I am revisiting this space after a long while and a hundred great intentions to take up “blogging” (in this case as it relates to my photography business). Initially, I thought photography would provide me with the subject matter for writing. I wanted to use it to showcase my portrait work, but it’s also quite possible that I was worried my words wouldn’t carry enough weight on their own. But, I think I missed something important. This “great pause” is perhaps the right time to come back and re-evaluate what writing could bring to my life. I have always loved how words can create deeper meaning, sometimes capturing a thought or feeling that I felt could never be captured. Conversely, I have also always loved how a photograph could capture a thought or feeling for which words alone were never sufficient. That juxtaposition, to me, is fascinating. I hope to share both here.

And so, it begins. I’m going to use this space to “write until my heart’s content” and also, to share photos that light my fire. Perhaps that will appeal to someone else and perhaps not. Either is okay with me, but if you’re here and want to follow along, I welcome you! I’m going to challenge myself to be authentic here. In an era of pretty Instagram feeds, perfect captions and the “highlights” feed that is facebook, I think that’s easier said than done. But alas, I will attempt this! To write more for myself than for others. To write for therapy, to write to provoke thought, to write to offer a glimpse into my brain, to write to make someone smile. Or, simply, to write because it’s something to do and those that know me know I need something to do (and more specifically, something to do that feels productive).

I wrote an “introduction” when I first started my photography business here. I’ll definitely write an updated one soon, but for now, I’m going to start with committing to a “Finding Light Lately” post each month, sharing those things I’ve been loving lately. I am inspired by a writer whose blog I read regularly and have done so for years. Lindsey’s “Things I Love Lately” posts every month often point me to a book that I end up loving, or share a quote that makes me smile, or a thought I ponder over for a few days. She doesn’t know me, but I feel like she does, as many of her earlier blog posts could have come straight from my heart. Her words about the “impermanence of time,” have moved me over and over again through the last several years.

As a photographer (Can I call myself that yet?! It still feels strange!), I am always looking for - or noticing - the light. There are times when the light is amazing and the perfect photograph reveals itself in front of me, and there are times when I have to work hard to notice it. Those glimmers that make me feel joy, make me feel alive. I will aim to do that here. To find - or to simply notice - the light that brings me joy. Or, if not joy (because that’s a hard emotion, isn’t it?!) than simply the feeling of being content. A wise friend said to me once that perhaps the goal is not to be happy, but to be content. Here goes my own version, my “Finding the Light” lately post. Those things made of a pure golden light as well as those moments of soft, barely there, unobtrusive light that I only see when I take the time to look for them.

Finding Light Lately (aka Things I Love Lately)

Slower pace. I LOVE this slower pace. And before I say more, please know that I fully realize I am fortunate to write that. I am acutely aware this is not everyone’s reality right now. But essentially, due to this virus I cannot work outside of the home, nor can I run either business from home. Prior to this “great pause,” I always felt as if I couldn’t keep up, the pace of life being unnatural. Like we were all on some sort of hamster wheel - and for what? This question was always there for me. What are we doing?! Running two businesses as well as being for the most part, the “stay-at-home” parent (ha, how is that even possible?!), just felt like a feat I could never do well. Satisfactory, perhaps, but not well. Most Moms knows exactly what I’m talking about, those that “work” outside the home and those that work mostly inside the home. It’s insanity. I am not a fan of the glorification of “busy” yet I also didn’t know how to break that pattern. And here we are. It’s taken a global pandemic for me to feel like I can cope with the daily “pace” of life. It truly is the silver lining. And from this point forward I vow to think about what changes I can make in my life to maintain a calmer head and an opportunity to invite peace in. I saw this the other day and feel these words capture exactly what I’m talking about - and obviously, so much more.

All the Blossoms. While I’m a huge fan of summer, this time of year and the blossoms on the trees, are strong contenders for a spot on my favourites list. A few days ago I made everyone shower and put on something other than their PJ’s and off we went in search of cherry blossoms. I live in a neighbourhood that has AMAZING cherry blossoms. Ahhhh, they made my heart happy. As do all the blossoms on our fruit trees right now! Pear blossoms, plum blossoms, blueberry blossoms and my favourite… apple blossoms. So pretty!

Rabbits. For real, people. Those that know me, will laugh at this one. But really, my girls joined 4H this year (sadly all the events have been cancelled). But - they still got their first two rabbits. We all love them. We are building something special in our yard for them (stay tuned) and for now they are living in our house. They are really sweet - and they make my girls incredibly happy. Win. #funmom

Yoga. The only mandatory “class” going on in this house is our daily yoga. Every day, I let the girls choose any class from Yoga with Adriene. My oldest did this with a big huff and sigh for the first couple of weeks and now, even though she’d never admit it, I think it’s definitely growing on her. Not to mention, both my girls can now plank which they could not a few weeks ago! I love it and feel like my day is not complete until we’ve done a class with Adriene!
Our backyard. I’m enjoying our backyard right now. I’m crossing fingers for a year of plenty from the fruit trees. We decided to try again with vegetable gardening, so my helpers built me a garden box and this week we got it all planted.
Personal photography. I finally have time to both photograph my family and edit my own personal work. I just finished up these shots we took in the cherry blossoms and love them so much. Thanks to my trusty tripod, I even got a couple family shots. And thankfully, my hubby is a pretty decent photographer himself….. I love the shots he got of me and my girls. Mamas, we really need to get in the frame more. I find the older I get, the more this means to me. So friends, my challenge to you during this time is to get in the picture! (That could be a whole other blog post - anyone interested?!).

The gratitude journal that sits on our kitchen counter. I love opening this up and reading what my peeps have written. My youngest has the most entries, which is reflective of her personality. She wears her heart on her sleeve - and she shares her feelings easier than any of us.

My kids’ ability to adapt. While I realize that if it were up to my girls, they’d be back to school as soon as possible, I personally love having them to myself. With that being said, they’ve been troopers throughout this all and have adapted to doing some schoolwork each day, being home all the time and helping prep almost all meals. I have to say, making meals together is my new jam and this is something we’ll continue for sure - so much easier and quicker than doing it on your own!
Catan. We’ve played a thousand games of Catan. It’s fun. I won my first game in a long time last week!
Baking. We bake dairy and gluten free, and for awhile, we got stuck with making the same things over and over (crisp anyone?!). I love that we are trying new things, and figuring out how to use what we have (vs. making a million quick trips out to the store for one or two ingredients). We made banana cream pie tonight. I can’t stop sneaking over and spooning the filling out of the pot. Man, that is good. And let’s be honest, a lot of the time my 9-year-old is now baking on her own and I’m enjoying the fruits of her labour. That’s a change!
T.V. Homeland. Wow. I thought I predicted a disappointing ending and convinced myself I was not going to be happy with the way the show ends. But they did a great job. Very clever ending. That made my heart happy. We also recently watched, “Unorthodox” and that was an eye opener and a great mini series. We’re huge series fans in this house so if you have any recommendations, please leave them in the comments!
Lunch with the G’s. We’re getting into a routine of meeting Gma and Grandma out in the backyard for lunch. They live with us, but we’re social distancing because my Mom is worried (as are we) about her getting this virus and my husband is an essential worker, so we are all higher risk. But we sit many feet away from each other and chat over lunch.
My 9-year-olds full, whole-hearted, unabashed and genuine laugh. Complete with nose wrinkles and her exasperated, “Mommm!” when she’s laughing so hard she can’t stop. Love that I captured it here:

I’m going to stop there. I also want to hear what you are loving lately! What are you doing during this time? What are your silver linings? Please share in the comments below, I’d genuinely love to read them.