I've seen this kind of alphabetical photography before, it's a big deal on Pintrest, but four days ago my dear friend Jenni made me really fall in love with seeing the world like this. I find myself noticing things I wouldn't have noticed before simply because I was looking for the letter T or the letter R!
Architecture and building design has a whole new beauty. Cracks in walls and pavements seem strangely un-broken. Plants and trees appear to enjoy the art form as much as I do. Ironwork on gates and banisters and signs, outdoor furniture, electrical equipment, piles of "junk", bridges, boats... You name it, I see it differently now. It truly is amazing what you see when you're looking deeper into things.
Anyway... Jenni showed me all the letters in
her name that she had found around the Jacksonville area and so before we left
for Savannah, GA we decided that we were going to choose a word to find
while we were there.
I chose BREATHE.
This is my word for 2013.
Breathe, Catherine.
It's ok to be still and breathe. It's ok to be quiet and breathe.
It's ok to close your eyes for 20 seconds and just breathe.
Heck. It's not only ok- it's necessary.
But, how little we actually stop and just breathe deeply in our daily lives is tragic. I think we just need to give ourselves permission. Everything is important and every day is GO! GO! GO! that we don't allow ourselves to stop and breathe because we don't recognize it's importance. My mom says "Breathe through the holes in your feet." I always thought it a strange saying, but I know what it means;
breathe so deeply it feels like it's coming from the very bottom of you.
I like my new word and so far so good on keeping myself in check with it:
- Wanting to pull your hair out when your student forgot EVERYTHING over Christmas break... BREATHE, Cath.
- Pinch your finger in between a chair arm and a table and desire to scream things that are highly inappropriate for work... BREATHE, Cath.
- When you are "helped" by a woman in the craft store who is more interested in having a chat with her co-worker than showing you which bale will work the best with that pendant... BREATHE, Cath.
- The dude that cuts you off in traffic... BREATHE, Cath.
- Ramming your shin into the oven door because you forgot you were leaving it open to let the heat out... BREATHE, Cath. (Can you tell I am having a somewhat hazardous to my health kind of day?? Just. Breathe.)
Point?
Look deeper into the world around you, there is some cool stuff out there.
Oh yeah... and don't forget to breathe.
That is definatly my motto for many years now! Life is way to short to not take in those deep breaths and feel the peace that comes over you. Thank you for writing this blog it is wonderful!
ReplyDeletewax on, wax off. . . breathe in, breathe out. love you.
ReplyDeletethanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeletei was thinking, too--it's biblical. God always gives us instruction that is for our good.
"Be still and know that I am God..."
Ps 46:10
i'm gonna try to do this too :)
wuv you
You must have prayed for patience today? Luv your blog! After reading some of your writings on FB, I could see, "you got skills!" ; 0)Me...no so much, haahaa keep it up! Luv, June~~~ <
ReplyDeletesigh. (well, that's half of breathing, so I'm almost there!). I think you're on breathing duty when Wengen and I start back on the task of clearing rocks and concrete, and strange pipes from our backyard in the Spring. And you can find the beauty in all of those things & take pretty pictures & distract me from wanting hunt down a certain house flipper. There are more tactile rewards to the excavation, as we've unearthed some awesome stones that we're turning into a little path from the patio into the back yard (in my mind there are well tended beds of flowers, and a rose arbor, and a little bubbling fountain tucked in between ferns, and there's even a little frog and a couple of lizards here & there. the butterflies will be big and beautiful (and Free!). Where was I? Oh, look at that, I was breathing. Hmm, this is the second long message I've typed to you in the last hour...at this rate, I'll never come up with the good stuff for my own, as yet to be started other than the account languishing in neglect, blog.
ReplyDeleteLove that Psalm! Two verses later there is a call for clapping of hands and singing in joy, which is paralleled much later in Psalm 98:8 with "Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;" One would never hear the rivers or the mountains if it weren't for the stillness, for breathing. What a wonderful lesson, thank you. http://youtu.be/eLeq2vj9kcA
Sparky