Uh?
I am not being regular with my posts. I have not been inspired and I had no idea what to share. I have just been busy. For instance, I’ve been doing this. You will see how I spent 10 hours last weekend upgrading from Bootstrap 3.4.1 to 4.4.1 on one of the websites I volunteer to do for a group. As my saying goes, “I know just enough to be dangerous.” I can make it happen, but it is not easy.
So without any topics to share, I went outside during my lunch hour with my camera. Yeah. My lens often gives me inspiration. And I think you like my lens, so I allowed it to speak. I thought to myself, “What is the first thing your lens sees and what is the first theme that hits your head? Just go with that and create a post.”
I saw the grass was still green, partially covered by snow, with the bright light of the sun, and I thought, “the seasons are confused!” That is nothing new around here. So “confused” became my theme of this post. I see Summer, Winter, and Spring all in one photo. Do you?
I continued on my journey to look for more “confused” within my lens and I found this leaf. Ah ah! Well, there it is! Now I have four seasons in one photo! Now that is really confused! The grass is Summer, the leaf is Autumn, the snow is Winter, and the inviting warm light is Spring. I was also trying to come up with an “illuminate” for the next challenge of
’s challenge. I really want to get creative with his challenge, but then again I just want to find something that works. I certainly can see the illumination of the sun on this photo as it produces the highlights and shadows. Do I use this photo for his challenge or try for another? I have a few days, so I am going to exercise patience and if nothing else comes forth, I have this one to post.I decided to pull the photo into Photoshop and use a brush to handwrite onto the photo. Ah. Yeah. a little bit of some creative juices flowing there. I’m really missing the feeling of those creative juices flowing. I’m trying to get there.
I rather like this one. I like how the leaves are shaped like a boat with waves along the edges. It is like it was created to hold the snow inside, rather than to keep it out. Not that is back-assward and confusing. Again, there are four confused seasons here.
Again, four confused seasons. I like the shadow on this one, but I am not sure I liked the blurred blade of grass in the foreground.
I used to do Photowalks all the time and share my photos. I think people liked them. Here I am just walking in my garden. I think Mr. Frog has a stern look on him. He is not so sure he likes sitting in the cold snow. I think he wants out of his bowl. I think he looks a little bit “dazed and confused” or more like “angry and confused” as to why he must suffer as such.
You know me. I like textures and patterns. I like my garden wall in the snow. Do you? I spy one leaf magically stuck like Velcro on the side of the rock.
This photo also shows the “illumination” theme. I really was looking for something I could use in my garden photowalk.
And then I came upon one of my rose bushes. It did NOT look confused at all. In fact, it was shouting out very loudly at me, “HEY YOU! DON’T YOU REMEMBER YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO CUT ME BACK WHEN I AM DORMANT? THAT WOULD BE RIGHT NOW!” Sigh. Yes. I was going to cut you and all the other roses back last weekend. January is the month to do it, although I can get away with doing it in February too. I have not forgotten you. I just need it to be a tad bit warmer than a negative 11 windchill on a weekend before I spend an hour or more outside cutting and bagging up thorny rose bushes. (Oh, hubby, are you reading? Gonna help me?)
Although NOT confused, my rose bush sure did provide some interesting photo lens ops. I mean look at that? What is that? With all those long tentacles it looks like something ready to strike straight out of some science fiction magazine. It even has a tiny head.
I actually found this one oddly lovely. If you zoom in on the photo, you can see how it seems like the dead rose is actually moldy with black spots. It is certainly in the beginning stages of Winter decay. Yet look how it is so gently hanging there as if it is the folds of a dress swaying in the breeze? Although it is true that this is stiff and does not really sway at all, we can use our imagination. For me, it is the background that protrudes the sense of lovely. The whole thing feels calm.
Here is another oddball. I mean really? Just like the other one its face is covered with course hair and I can feel the eyeballs underneath staring at me, ready to wrap those three long arms around me. Um, wait! Maybe this is what a Warm Fuzzie looks like! Those who have been around me for a while online will remember how I used the phrase “Warm Fuzzie” often. It even became a theme on my website. Your comments and likes give me warm fuzzies.
Here’s a close up photo of the same photo with the spotted mold-like decay. How can this be so lovely and yet so sad at the same time? It kind of represents life, doesn’t it?
Well, here is the end of my photo walk. I like how this one has leading lines with the twig wrapping around. It leads your eye to whatever that thing is. What is that thing? I think it is a rose bud that never got to open up. That is kind of a sad thought too. It makes me think of lives cut too short before they get a chance to bloom. Again, lovely and sad in the same imagery.
A Confused Themed Video
This is a video on the After Skool Youtube channel. It is only 7 minutes long. I found it interesting and thought-provoking. It shares how social influencers can become confused about who they are. It starts out sharing how the need to be liked by a social media audience causes a person to change who they are in order to be liked. This, of course, is nothing new in the world. It’s been happening since the dawn of time. This is just a new medium of influence. We usually think of the social media influencers who are changing the thoughts of the viewers, but in this case, it makes a good point that the viewers actually change the social media poster.
I have been long influenced by trying to share content that people want. It is only natural. Look at my post above. I was motivated to try to be inspired by what I thought readers would enjoy seeing from me. There is nothing wrong with that, unless of course, it changes who you are. I have also long resisted the temptation to change who I am. I have said many times that this is “my corner of the world” and I will choose to find joy with those who like to hang out with me, and that those who do not can find somewhere else they enjoy being. You are welcome in my corner of the world and I love having you here, but I will not change who I am to get more folks to hang out with me.
I think the key word is “content.” I am content with you. Thanks for reading and liking and commenting.
But then again, I have been around and around with folks who say to just take photos I like and share them, even if no one ever hits like on it one time. I think I finally made my point some years ago. If I were only taking photos for myself, then I would just keep them on my computer and look at them myself.
However, I have always had the concept and mantra that a photo is no good sitting on a computer where no one else can see it or enjoy it. Photos are MEANT to be shared, and not hoarded as one’s own. So, of course, if I get no likes, I will try to reach that inspired and moved inward feeling when I snap a photo because when I feel it, others feel it. I will refuse to waste my time sharing things which no one cares to see. I have so much else to do with my life than waste my time on something unproductive. In this way, I do try to fulfill the expectation that you have on me, or I don’t do it at all.
The video brings out a great point that we are no longer trying to please just those who love us in our tight-knit circle like before the days of the internet. We are now trying to please folks in our social media streams, only the thing is that these streams are just an illusion of what people want me to think is going on in their lives. The reality is that life is not all hunky-dory for anyone. Life is a struggle. So we are trying to people-please to an illusion.
I can assure you that I am very much authentic. I am not someone who I am not in these posts. In fact, I sometimes very much worry that you will not like me because I am who I am, and that is, being authentic. See, look at me, thinking too much on this post! Yep! I am afraid you will not like that. If I am appearing confused in this post, it is because I think too much!
Of course, I cannot end without mentioning what is REALLY going through my mind as I watch this video. Who am I? That seems to be the main question of the video, as well as remaining who I am and not being someone else. My answer: I am a child of God. If we only keep this in the forefront at all times, we would avoid the temptation to be someone we are not. It is rather easy, in fact, to stay as I am if I am a child of God. I just keep the faith and the rest is what God does.
Winter Project
Hello much-needed cheerleaders!
Since I last reported my progress, these are my current numbers. I have been working on my Winter Project a lot. I was happy when I finally reached over 5,000 photos done, that being tagged and described.
I had been sharing fun photos in the newsletters. I am sure I have passed up a lot of them I could have shared. I opened my folder and grabbed the first one that stood out to share with you. Here is one of my Great-Uncle Maurice. Now is that a man’s or a woman’s swimsuit? By his grin, I am going to guess he put on one of his sister’s swimsuits to model for the photo.
Here’s my Mom and Dad when they were dating at the top of Pilot Knob mountain here in Missouri.
Pilot Knob, Missouri - Reenactment
Those are links to two website pages about Pilot Knob, with my video of going up the mountain and old videos (actually of this trip up the mountain in 1959), as well as lots of photos. When I am done with my Winter Project, I should be able to search my computer and find all the old photos and put them together in a slideshow to add to the pages.
Here’s more swimsuits, just so we can see what a man’s suit and a lady’s suit look like! Actually, I would really like to know what bridge that is in the photo. I am assuming the photo is taken in Iron County or a neighboring county.
I could share with you 100’s of cool photos that tell stories of their own, but that would be too long of an email. I am looking at the holes in that screen door and how the wood is put together crooked and imagining living here. I am not sure who this is in the photo.
And you get the idea. There are many cools ones. Have fun pondering all the stories these photos are telling you.
Until next time,
my utmost gratitude that you actually read all the way down to here.
Cheryl
Beautiful photos throughout the entire post, especially the older ones. Love the look on those types of photos, they're so rare to see these days.
A tip if I may, the more you look for inspiration and motivation, the more you'll keep looking for it. Act on a whim or image in your head instead, that's it, inspiration and motivation will follow. Don't overthink when looking for a photo, don't look for inspiration or motivation. If you have a photo in mind, just snap it, the result doesn't matter as you can snap 100's of photos at once of the same thing. One of them is bound to be almost or exactly as you pictured it in your mind, right? 😊
I am reading trying catch up. Yes we need to tend to the rose bushes post haste -) Loved the photos you took and love the old photos as well