July 11, 2022
Portland Zoo
Hey it's me.
I read a book recently. Here's what the introduction said:
"Laugh. Explore. Pay more attention to how you feel than how you look. Tell yourself you're beautiful [yes, you]. Go for a walk. Daydream. Take a self-defense course. Volunteer. Be an advocate for someone in need. Find your passion. Read a book just for fun. Pray. Listen. Find pictures in the clouds, laugh at yourself. Smile at strangers, give large tips. Open doors for others. Say thank you when someone does it for you. Just say thank you. A lot. Respect your intuition. Practice a firm handshake. Look people in the eyes. Ask God to reveal His love for you. Pay attention. Forgive offenses. Let people go who aren't true friends. Don't look back. Try something new. Go bowling. Go to the zoo. Fly a kite at the park. Get back on your bike. Pet a dog. Set a goal. Live your life. Invite someone to come along with you." - Stasi Eldredge, Free to Be Me.
I do some well. I ignore some well. I practice some regularly, I am pleased to say. Not because "oh look at me I'm cool, I do this fun little trendy summer to-do list". If that's all it were, it's pretty cringey. No, I'm pleased because when these are a regular part of me living my life I find myself content and satisfied.
And some, I realized, I need to just go for. So I went to the zoo. I took my nephew and his parents with me.
It just occurred to me I write a lot on this blog about living your life. Because guess what? You get one exactly as you are. And you're in it. Don't let it just happen to you, live it. I like to talk about how. The good stuff, the hard stuff. Here's our purpose: It's all about Jesus. We know what is good and what He requires: that we seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. (That's the Father, Son and Holy Spirit). I like to talk about it. Did you know what we do matters? Who you are today shapes exactly who you will be tomorrow. The decisions you make today, how you speak, how you love, how you respond, how you reach out - it all matters.
When I told my nephew about how God created the flowers or the breeze or the animals to care for, it mattered.
When I didn't lose my patience when things were slower than I'd like, it mattered.
When I saw a mom and her kid enjoying themselves and offered to take a picture for them, it mattered. Even if they didn't want me to. It never hurts to offer kindness. Let a stranger know they're not invisible.
I don't know... as I sat on the green surrounded by people who love me and who I love... I ate my peach in total satisfaction. Why? Because I showed up. I had been wanting to go, so I paid some money and went and forgot about the money. I wore an outfit that made me feel good. And then I forgot about it with a total, blissful lack of self-awareness. I was just a girl with her hair down in the summer breeze, eating a peach and meandering around watching elephants with my nephew. Twirling through the water misters with my sister in law. Spouting off random facts I was learning. Geeking over the back of my camera to my brother. Watching him be an amazing dad.
And here's the best part for my creative little brain: I took pictures exactly however I wanted to, of whatever I wanted, and I didn't take pictures of anything I didn't want to. I then went home and edited them however I felt each picture should be edited, as an individual. Not worried about making anything uniform or conforming to building a specific style. I just did exactly as I felt. I'm not preaching this as a life philosophy hahaha! But let yourself let your hair down, your guard down sometimes. Don't be so uptight. Like I said, let yourself forget about yourself for an afternoon and just be. Create special moments by landing yourself where you feel happiest.
For me, that's holding my camera in one hand, and more importantly my nephew's hand in the other. Eating my favorite things in the sunshine of a summer afternoon in a skirt. Wearing sunglasses and a perfect breeze sweeping past you. Going somewhere special with my family. It didn't take much. Just saying yes to getting up and going.
In photography we create special moments. Candid shots of perfect bliss don't usually just happen. We create them. They can look natural. But nobody just landed in a perfect state that makes them look amazing. We have fun and you'll forever remember how you feel in that photo, you'll forget it wasn't candid and didn't just happen. You'll feel like it must have. But honestly, good memories can be the same way. Create a space for happy memories by doing things God created you to like to do. I like candles and firelight and poetry, so in the winter how do you think I create cozy moments? I crave sunshine and sunglasses and good music with the windows rolled down on a back-road somewhere. So the sun comes out, the music goes up and the windows go down. What can you do to create a memory? Go invest in your nieces and nephews, spend some time, spend some money, laugh and enjoy. Do something you lose yourself in, in the best way :).
Love, Sarah
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