My mother and I have started a project together. I send her a photo a day, doesn't have to be anything fabulous, tell her absolutely nothing about it, and she uses it as a writing prompt, no matter how far out in left field it may be, and sends it back. We're doing this for a year, and at the end of the year we'll make it into a book. She did this with my sister (an AWESOME photographer) a couple years ago, and they loved it. When we agreed to do this, she told me the one thing I couldn't send her pictures of was flowers! So this has really forced me to step out of my comfort zone and pay closer attention to what catches my eye. She and Pop have lived in Los Angeles, CA for well over 30 years now, both retired within the last 5 years, and just about 2 months ago moved to Denver, CO. Talk about stepping out of the comfort zone! Anyway, I sent this to her for 11/29/14, and what she said so moved me, I just had to share it with all of you:
"Plutarch said, 'The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.'
As I journey through my senior years, I often wonder whether I have spent too much time filling and too little time kindling. And if that be the case, how would I know? What would be my clues? If the former is the case, would that explain the sometimes feeling of immobility that grips me, that hesitation in stepping out? If instead the latter is the case, might that be the drive that brought me here, the “gypsy” sense of wanting to experience something different now that there is freedom to do so? Will I ever know the answers to the questions that fill me, or is life simply the search for them … the search, therefore, being the kindling?"
@icamera This was one of those times that I stepped out! I had just taken the shit of the earrings that I posted in b&w last week, and I noticed the ice on the vessel. I walked right by it, with my camera in my hand, then stopped and thought WAIT! That caught my eye ... get a picture of it! THEN I had to figure out how to photograph it. Those earrings were the same thing. I've been amazed at how many things I just walk right by!
What a great idea you and your Mum have come up with. a beautiful photo and wonderful words by your Mum too. A great joint effort. The idea of putting it all together in a book is a great idea.
I love your mother because she is still mothering you by pushing you out of your comfort zone. Then she gives you this wonderful writing which is a great reward and should inspire more pictures.
Love the ice on the vase!