Taking Back {Photography}

To say that I have not taken photos since August's birth would be a lie. I have taken (probably too many) pictures of tiny feet, little fingers, crooked smiles and shifty eyes. I have worked hard to try to capture him on film. More than once said, "Why won't the camera take the picture?" only to discover my camera card is full... again.

But somewhere amongst the must-capture-every-moment, I forgot to look at other things. I stopped trying to find the whispers of the Spirit through my lens. It's easy to find God in the giggles of a baby. But where is God in the rest: on the drive to work, in the dirty dishes, on the computer screen.

In July, I decided to do a photo challenge. I knew July would be very hard for my soul; I knew I needed a practice to turn me heavenward. I used the daily challenge prompts to find the wooing of the Lord in the ugly-beautiful around me. Here are a few of those moments:

July 5: Love

July 6: Favorite Smells

July 7: Where you are

July 8: a path

July 11: I wore

July 12: A bad habit

July 13: 4 o'clock

July 14: Edible

July 15: Bottle

July 26: The everyday

I am doing a similar challenge for August but incorporating written moments in addition to photography. I am interested to see which I prefer.

Taking Back {Reading}

Recently, a friend asked me what I write about. He said that he wanted to write but did not know where to start. I shared a bit of my process with him. I explained that for a year or so I have been forcing myself to write. I know that I want to remember these times, events, thoughts, and emotions; I make myself to jot notes for Future Me. This past week, I have enjoyed writing again. Each night, after the routine of bath.nurse.bed., I poured a glass of wine or a cup of tea and read. And here is what I re-learned:

Reading is a rhythm of my life that has been absent. Reading is an essential part to my creative process. Reading  inspires me to write.

After two nights of reading, I began to write. And I loved it. I felt like myself again. As I explained this to my friend, he remarked, 

 Sometimes I feel like certain things we do or think about go away and we're okay with that. And then when they come back or we take them back, you gain a sense of how lost you really were without them without really knowing you were lost at all.

I am still a long way off from writing for the sake of writing alone. But this week, I have taken back reading and this accomplishment feels enormous. I look forward to taking back other things that have been lost to me, including journaling, blogging, and photo journaling our lives.

***
What are the things in your life you want to "take back"? Let's challenge each other to create time and space for these things.