Wide-angle fun with big blue eyes. 🙂
30 October 2008

I’ve been struggling lately. Struggling with doubt and self-deprecation. Trying to balance familial duty with spontaneous creativity. Feeling a caged wild longing within myself, but having no idea how to set it free to dance and play. Feeling blind with wide-open eyes.

So I went to the sources which inspire me. Andrea Scher always seems to guide me home. Her words and photos shine light into the darkness of my often confusing world. It was her photographs of everyday beauty which inspired me to get back into photography.

Suburban Kamikaze makes me laugh at myself and my funny little family. Her humor can always brighten a gloomy day.

And Pilar Gerasimo, Editor in Chief of Experience Life Magazine, seemed to speak to me personally in her “Thoughts from the Editor” column this month. In fact, let me quote some of her column:

This, I realize, is one of the great lessons I have learned in the course of seven years editing this magazine: It is possible to shift your life, your circumstances, your self — simply by being willing to shift your thinking and attention, and then just doing the simple little things you can, even if your rational brain says they will never be enough.

Years ago, I was given a great piece of advice: In times of high anxiety and frustration, before desperately grasping for solutions not yet within your reach, focus on fully applying the solutions you already have at your disposal.

This often means doing the most mundane sort of inventory: Are you eating well, drinking enough water, getting daily exercise and sunshine? Are you spending time relaxing and enjoying time with your loved ones? Are you challenging your negative thoughts and beliefs, and taking small, daily, positive actions? Are you following the advice you’d give to someone else in this situation? And — ahem — are you getting enough sleep?

So often, when our problems seem unsolvable or our lives feel out of control, it turns out we aren’t doing the most essential things already within our grasp. In fact, we’re hardly breathing.

We put together this “Reflect and Revive” issue as an encouraging nudge, a reminder to do what you can to take care of yourself now — and to leave at least some of your worries behind.

It’s time for a system reboot. I got lost somewhere in the inky black darkness of the modern world. We desire so much that we can’t even see what we already have. The beauty of a green world, the love of family and friends, our own creativity. These things get lost in the pursuit of a large house in an outstanding school district with a white picket fence surrounding the perfect plastic garden.

I feel much better now after turning to some of the inspiring women who share their life’s journey with us.  I’ll end this blog entry with one of my favorite quotes:

Have you laughed today? Your children have. You should too.
     — Don Wetmore