Carnation

"Hmm, what can I do with this carnation?"

Two minutes later I was in the front yard with my flower and a glass of water chasing the last slivers of light in the driveway. I dipped the flower, created the droplets, crouched down low and immediately wished that I had an actual 'macro' lens. I wanted to get closer to these droplets. This is as close as my fifty would let me go.

And then I got caught by the neighbor. I was practically laying in my driveway when I noticed her approaching. I saw the relief in her face when she realized that I was photographing an actual flower instead of gravel. And then she shared the coolest thought with me:

"You know what, you are a balanced person because you have found creativity in your life. It is obvious that you do so many things with your photography and I will tell you this, it is crucial to do something for yourself every single day. I was just talking to some youth from our Church yesterday and I was trying to explain to them this very idea. It is wonderful and so very rewarding to be a stay at home Mom but you have to do something for yourself every single day as well. This creates balance in your life. And balance is essential. You balance yourself very well."

What kind and thoughtful words to hear this afternoon as I was once again, trying to become one with nature. Her message was heartfelt and it really meant a lot to me that she stopped to share these feelings with me. Because I truly feel the same way. I feel like photography has enriched my already enriched life in so many ways. I see things differently. I appreciate life's magical gifts such as glistening raindrops on a leaf first thing in the morning. And if my battery hadn't have been dead this morning, I would have blipped the most beautiful flower shaped ice designs that were on my windshield. It was actually very sad not to have been able to capture the ice designs because I have never seen anything so beautiful on my windshield and it was a bit painful, artistically painful that is, having to scrape it away with our de-icer glove. Maybe I will luck out and find something similar in the morning. We are expecting another cold morning.

We had a wonderful play date afternoon with two of my good friends and their kids. We are all photographers and it really is inspiring spending an afternoon with other people who notice all of life's tiny little details just like I do. The kids created mud in the backyard with dirt and the hose. They called it 'Chocolate Soup'. Not sure if stain stick is even going to be able to touch the outfits that my kids were wearing today. But oh they did have some fun together and we all enjoyed the outside air. There are predictions for snow tomorrow. But it was so beautiful today, I will believe it when I see it. Another creative day. I am so happy to have realized long long ago that creativity truly makes my world go 'round. Love and creativity.