I am up north at our lake home on Middle Cullen Lake. It has been a great weekend, and will be hard to go home. I have enjoyed a slower pace for these last 2 days, both inside/in my mind, and outside, with nothing to do but to play. I have found the middle in my emotions and it has been a relief.
It seems for this last month, I have lived on the edges, the extremes, emotionally, and have had a hard time standing in the middle of anything. I have walked in these last 2 months with back pain, an indication of living, in my mind and my emotions, in the extremes. No middle.
I spent the day yesterday with my friend Shawyn, learning and experimenting with photography. Shawyn is an amazing photographer, and encouraged me to play in this medium. Just a point and shoot Cannon Power Shot. Just a chance to walk around the property, near the lake, noticing things. Capturing images and items and structures that caught my eye. Noticing various ways to frame the shot. Last evening, I played around with my photos using I-photo and photoshop, enhancing color, cropping and and refining and reframing what I captured in my camera. I enjoyed being lost in the meditative nature of walking and noticing and taking pictures. I felt a sense of relief in the process of creativity, both in the taking and in the adjusting the photographs. This, of course, is no surprise. It is my mantra to students and to my team at The LAB, that creativity is the healing force that we can each access on our journeys. So my weekend on Middle Cullen Lake brought me back to the middle, and I am grateful. Now, the challenge is to remain steady, in the middle as I return to the real life off and away from the lake. Onward.
It seems for this last month, I have lived on the edges, the extremes, emotionally, and have had a hard time standing in the middle of anything. I have walked in these last 2 months with back pain, an indication of living, in my mind and my emotions, in the extremes. No middle.
I spent the day yesterday with my friend Shawyn, learning and experimenting with photography. Shawyn is an amazing photographer, and encouraged me to play in this medium. Just a point and shoot Cannon Power Shot. Just a chance to walk around the property, near the lake, noticing things. Capturing images and items and structures that caught my eye. Noticing various ways to frame the shot. Last evening, I played around with my photos using I-photo and photoshop, enhancing color, cropping and and refining and reframing what I captured in my camera. I enjoyed being lost in the meditative nature of walking and noticing and taking pictures. I felt a sense of relief in the process of creativity, both in the taking and in the adjusting the photographs. This, of course, is no surprise. It is my mantra to students and to my team at The LAB, that creativity is the healing force that we can each access on our journeys. So my weekend on Middle Cullen Lake brought me back to the middle, and I am grateful. Now, the challenge is to remain steady, in the middle as I return to the real life off and away from the lake. Onward.
