A digital sabbatical

It's almost summer! I'm super excited (swimming anyone?), but also a little apprehensive. Summer in Texas can get hot - real hot. Luckily, I live in Austin where we have ice cold air conditioning and public swimming pools like Barton Springs.

In light of the transition from spring to summer, I'm taking a little digital sabbatical for the month of June. I can't take a full digital sabbatical. I build websites for a living afterall. But I am going to take a short break from posting here, so that I can reflect on where I want this site to go, how I might change things and also, simply to create some space for my heart and mind to rest.

Enjoy the month of June. I hope you too have a chance to take a break, get some fresh air and enjoy the last moments of spring before the summer rushes in with all its heat.

Kind of Yellow

I am gathering up yellows. The exact opposite of blues, which are my favorite. I don't know about you, but I've been  feeling a little sluggish lately. I need a little jolt.

So, how about a little yellow?

A good eye

 Someone asked me recently, "So, working on any projects?"

This completely caught me off guard. I don't typically work on projects. I simply find myself inspired to snap photos and I go do it. A lot of the time, I snap photos wherever I find myself - planned or not.

Starting a "project" feels a little daunting. I tried doing projects in my photography classes in college and I was so shy and inhibited that my photos turned out rigid and stale. I deliberately sabotaged my efforts by shooting in the worst light (midday) and with a broken camera that overexposed every frame. I wanted so badly to express myself, but at the same time I was absolutely terrified of doing so. I still feel this way sometimes.

I've learned, that if I want my photographs to be interesting and express what I'm feeling and seeing in that moment, I have to be fully present and available to them. I can always tell when I'm not. I have to credit Miksang for finally helping me to crack this nut (if I can call learning how to see a nut...okay, sure, why not!). And I have to credit my meditation practice at the Austin Zen Center for giving me the space to gradually open my heart (not an easy thing for me - for most people, I imagine).

I have so much love for this place. So why not share that with you?

I don't talk about my practice a lot, but over the past couple of years it's become such a huge part of my life, not talking about it is kind of difficult. Heck, it is my life.

So, a mini-project of sorts - a little taste of Austin Zen Center.

(Almost) Instant Love

There is a new book out that I can't wait to get my hands on: Instant Love!

This has me biting my nails and my lip (ouch, right?). I WISH I could share some of the polaroids I took in San Francisco here.  But, I do not have a scanner at the moment. I plan to remedy this. At some point. Soon.

Until then, learn how to make your own polaroids and get inspired by photographers Amanda Gilligan, Jen Altman and Susannah Conway (who is also coming out with This I Know - another book I can't wait to read).

And, um, have fun!

Poppies

Spring has sprung. And has wondered off elsewhere.

For a short while I noticed poppies blooming everywhere around Austin. I haven't seen this many poppies since my time in the Czech Republic (Czechs love their poppies).

But now that the summer is creeping in, the poppies are slowly disappearing. So. A few mementos for the coming months...