Introducing Montage!

montagesite
I’m so excited to share that I have yet another brand new class coming up this spring!

This one is completely different than all the rest as it is both a project based class and is also about creating soulful videos.

I have loved making videos for years now as it felt like it was a great way to make those photo and word weaving posts that I love to do into something even more.  It is also so much fun to shoot video, to capture the moment in both still and motion.

Though behind the twirling skirts and jumping shots there is always a story, weaving text motion and still photos together feels like an incredible way to tell our stories.

When I started sharing this video, so many folks responded with “I wish you would create an e-course to show me how to do that”!  So this course was created with those of you who said that in mind.  You can create a video as a creative way to share your story on your ‘about page’ or to promote your creative ventures.  Or, like this video, you can create one to tell your story in a unique way.

I’ve made sure this class explores the technical aspects of making a video in a really accessible way but also brings forth what is at the core of all of my classes which is exploration, playfulness and visual storytelling.


So I’m excited to share with you the brand new Montage Class!

Montage is a powerful 3 week e-course designed to help you create a soulful, storytelling-rich video for your website, business, or  just because you feel called to!

This is a ‘make-it-happen’ kind of a class!  In the first 2 weeks of the course, each day we’ll explore a new element of our video-making process and take a step towards the creation of our masterpiece!  The steps are creative, fun will inspire you to take action in creating a video that tells your story.  This class is a perfect balance of taking technical steps towards creating this video mixed with powerful worksheets and creative explorations to pull out the story we seek to tell.

I will be available throughout the class to respond to any questions the participants have about the process or their own work, as well as to provide feedback and encouragement.

I feel as though in 2012 my e-courses are taking on a life of their own.  I’m feeling inspired to create new classes, Re-Writing the Story being the other brand new Self-Portrait class starting in May.  Whereas in the first year of running e-courses I felt drawn to offer courses multiple times a year, I’m now letting the courses evolve differently.  A few may be offered twice a year but some, including Montage, will be turned into a self-paced version for folks to do at their own time, but of course won’t have the support and community element to it.

So if you love the community energy of e-courses and crave to make videos that share your story, now is the time to join us!

***I’m offering an early bird special for this course!   Just enter the code EARLYBIRD in the coupon code section to get the course for a special price of $68 (regularly priced at $85)! ***

Light Hunters E-Book Sale!

I love Light Hunting something fierce.  Rays of light, dappled light, even the realization of the benefits of the grey days.  When we engage with light and learn about it, we begin a lifelong love affair with light where every day has the potential to have moments of awe.

I adore gathering each month with Light Hunters.  Each day participants get a post in their inbox with a new way to look at light.  It makes the technical accessible and takes a minute or two of each day to read and be inspired by the light around you.

If an e-course format works for you, come join us for the May Light Hunters Class which includes the course E-Book!

OR

And here comes the SALE part!

You can also get the E-Book and work at your own pace!  Plus you get an invitation to join the E-Course participants in sharing your photos in the flickr group.

To celebrate spring finally arriving here in Vancouver where the cherry blossoms are in bloom, the magnolias are vibrant and full and we are slowly getting out of the grey season!   I wanted to offer up a special spring sale.

I’m having a rolling sale on the Light Hunters E-Book!

What that means is that starting today you can buy the E-Book for only $15 by entering SPRING15  in the discount code box as you make a payment (that is over %50 off)

If you don’t see this post in time or forget to buy it, don’t worry, the sale isn’t over!  On Thursday you can enter SPRING20 to get the E-Book for $20.  On Friday, the last day of the sale, you can enter the code SPRING25 to get the E-Book for 25!  As of the weekend the price will return to normal!

Yes, the sooner you get in on the offer, the better the deal is!

So, enter:

SPRING15 to get the E-Book for $15 on Wednesday 

SPRING20 to get the E-Book for $20 on Thursday

SPRING25 to get the E-Book for $25 on Friday

Just follow this link to get in on the offer!

Happy Light Hunting!

Crossing the Finish Line

Sunday was a day like no other.
It really was a day 2 years in the making.

I did it. I ran my first 10km race.
I’ve been working towards this since January, returning to running after getting a stress fracture training for the same race last year.

I woke up nervous and excited, surprised that my excitement was even more powerful than my nervousness. I headed downtown Vancouver where many streets were shut down for this race. You know, cause it was just me and 48,000 others running! I arrived early, checked my bag and chatted with folks around me while the streets got more crowded by the minute.

Then it was time, and my wave of participants began running.
Honestly, the time flew by so fast because all I was focused on was trying to weave around all the people who would stop all of a sudden and keep myself moving.

We ran through gorgeous cherry tree lined streets, by the beach and across bridges that were normally full of cars. It was incredible. Every so often I’d look behind, or the road would stretch out ahead and I’d just see tens of thousands of people ahead and behind me. So beautiful.

Running isn’t always blissful and I was prepared that it might be a miserable experience but I was shocked that I totally loved it, felt great and did it.  My goal was to run the whole thing and I did just that.

After lunch a dear friend met me for a divine brunch at one of my favourite restaurants, Bandidas.

In a way, making it to the race, pushing myself to get out there each week to train and completing my goal was a way for me to rewrite some stories that I have in my mind.  I felt them shift the moment that I crossed the finish line.

Rewriting the story that I’m not athletic or can’t succeed in sporty things.

Rewriting the story that I give up, self-sabatoge.  Cause this time I sure didn’t.

Rewriting the story that you don’t have to be tiny and naturally athletic to run.  There were folks of all shapes, sizes and ages out there running.

Rewriting the story that I’m breakable and that any moment my leg will break again.

Rewriting the story of my goals, one that now includes a desire to keep running, keep getting stronger and likely race again.

It was a weekend like no other.  Now the soreness is kicking in but it was definitely worth it!

On this Day

watching the image emerge

Everything slows down as I watch the image in a polaroid emerge.

Softly and slowly what was once a blank slate becomes a clear picture.

Watching the moment I just experienced become something I can hold onto tangibly.

To tell you the truth my heart is a bit heavy today.  Grief is strange creature.  Even years later (7 years in this case) it still visits us on those days when that person left the earth, we got the call or found out the news.  It is uncomfortable to walk through the world on these days with a heavy heart yet at the same time I wouldn’t want it any other way.

To not let those people disappear into the background of the story.  But to have those moments when you still want to shout out loud like on that first day you found out “Do you know what an incredible person once walked this earth and is now gone?”  To remember they were once here and to remember what they taught you.

So on this day, every year, I let the world slow down like when I watch a polaroid emerge.  For this day, I let that grief that is not a part of daily life anymore, have a place to sing her song.