The Santa Anas

The Santa Anas... those oddly warm winds that blow through southern California and are often attributed to fanning wildfires. Familiar with them?
Well, during last week's stint in SoCal and Vegas, those winds were a blowin'. Not in the physical sense, but in a LIFE sense. Does that even make 'SENSE'? Much happened, I was challenged, I was questioned, I was forced to reevaluate different areas of my life and I must admit the winds of change feel nice. Tiny little fires in my soul, simple little sparks, were fanned into flames and spread across the desert lands of my life. Contrary to the damage caused by real life Santa Ana's, the ones *I* experienced brought new life... exciting life.
I'll share them as they unfold but first let me begin with a challenge. While visiting Vegas and the WPPI convention, my darling Jasmine looked me in the eye, prefaced the following comment with "Im about to call you out on something" and then proceeded to ask why I don't blog anymore. I stumbled over my answers and dont think I really gave her an official one, but needless to say I am on a mission to remedy that. Because I took it as a challenge. ;)
I'll start with the rest of the month of March. I'll begin by trying to blog every WEEKday. Even if it's something simple. It will be good practice to get back in the habit.
So here is step one. day 1.

And I will leave you with one of my favorite favorite images. So simple, nothing spectacular photographically speaking, but it truly makes my heart smile....

Until Tomorrow...

"This is abundant life..."

It's been one of those days...
...one of those days where you are overwhelmed with the beauty, abundance, and joy in life.
It's the little things that make me smile... make me relish the simplicity in life.
I often find the greatest joy in the simplest forms and I couldn't help but share...

1. I headed up to New Hampshire this weekend for a little outdoor adventure, and on the train ride up, there were deer running along side the train. I just watched in awe at the grandeur of it all.

2. Then the gorgeous sunset that you cant really describe with words... so I wont even try. But, coming over the hill and seeing its illuminary majesty made me literally stop in my tracks.

3. The Lilac bush outside my house blossomed and now fills a vase in my living room and releases a frangrance that makes me pause every time I walk through. There is just something about the smell of fresh lilacs...

4. Witnessing a feeble elderly gentleman amatively grab his wife and kiss her with the passion of a young newlywed... oh man, now THAT was beautiful.

4. Aaaaand, a new favorite song. (la la la....and I'm gonna celebrate being alive... la la la)

Thats all, no pictures today (but I have a fun shoot in Portsmouth this weekend, so stay tuned), I just wanted to share a little bit of this amazingly incredible life that I am so blessed to be a part of. Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend my friends and don't forget to relish the beauty in the simple things!

:)

Rambling Thoughts...

I was out to dinner with friends tonight and I heard a beautiful story about the power of creativity.
Translated from Russian, the story went something like this...

There was a blind man who sat along side the road with a sign that read "I am blind and I need money"...
Travelers came and went without so much as a dollar to offer in charity. Then one day, a creative man stumbled upon the blind man and his plea... He had an idea to help the man, and he took it upon himself to rewrite his sign.
The sign then read "I cannot see spring"..... after this, the blind man's pot was overflowing with money.

such a simple story but it really got me thinking about the power of creativity, community, and connection.

We are all creative, but its funny how our creativity really shines when it is used to benefit others... then there is community and realizing that without the benefit of community we would be blind to possibilities that simply take another point of view or perspective to make even better. And then there is the point of connection. Once the words of the sign were changed, people were able to connect and understand what this man was going through. As a person with optical sight, we cannot understand a blind world... but we can empathize with NOT being able to see something we can see and think is beautiful.

That story presents so many facets of correlation and potential reflection but I just thought I would share the to story with ya'all and you can interpret it however you wish :)

smile my friends.