Be Here Now

It is my very real pleasure to welcome today's guest blogger, Pamela Donoghue, aka "Fishgirl", from Nova Scotia. Many of us met Pam through our "Picture" classes and as we've come to know her, we've come to love her as well.

Pam is a pharmacist by vocation and a fisherperson, photographer, videographer and philosopher extraordinaire by avocation. Please welcome Pam warmly into our FOL family in what I hope will be the first of many guest posts.

We interrupt this program to talk about fishing. I've been fretting about this post for a while, as I am wont to do, and Dotti said, "Be yourself", and that is sound advice, so here goes.

Fishing

Why would an inner city girl who, as a teen, thought a day out meant taking a bus to the library, end up deep in the woods, waving a stick in the water and hoping to see a fish? Good question. I'll keep it short.

Six or seven years ago, we went on a long overdue honeymoon (21 years late ... oh, well!). I planned to knit and Fishboy was going to fish. I had zero interest in fishing, not my thing. It was his thing. I sat on a rock, happily knitting tea cosies (I couldn't make this up if I tried) and out of the corner of my eye I see a huge salmon leap out of the river. Salmon jump, sometimes to get up waterfalls, sometimes for reasons no one knows. I was gobsmacked! This was one huge fish. I threw down my knitting, ran over, grabbed the pole and flailed for about half an hour.

When we came back home, I got my salmon license that fall and have been fishing ever since. If I'm not working, I'm fishing. We wade in rivers and fish trout and salmon; our holidays are all fishing related. I have
six rods, I have worn out one pair of waders and my felt-soled boots have been re-felted and will bite the dust at the end of this season. Worst of all, the bugs devour me.

Why do I do it? It's hard to explain but I'll try. When I have a rod in my hand and am casting, nothing else exists. I don't worry about the past; I don't obsess about the future. I just fish. I see everything that is right in front of me. Be here now. It's like that phrase - I get to "be here now". It's so beautiful on the river, I can't do it justice in words. Watch A River Runs Through It, it will help you understand. Bonus: You get to see Brad Pitt casting. I know - bonus.

Photography

Two years ago, Fishboy suggested I use his old camera and take pictures of wildflowers (snort) to distract me from the bugs. Wildflowers? Uh, no thanks. I'm the one who shoots deer droppings. Anyway, I signed up for an online course and it was not unlike the day I threw down the knitting. Transformative. Hey - this is what I'm supposed to do! Be here now. Seeing things that I'd walked right by just the week before. Two cameras and many online courses later, well, the rest is history, as they say.

How much do we miss? How much do we miss what really matters, what is right in our faces, for lack of focus? I think about that. For me, fishing and photography bring me to what matters, they ground me. They make the ground beneath me solid and real. They delight me and allow me to play in the way that children play, with focus, with intent, with complete absorption. After time with the fishing rod or the camera, that feeling lingers on and on.

I know you all love photography. How about showing us a shot of another grand passion in your life? Big or small, anything at all. I'd love to see a picture showcasing what thrills you, something you do that makes your shoulders relax and brings that "ahhhhh, this is me" feeling. Post in on the FOL Flickr page. Set aside the sometimes heavy load of life with all its inherent worries and concerns and have some fun.

Thanks so much for having me here today. Many of you have been an integral part of my photographic journey. Thank you for helping me focus day after day.

Thank you, Pam, for visiting us. Come back often.