Phone It In

The saying "Write what you know" is one of my biggest motivators as a writer. I have it written inside a couple of my notebooks to serve as a reminder when I think I've run out of ideas. I enjoy reading fiction but I've never been a fan of writing it. I was uncomfortable turning in fiction assignments in school and if I had to read it out loud, oh man I would squirm in my seat. I hated making stuff up. I always thought people would assume anything I wrote was fact based, since that's what I preferred to do. I've always chosen to write personal based pieces because I believe that truth is often stranger than fiction. Amazing things happen to us every day and we take it for granted or miss out all together because we're too busy looking for something else. My iPhone has changed my life in a lot of ways but the biggest one is that I've started snapping photos of random things that I encounter throughout my days. Now I know I'm certainly not the only one doing this, and the people I work with and hang out with chuckle at me, but I don't mind. What I'm noticing are these tiny, fleeting moments that might seem uninteresting but when you stop and think about it, there's a cool story attached.

I was recently working a shift in the kitchen of a hotel. I prepare food and put it out for the guests' complimentary dinner. At the end of the dinner service, I bake a tray of chocolate chip cookies to set out at the front desk. It's pretty straight forward, the same type of cookies are made at the same time every evening. It's just one task on the checklist of many for that shift. But I'll tell you something, people appreciate those darn cookies! Those who are regular guests of this particular hotel chain expect those cookies! People can smell them baking and can be practically giddy at the thought of a free warm chocolate chip cookie. When I worked that most recent shift, the cookies looked and smelled perfect when I took them out of the oven. I looked at them and thought "It's pretty cool that I get to bake these cookies and take them out there for people" so I took a picture. I firmly believe that we always have a choice of at least two ways to look at any given situation. I know it's not always easy but I try to find that silver lining because it's always there, even when we choose to ignore it.

S is for Self Portraits

I was a fan of taking self portraits even before digital cameras allowed multiple chances to get the perfect shot. In my younger years, I developed many rolls of film containing some duds but also some gems. Now with my iPhone and its self portrait setting, it's easy to take a picture without anyone's assistance. I like taking photos this way because it allows me a chance to capture a moment without including anyone else. I often take pictures of myself with my dogs with this setting because I can usually take it without really interrupting what we're doing and they don't get too distracted. Because my boyfriend and I do most of our traveling without anyone else, we take a lot of our own pictures of us. I usually think they're cute because they're close up and sometimes off centered and just an honest glimpse of that moment. I have a lot of very special photos of me with a close friend that we took when it was just the two of us.  I can look at any of those photos and remember exactly when it was taken and what we were doing. We're usually having fun!

Sorry For Slacking

I haven’t been good about posting entries lately.

As much as I enjoy writing, it’s still something I feel I need to practice. It’s just like physical exercise, only for my brain. I’ve found that the more I write, the more ideas I have, the better I am and the more motivated I become to write. It’s a nice cycle. If I don’t have enough time or I’m too tired and I try to force it, I’m completely worthless. Similarly, when I have a phase such as I’ve been in lately, where I don’t have much spare time, I get out of the habit of writing regularly and I have to start the cycle all over from scratch.  So here’s hoping I can stay in shape this time!

I missed posting last week’s photo challenge, which was dreams, simply because I had a busy week and forgot to post. So here’s the photo I had chosen.

Clouds like these often inspire me to day dream and take some time to calm my mind. 

Take A Picture

I have a tendency to think about my past and focus on the mistakes I’ve made or things I’m sorry about. It’s a habit I’m constantly trying to kick. Today I was scrolling through photos and I thought “Gosh, I’ve done some pretty neat stuff”.

None of those photos are of a bad memory. Sure, there are some people in those photos who aren’t in my life any more but at the time each picture was taken, we were happy. And even thought I might not have good feelings for that person anymore, I find a little comfort in remembering that I did at one time. It’s a nice reminder that everyone comes into our lives for a reason. Of course there are many people who show up in my photos over & over and I’m still close to. I appreciate these people even more when I look at everything we’ve done together.  And when I scroll through pictures of myself to see how much I’ve changed and all the places I’ve been, it renews my faith in myself and inspires me to be thankful for everything I have right now and keep truckin' through the tough stuff.