camera as self-care: gratitude & meditation

I'm known the extol the virtues of self-care, especially in stressful times, and I've been trying to be mindful of this right now.  But I'm realizing how much of my self care required things that were lost in the flood.  "I'll go for a run," I'll think, only to remember that I lost my running shoes in the flood.  Or I'll think about going to a coffeehouse, and realize that I'm homebound, because Marcus has the car we're borrowing while our cars are trapped at our house.  Even eating well has taken a back seat to convenience.

But I know these things will eventually work themselves out.  And I reminded myself today that in the past, I've often used my camera both as a gratitude practice, and as a form of meditation.  There is something about looking around with intention to find something that give you a shot of joy, or peace, or happiness (that's the gratitude part) and then slowing down to frame a shot, and meditatively considering the image as you're processing it.  

And thank heavens I had the foresight to grab my cameras as we evacuated our home.

All this to say that you may be in for a lot more photographs that really are apropos of nothing -- that were photographed simply for the practice of gratitude and meditation.  And also, think of this post as a reminder to do whatever it is you do for yourself to practice gratitude and meditation.  Because no matter what we're going through in our individual lives, gratitude and meditation are always going to make things better.

Soundtrack: Change the world by Babyface.  This was the earworm I woke up to yesterday morning.  It was the perfect way to start Alex's first day of school and Marcus' first day back at work after all of the excitement of the past week.

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