there and back

brooklyn . august 2011

last night, i returned home from a quick, soul.full trip to brooklyn. i tucked so much inside the pocket of my heart while i was there, and i am sifting through the beauty and realness a bit at a time in between the moments of living that being home brings.

more soon...

until then, i would really love to know how things are in your corner of the world.

saturday sky on egg and i road

when the rain rain rain drips steadily upon us this fall, i want to remember that you turned down egg and i road instead of driving by like always.

i want to remember that you stopped the car in the middle of this quiet road so i could take photos of pink and sky and the miles leading up to mountains.

i want to remember how we talked about my big dream and how we need to explore more roads like this in case it is just waiting for us around the corner.

i want to remember all those flowers quietly growing together along the road as so many birds called to one another while paul simon sang about graceland through the car window.

i want to remember that you really always do give me the space to be me.

*****

"Scenes from This Day" is a prompt in my book Inner Excavation. It's about taking your camera with you on your day-to-day moments and capturing what it is to be in your corner of the world. It's about letting go of the need for the perfect photo from the perfect day and instead using the camera to document the small moments that make up your life. It's about telling the story, your story, in the way that will help you remember the textures and rhythms and sacredness.

week in the life {friday, saturday, sunday}

{friday}

{saturday}

{sunday}

*****

last week, i joined in with ali edwards' week in the life project. today, i am catching up with the last three days. we had family in town for a few days, and i found myself drawn to be more in the experience than document or take notes. altough, as usual, i took quite a few photos of ellie. our girl is moving moving moving, taking steps and spreading joy in just about every moment. 

(all my week in the life photos, including additional notes, can be seen in this flickr set.) 

week in the life {thursday}

notes from today:

paying attention to the light is changing how i take photos.
i wish i could work from my bed every morning
beginning and ending the day with mary oliver heals me
ellie jane's joyful way of living pushes me to let go 

*****

this week, i am joining in with ali edwards' week in the life project. i took quite a few photos yesterday but most of them were of ellie while she was walking, exploring, eating, and so on, which meant quite a few photos of the same scene and many blurry because she is so on.the.move. mostly i was distracted by work/life stuff yesterday and forgot to take photos. but the photos i did capture, especially me dancing with my shadow (more on that soon), really make me happy. there is a lesson here somewhere. always, always the lessons...

(all my week in the life photos, including additional notes, can be seen in this flickr set.) 

week in the life {wednesday}

notes from today:

severely burning one's finger makes it much harder to seek joy in the everyday
somehow joy still appears in the form of her laughter and his silliness and collaboration and quiet truths
holding her when she falls asleep rarely happens anymore, but when it does, it feels like winning the lottery
she can cycle though happy to oh my goodness i am mad mad mad to giggling all in about one minute
i am going to be sad to see this summer end

*****

this week, i am joining in with ali edwards' week in the life project. today, after being deeply inspired by darrah's blog post, i played with the ISO a bit more. i have been shooting on AV for months now and have been adjusting the f-stop and light balance (ahhh...is that what it is called?). i even put the camera on manual for a bit. it.was.a.blast! usually i come up with excuses like "but i am working on a project, i can't play with the settings now!" but that didn't stop me today. it was refreshing. perhaps i knew i needed a distraction from my throbbing finger. burns are no fun at all. can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

(all my week in the life photos, including additional notes, can be seen in this flickr set.) 

week in the life {tuesday}

notes from today:

going outside centers me every time
(today was a day where centering + oreos helped)
after about 10 bites, ellie begins to share her food with millie
late night trips to target mean you buy more than just diapers
lavender lingers 
gratitude punctuated this day

*****

this week, i am joining in with ali edwards' week in the life project. at some point today i thought to myself, "are people really going to want to see all these photos of my family?" but then i remembered why i wanted to do this: to notice the rhythm of our days.
(all my week in the life photos can be seen in this flickr set.)

PS it looks like the mugs are all sold out, but here's a link to george takai's site. 

week in the life {monday}

notes from today:

working in bed while he plays with her down the hall
how her laughter fills the spaces between us
choosing to let things go and just be here
the discovery of splashing means she doesn't want to leave the tub
ending the day side by side remembering there is always love 

*****

this week, i am joining in with ali edwards' week in the life project. i love that ali encourages people to let this week be about whatever feels right for them. i kind of love it when there aren't any rules. my loose plan is to simply let each day unfold as it does and document what i find here. today, i felt moved to use my iphone to capture a few moments. i have to admit that i hope i take a lot more photos tomorrow (and plan to reread through ali's suggestions on her site).

the many faces of ellie jane (july 9)

twenty minutes on july 9