My biggest lesson for 2013... don't plan to much because as John Lennon said "Life is what happens while you busy making other plans"
My 2nd Nifty Fifty project was only to see the light on 01/01/14.... all neatly edited and parcelled and ready for publication... but it seems it was not to be that way! I hadn't chosen specific themes to photograph each day and yet over the last 4 days of shooting I have found myself seeing out specific items which have significance to me currently.
So my Nifty Fifty Part 2 for 2013 will have a theme... to find items of meaning over the remaining period - not just random shots...
My 2nd Nifty Fifty project was only to see the light on 01/01/14.... all neatly edited and parcelled and ready for publication... but it seems it was not to be that way! I hadn't chosen specific themes to photograph each day and yet over the last 4 days of shooting I have found myself seeing out specific items which have significance to me currently.
So my Nifty Fifty Part 2 for 2013 will have a theme... to find items of meaning over the remaining period - not just random shots...
I found this unique piece of jewellery a few weeks ago at the I Heart Market in Durban. These pendants are hand-crafted from pieces of broken vintage crockery. This particular piece is made from a vintage Chinese Rice Bowl and the symbol means Health.
Appropriate for me at the present time while I fight off a Tick Bite Fever infection (picked up on the Wilderness Trail that was SUPPOSED to be the focus of this blog!). Also appropriate for my mental health as I go through an intensive process of therapy to help me heal from the devastating events over the last few months and years.
In both instances I will heal and in so doing become stronger.
Another unique find at a local craft market. This is a canvas print of a song which has always stuck in my brain. Often we are given advice, pieces of information, ideas and thoughts. All of it tinged with the givers perceptions... so what do we trust, what do we retain and what to we disregard...
Not an easy task..
Looking up the lyrics I see the song was released in 1999 - the year I gave birth to my youngest son, Kyle. The same son who left 2 months ago today to go live with his dad permanently. I miss him, some days more then others, some days not at all. Kyle is a complex child. He has never been and never will be easy... in fact it is easy to love him, it is not always that easy to like him... very different feelings. I don't have much advice to give him at this point except to trust me on the sunscreen...
Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering
experience…I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you
imagine.
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you
Sing
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with
people who are reckless with yours.
Floss
Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body,
use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever
own..
Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for
good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you
should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you
knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live
in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will
philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were
noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will
look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the
ugly parts and recycling it for more than
it’s worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen…
Every Thursday I have therapy session ... the deeper into the process I move the harder it is. The session yesterday being particularly tough. We covered Transactional Analysis, I've shared the link if you interested in reading more .. the long and short of it being my Child Ego Trait is almost non-existent... it made me very sad to realise that I don't really know how to just be spontaneous and in the moment.... much of my life has been so involved around planning that I've forgotten how to play...
http://www.businessballs.com/transact.htm
So I am under strict instructions to go out and find my inner child.. splash in the puddles more and stop planning each minute of each day... not going to be easy for me...
While walking along the beach promenade after my session I saw this mom playing on the beach with her little ones.. and the absolute joy these little humans had just having fun with mom... pure innocence.
http://www.businessballs.com/transact.htm
So I am under strict instructions to go out and find my inner child.. splash in the puddles more and stop planning each minute of each day... not going to be easy for me...
While walking along the beach promenade after my session I saw this mom playing on the beach with her little ones.. and the absolute joy these little humans had just having fun with mom... pure innocence.
“What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” – Karl Lagerfeld