I went shooting today. I am not sure why but I’ve been into playing with layers and altering images lately. Just having fun with photoshop.
Here’s Nathaniel giving me a face when I tell him to not touch David’s stuff. This one’s going to be a handful I can tell.
And here’s me attempting to take a shot of the kids as we go on our walk.
Days are passing a little too fast for my taste. I am finding myself disorganized. Not getting enough done but not sitting down to organize myself so I can see what I want to get done. It’s a bit of a cycle I’m afraid. Maybe this weekend I can snap out of it a bit.
I am feeling a strong sense of calm and happiness though. Not really worrying about anything too much and that’s rare for me so for now I’m going to indulge myself and let myself get lost in it.
Note to Self:
I was thinking, again, today about how when you like someone the actions they take, the words they say are so colored by your feelings toward them. So if I like this person I am always willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I read their words and assume they mean well, they are humble, they are kind. I juxtapose my feelings on top of their actions and words all the time. When I like someone they look prettier to me. So does their art. Their words. Their intentions. And, of course, the opposite holds true, too. When I dislike someone, I assume the worst. I listen for the meanness. It just shows that we’re always listening with our own agenda. Even when we think we’re not. And I think this is a good thing to keep in mind. To check when someone is talking/writing and make sure that I am not imbuing the words with meaning that’s not really there. Or at least to make sure I give everyone equal benefit of the doubt. Isn’t that the least they deserve? I truly believe that all humans have a deep need to connect. Need to be accepted and to belong. We all express this need in different ways but in the end, we’re all just striving for the same goal. We all have our scars and our ways of dealing with them. I think everything works better when we treat each other with the best intentions. I want to be more aware of situations where I read into words that aren’t spoken. Words that aren’t there.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. It’s been such great weather here and taking a short little walk with both my kids was definitely the highlight of my day today.
2. I am grateful for sunshine. Living in California is something I take for granted a lot. But now that it’s sunny again, I park as far away as possible when I drop David off at school so we can take our time in the sun.
3. I made a layout about Nathaniel’s first Christmas today. David liked it so much that he got upset when he found out it was going in Nathaniel’s album. (which I am working feverishly to complete). I explained to him that this was Nathaniel’s first. He said he didn’t have a page for his first Christmas (of course he does; he’s the whole reason I started this madness.) so out came his baby album where we looked at his first Christmas which then led into looking at four years of layouts. David’s whole childhood right there in front of our eyes. He begged to stay up extra minutes just to look at the pages. (He had asked to stay up late and play legos but he said he much preferred looking at the layouts.) I am so grateful that I have this hobby. I didn’t care one bit about which page wasn’t perfect, I drank in all of our memories. He asked me to read all of the journaling and I enjoyed our hour together so much. I am so so grateful for these moments with my son. Maybe one day he will grow up and not care about these pages but for now he loves them and I love them deeply and I am so grateful for them. Each time I am caught up in the craziness of it all, I just have to remember tonight and remember that, for me, it’s not the product, it’s not the team I am on or the comments I got. It’s that these are my stories. Our stories. And we will get to live them again and again. Forever.
Two Things David’s Grateful For:
1. Putting together the rest of the lego set with mommy
2. Playing with legos
You are so right in what you say.
Sometimes though the way I respond comes from the experience I have had with that person in the past …which then colours how I see them and colours the meaning I hear in what they say.
I will ponder this throughout the day though and make it a part of my processes in future.
Thanks again!
Everything you say is so so true!
Yes scrapbooking isn’t about trendy products or cool design teams… it is about preserving memories, first for yourself, then for your loved ones. There may come a time when David may not seem as interested by these pages anymore, but he will cherish them nevertheless.
As for your ‘Note to Self’: so true also! Being aware of it is already a step in the right direction.
And I love the face of your little one! I’ve got a similar ‘model’ at home: my 15 mo son is not a happy bunny when someone tells him No… we’re going to have so much fun in the future ;))
My 21 year old still loves to take down her albums and pour through them when she is home for college. There is no price tag on that!
I can so relate to your comments about how my feelings about someone will color the way I respond to him or her. That is something that I, too, need to be more conscious of, especially when I relate to my students at school.