your "sacred time." Or set your alarm a little earlier in the morning. Just carve out some dedicated time and make it a priority.
Respect the importance of doodling. Sometimes, your best ideas will pop up when you least expect them, so keep sharpened pencils, smooth-writing pens, and a sketchbook on-hand. Even if I'm writing, I prefer sketchbooks over lined notebook paper. (More free space!) Sketchbooks are great for writing little snippets of poetry, jotting down quotes, journaling, and creating visual plans. (Since this is a green blog, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention here that I use only sketchbooks made from recycled paper!)
Most of all, just relax and repeat these steps on a regular basis. Listening to yourself think--to your impressions, to your ideas, to your instincts--is one of the most important things you can do for yourself. My parents were really on to something!
How 'bout you? How do you generate your ideas? Do you have a "sacred time" that you set aside for your creative or personal work? I'd love to hear about it in the comment section below. (If you're an email subscriber, click on the blue title of the post to get to the main site.)
Seems that I've stumbled into a rather crazed chapter of my life--many business plans and personal events are whirling around together like berries in a blender set on "high." The good thing is...they're all good. The bad thing is...I'm busier than I've been in a long time and feel like I've totally "fallen off the wagon" of simplifying.
I'm trying to regain some sense of balance during this time, and if you are, too, then I bet you'll appreciate these five articles that discuss mindfulness, simplifying, and getting your life into some semblance of order. (I'm going to re-read them this weekend and try to practice what I'm preaching!)
Your turn:What are your go-to sources (blogs, books, places, activities) for restoring peacefulness and balance in your life? I'd love to hear about them in the comments section below!
Tricia at Little Eco Footprints writes about how there are now TV screens at gas pumps in Australia. When will the madness end, filling up every single second with noise and busy-ness? Tricia's got a good remedy for it, here: Overwhelm and Contaminated Time.
And finally: I'm half-Swedish, but I know far too little about my Swedish heritage, so I visually devoured these serene and lovely photographs of "the homeland" at Be Love Live: The Magic of Sweden's Simplicity.