Learn to See Yourself with Compassion

August 22, 2012

A Moment

It had been wickedly hot all weekend.

The evening would give us some respite and I’d walk in the shade of the forest to the lake for a dip.

On the way home I wandered a new path that I hadn’t taken the day before.

The wind started whirling around and it felt like a storm was coming in.

The grasses began to dance and swirl around me.

I could hear the crowds at the mountain bike race cheering loudly in town but at the same time I felt the bliss of solitude.

Just me and my camera.

This is that moment.

August 21, 2012

You are Your Own Muse Whistler ~ Part Two

This weekend in Whistler was:

Waking up early, full of nervous energy about the day ahead, calming myself by strolling around the village in the blissful quiet of the morning.
Playful fun photo wanderings to parks, forests, the farmers market, the lake and around the village as part of the workshop.
Daily gelato (it was so hot, it was a must).
A lovely gathering of students who’s joyful energy and openness to my quirky way of teaching was a total treat.
A sense of awe of the mountains and how beautiful this province I live in.
Incredible gluten free food.
Wandering to the lake each day after my workshop, for a swim.
Taking pictures of the gorgeous flowers on the pathway home from the lake.
A beautiful balance of my days being full of connection and creation and my evenings being all about solo wanderings and photo taking.

It was really an honour to be asked to do this workshop and I’m so grateful for the collection of folks who ended up coming. It was a small group but we all agreed it must have been meant to be as we really enjoyed having time to connect and for there to be much more one on one support than would be possible with a larger group.

Thanks to the fabulous and helpful Whistler Arts Council for having me be a part of their Workshops on the Lake Series (there are a few more workshops running this summer if you are craving a spontaneous trip to Whistler this month).

Here are a few Instagram shots from the weekend:

August 20, 2012

You are Your Own Muse Whistler Workshop ~ Part One

August 15, 2012

Playful Self-Portraiture

One of my mottos in my courses, especially the self-portrait classes is that Playfulness is an Antidote to Fear.

Its so easy to get caught up in our left brain worries about the technicalities of using a camera, or to let feelings of fear about how the photo might turn out and the vulnerabilities that arise if we don’t like the self-portrait we are trying to take. Those are totally valid feelings, but don’t help us if we get stuck in them and don’t give ourselves the chance to move forward from them.

Funny thing is, when we get playful, be that moving our bodies and doing a silly dance or being goofy; often the photos that will arise from that will be ones we can’t help but smile at. Then before you know it, its not so scary to turn the camera on yourself anymore.

Yesterday I went for a big bike ride on my favourite trail out to a park in Burnaby. I was just doing my usual thing, putting the camera on the ground or on my bike seat and moving and dancing. Then I had a silly thought.

What if I spun around holding the camera? How had I never tried that before?

I discovered that it would (for the most part) keep me in focus but the background in this awesome state of blur.

So yes, I became that girl in the woods spinning round and round pointing the camera at herself.

And it was ridiculously fun.

I’m always excited to think of new prompts for the participants in You are Your Own Muse (new online session running this fall….and an in person version this weekend…yahoooo) but I felt drawn to share this one right away.

You know, just in case you thought self-potraiture had to be all high art and serious.

Not so much, eh!

Will you join me today and do a little spin-selfie with me? All you need to do is aim the camera at your self and spin!

Here are a few other silly shots that occurred from all that spinning:

August 14, 2012

Morning Light

I’m back home from my trip, but most definitely still on East Coast time.

Rising early makes me happy though, so while making coffee this morning I decided to do something a bit different.

I poured my coffee into a travel mug, grabbed my camera, and headed out for an early morning stroll around my neighbourhood.

Despite being an early riser, I don’t know early morning light as well as I do other types of light and how they relate to my camera. So todays stroll felt like an invitation to get to know it better.

It was blissfully quiet in usually oh so happening neighbourhood. Most of the day there are people strolling around, folks hanging out on their front porches, working in their gardens, bikes happily speeding by, people walking dogs and just generally neighbourhood goodness happening. I adore that about this area but I also really love this quiet glimpse of it.

So I’m daring myself to keep this going for a bit. A low pressure stroll, just taking in the light and the world around me. While usually morning is my prime work time, I definitely have a tendancy to spend the first half hour surfing the net, reading trashy celebrity gossip blogs (not so fond of that habit, but i confess it is true), so I’d love to make better use of that slowly waking up time…at least while the light is so beautiful and summer still feels very much present.

Do you know morning light well? Perhaps you’re out there walking your dog in it each day or are fast asleep until the sun is much farther up in the sky?

So, here are some glimpses of this mornings stroll: