It is very rare when one of my billions, upon billions of ideas actually pans out. If this idea then works out as planned, then I am pretty smug with satisfaction (since it is so rare, I am rarely smug or satisfied). If said idea turns out better than I could have ever imagined (and I do have a rather large imagination) than that's when I have to stop whistle Dixie, slap my knee and utter 'hot dog!' Or something along those lines.
I started Souvenir Foto School to force myself to be accountable to shoot on a regular basis (photo's, just in case you thought I was in to gun toting--I am not). I knew that with the assignments I had stored in my skull that my students/victims and I would be seeing the every day in a different light after our six weeks together. I felt that I had started to do just that, not always but more than I had before. Yesterday though, well yesterday made me stop and thank God that I was alive in the world. I even had that thought after I found out my boss, (the same person that cut my salary by 30% a year ago), was looking for a butler and staff for his new 20,000 square foot mansion. I was pretty bummed especially after he yelled at me once more for not accomplishing the impossible (trust me I came this close).
I went home at lunch to walk Hannibella, grabbed my camera and strolled over to the tree which is my chosen subject for our petite Souvenir Foto School session. I stopped and wondered if I started crying like a baby if anyone would notice or call the authorities. I decided to not ruin my mascara and just shoot. When I did I felt like I was given a one way ticket to paradise via my viewfinder. How could I be sad when life is so gosh darn beautiful? How absolutely unbelievably rich am I that I not only have eyesight to see something this amazing but can now stop and truly appreciate something so stunning? I may have noticed it in passing prior, might have thought it was pretty but kept walking. The camera has become not just a tool for capturing images but for capturing moments in time, to make me slow down and really see something. Like a great meal, I have begun to savor my surroundings. I wish this wealth on everyone. If I could give you a gift, I would give you the gift of seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. It's perfect--one size fits all, it never spoils, travels effortlessly and never gets boring...If you want to give me a gift though I will take this of course.
