Focus on Phoneography

And so today I present the final mosaic for November. What a wonderful time I had seeing all the gratitude you shared with us! I hope you have a minute to stop by and read the sentiments attached to the photos in this mosaic as well as those in the #focusingonlife gallery on Instagram!


Row 1- @viv_halliwell @cjellergodt @butterflykisses777
Row 2- @gabrielabout @shawnmcarson @saurand
Row 3- @coppercurls55 @cathysly @lyahle

I Could Barely See Past It

by Kim

The fog that is.

The visibility both in front of me and behind me was very limited.

And I started to take notice of the details right before me.

Like the silhouettes of the branches, dew dripping from the fence, moss growing on the tree, and the sharp
barbed wire.

It brought to the forefront, those things that I might otherwise miss. A spider web laden with water drops from the mist of the fog.

 


And, I saw the color of now.

I heard the fog speak to me. It said Kim, there is a reason that which is behind and ahead of you, the past and the future are so blurry.

It's because the focus should be on the gift of today.

The present has no shelf life. It is an interactive gift that expires each and everyday at midnight.

Today, I am thankful for this gift, all 1440 seconds of it. The good. The bad. And the ugly.

Wishing everyone celebrating this week a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Kim xo


**Just a little reminder not to forget to tell us what you are grateful for when posting your photos to the flickr pool.

Focus on Phoneography

There are many beautiful photographic expressions of gratitude in our Instagram gallery! I hope you have a chance to stop by and see it!

This weeks mosaic-

Row 1- @godaona @saurand @cathysly
Row 2- @groovygrapevine @deevlasak @coppercurls55
Row 3- @omgitsshawnn @littlestorystudio @elke1403

...

Don't forget about our Holiday Card exchange! Read about it here.

If you have emailed your information but not received a reply saying you are on the list, please send it again!

...

Perfectly Imperfect

by Judy

Ready or not, the holiday season is upon us.  As we all know, this month in the U.S., we celebrate our Thanksgiving holiday.  Then soon after, people everywhere will be celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, and the list goes on.

There's always so much pressure to have the perfect day.  Like a Hallmark card - all warm and fuzzy with a perfectly roasted turkey at the center of the table, and the perfect family sitting around that table smiling lovingly. 

For some, that is exactly how the day goes.  For others - for many - family holidays more closely resemble Hallmark's Maxine. 

Maybe there's a family member who's estranged from the family, or there's someone who always drinks too much and ruins the day.  Maybe you're away from those you love, or your oven fizzled out in the middle of roasting your turkey.  Insert your family "issue" here: ___________.  It's not always perfect, but if we remember to focus on all of the things to be grateful for, you can find many reasons to celebrate your own perfectly imperfect version of that day.

My first time making Thanksgiving dinner was less than one month after my wedding day - many years ago now.  We were married one day and moved 1000 miles away the next day, so we were on our own for that Thanksgiving.  That was OK. I thought it would be romantic - newlyweds, our first big holiday as husband and wife. It would be perfect.... you see where I'm going with this don't you? 

First I bought a small frozen turkey that I failed to defrost enough before trying to roast it.  It was tiny, I thought one day of defrosting would be enough!  It was one of those turkeys that had the plastic bags of "turkey parts" inside of it.  I knew they were there.  I had seen my Dad reaching into our large Thanksgiving turkeys and removing two plastic bags.  So I reached in, I dug around, I found one plastic bag and removed it.  I reached in again to find the second bag and was surprised that there was only one.  Ok, no problem - it was a small turkey, maybe they only have one bag of "parts" in a small turkey.

I made a couple small side dishes to go with our roasting turkey. Oh it smelled so good in the oven as it cooked.  When everything was done, the turkey was plated and we sat down at our tiny kitchen table in our tiny little house, just the two of us, newlyweds - our first Thanksgiving.  And I was so proud that I'd made an entire Thanksgiving meal all by myself.

It was then that I realized that the only sharp knife that had arrived with our  belongings was a small paring knife.  Not the best choice for carving a turkey, but we can deal with that.  My husband began to "carve" it and was not having much luck.  I thought that I'd be able to do a better job since I had "knife skills" that he really didn't at the time.  We ended up hacking our way through this poor turkey - no beautifully carved slices for us.   And, lo and behold, part way through the "hacking" my new husband said, "what's this plastic?"  Oh Gee.  There was the second bag of "parts" that I had searched for.  It was in there after all.  I had just roasted the turkey with plastic inside of it.  Hmmmm. Now what?  Well, we hacked off a couple of pieces from the opposite side of the turkey and ate it.  (like maybe that side wouldn't be toxic? )

Needless to say, it wasn't the perfect first Thanksgiving that I had hoped for.  But that was OK.  We were together.  We were sitting in our warm house, starting our new married life.  We had so much promise ahead of us.  Not to mention that the side dishes came out great, and there was plenty of wine!  

Family holidays always remind me of something my Mom says.  "We may not be perfect, but we sure know how to have fun!"  That's my Mom's way of dealing with all of the imperfections that may surface when family comes together - she is able to find all of the little things that she is grateful for that make the day just right!

I hope you are able to focus on gratitude this holiday season, so whether your family holidays resemble the perfect Hallmark card, or Hallmark's Maxine, you will still have a wonderfully imperfect perfect holiday. 

Do you have any holiday mess ups to share with us? Why don't you put a smile on all of our faces and share your stories here, or on our Facebook page?  We can all find gratitude in knowing that it isn't just us! (or just ME!)

Because Gratitude is a Choice

by Kelly

This is not at all the blog post I intended to write this week.  But considering that this month our theme is gratitude, I thought I might share a little about my weekend.  Because it involved finding some gratitude when there wasn't much to be happy about.

I guess I should back up.

You know how they say that it's not 'if' you are going to have computer problems but rather 'when'?  I know this is a topic that has been shared before here on this blog.  I know it has happened to us all...I personally experienced this very thing earlier in the year.  And well, this past weekend my daughter experienced it firsthand.  

It was an accident... as a lot of times these problems are.  I got a call Saturday afternoon, my sweet girl in tears.  She had spilled her soup on her laptop and it had promptly stopped working.  And because life is well...life, it happened at the worst possible time for her - she has four big papers due this week.  Two of which were already written (because my girl, unlike her mother, tends to plan ahead and not let things pile up on her last minute).  But they were saved on her hard drive.

Thankfully my husband and I were in town for the football game, so we were able to be there in person to help our sweet girl in her time of need.  And so Saturday evening we searched the web to see if there was anything we could do to get her computer to work.  A few websites suggested setting a laptop into cat litter as that would help dry out the insides, so Kelsey and I made a mad dash to Target for some Fresh Step and and a plastic storage bin.  We set her laptop in the cat litter overnight.  Sunday morning we tried powering it on.  No luck.

After breakfast, the three of us drove over to Best Buy to visit with the Geek Squad, hoping that they could take a look and somehow get it to power up.  We were paired with Jason, a kind and compassionate Geek Squad rep, who took the time to take the back off and look at the guts of the laptop.  He wasn't optimistic.  And after a couple of minutes, we were faced with our biggest fear.  Kelsey's laptop was irreparably damaged.

At this point there weren't a lot of options.  But nevertheless, Kelsey still had four papers due by Thursday.

Jason offered to look into retrieving the data on her hard drive.  And so with a teeny screwdriver he took the guts apart to remove the slender, metal box...inside of which contained the past three years of my girl's life.  We were relieved to know that her hard drive was recoverable.  And so we bought a flash drive and paid the $100 for the data-retrieval.

Now I know what you're thinking...the thing we didn't want to happen, happened. And now I'm writing a post about gratitude??

Yes.  I am writing a post about gratitude.

The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.  ~ Henry Ward Beecher

As Kelsey and I were driving back to her apartment, she was in tears.  So sorrowful for the accident.  But it was an accident...I know this.  She is an incredibly responsible child who has never caused us any trouble.    This is life. Real life.  S*** happens.  

So sitting there in the passenger seat, consoling my girl, I was trying to process everything. My mind was going a mile a minute.  But then I took a deep breath.  

Yes.  Breathe.  Exhale.

They can retrieve the papers she's already written.  Yes.  Thank you.  Gratitude. OK.  I have my laptop and charger in my bag.  Yes...gratitude.  Kelsey has a Mac, but I have a PC.  But she saves her files PC compatible.  Yes.  Thank you.  She can get her papers turned in on time.  Yes.  Gratitude.

Do you see what just happened here?  

What I didn't want to happen, happened.  But yet...there is still so much to be grateful for.  This is hard gratitude...finding something to be thankful for in the midst of difficulties.  But it's there for those with eyes to see it.

As I sat there next to Kelsey, I told her that this is what we like to call 'teachable moments' in parenthood.  And the lessons to be learned here are many.  Obviously the first being, back up your computer.  Often.  But there is also the lesson in life...because bad things are going to happen.  Even though we take care of things and are proactive, things break.  Computers die.  Tires get holes.  Trees fall.  It's just the way life is.  And then there's also the lesson in having money in savings for things like this.  Sure it's not nearly as fun as new shoes or a new outfit, but it's important to having a little something put aside for when (not if) things need repaired/replaced.

A lesson learned.  Yes.  Gratitude.

So here I am, typing this blog post on my husband's laptop while my daughter is two hours away using mine.  She is getting her homework done and I am able to finish my blog post.  The unfortunate situation went from dire to doable.  

I suppose some might attribute my peace and serenity about this situation to my 'mary sunshine' personality.  And I will tell you that it would not be the first time someone has accused me of this.  

But I beg to differ.  

Because gratitude is a choice.

Even when it's hard.  

I shot this photo Saturday evening.  Kelsey's laptop was nestled in several inches of Fresh Step.  Tripp and I had already talked about possible outcomes involving new computers.  We hadn't yet learned that the miracle that we were praying for wasn't going to happen.  But yet, this light as it fell across our hotel room bed.  Such a blessing.  A reminder to me of this big, messy, wonderful, frustrating life.  And the big picture...a broken computer is not the end of the world.

So as I close out here, I want to first of all encourage, no...IMPLORE you to please go and back up your computer. And then, I would also encourage you to choose gratitude.  Find something to be grateful for...even when it's hard. Because it changes everything.  

And finally, we so love hearing from you.  Would you share with us an example of how the practice of gratitude has changed your life?  I can't think of any better way to celebrate the month of November and this season of thankfulness.

With love and gratitude, 

Kelly

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The theme for November is Gratitude and we have seen some gorgeous images expressing thankfulness. Please continue to share your list of things you are grateful for either here on the blog or on our Facebook page. Also, please share your grateful-themed pictures on our Flickr page, our Flickr phoneography page, or on Instagram with the hashtag #focusingonlife.

Focus on Phoneography

This weeks "Gratitude" from the FOL gallery on Instagram!

Row 1- @viv_halliwell @kellykardos @lolafalola
Row 2- @elke1403 @littlestorystudio @godaona
Row 3- @tammy635 @blendastudio @saurand

We love seeing your beautiful pictures! Thank you for sharing them with us!

Add your pictures on Instagram - #focusingonlife

Not on Instagram? Don't have an iPhone? You can add your Phoneography pictures in our Focus on Phoneography group on flickr!

I'm making a list....

by Linda

Did you gasp at today's photo? (I thought I heard a scream!)

It's no secret that "that" season is quickly approaching. My 7 yo grand has been inquiring (daily) if I have seen anything suspicious, anything that looks out of place or red. (the color of the dress on her elf-on-the-shelf)

oy

I apologize for springing a Holiday photo on you this early! Now that you've recovered from the sight of it, I have a question for you...

Do you have your Holiday cards selected?

or...

Have you selected the photo you want to use and ordered your Holiday cards for this season?

or...

Have you taken the photo you want to use and ordered your Holiday cards for this season?

(I know too many questions)

If you feel overwhelmed at the thought of trying to make time to fit this in an already over scheduled season, just browse your Holiday photos from years past. Send it to your favorite photo printer or print your own.

Or select a box of cards from one of the millions of displays at every store. (I apologize for that suggestion)

Once you have your selections made and printed (or almost printed!) we invite you to join us in a Holiday Card exchange!

Interested? Here's all you have to do:

Starting today, email me the following (lindagotx@yahoo.com)

your name
your mailing address
your email address (I promise not to spam you or publish your email address)

I will collect this information through the end of the month-November 30.
I will compile a list and email the list to you the first week of December, no later than December 6.

Then it's your turn again! Send out your Holiday Cards to everyone on the list and wait for your mailbox to fill with Holiday cheer!

Easy peasy! And fun!

All types of Holiday and non-Holiday cards are welcome! It's a simple way to say hello put a smile on someones face! There's just something about getting real, paper mail!

...

Did you know that you don't have to be on Instagram or have an iPhone to join our Focus on Phoneography flickr group? That's right! Share your "Gratitude" phone shots there too! Or show us a new technique you have learned using your phone as your camera!



Focus on Phoneography

 


Just a sample of the gratitude that is filling the #focusingonlife gallery on Instagram!
 
Row 1- @karenmarie63 @lisa_jay @cathysly
Row 2- @lyahle @littlestorystudio @saurand
Row 3- @kjhp @gabrielabout @nikonmomma2 


Find us there  @focusing_on_life

Happy I'm Grateful

by Judy

Over the past several years I worked from home and I loved it.  It was just me, my computer, my cups of coffee and soft music playing in the background.  Although I was always very busy, I felt so lucky to have that job and to spend my days in my own "happy place."

 Fast forward to the part where the CEO/Owner retires and dissolves the business, leaving me looking for a job.  Bummer.  I knew there was no way I was going to find a job like the one I had just lost, however, I was very lucky to find another job quickly, that is close to home, and works perfectly with my son's school schedule. So imagine my dismay when I realized, just a few days into this new job, that one of the people I work very closely with each day is an extremely negative person.   A real Debbie Downer.  A Greta Grouchy.   A Whiny Winifred.  Yes. That bad.

Now in the past, this would have really bothered me.  It may have even made me grouchy and negative after days of that.  You know they say negativity breeds negativity.  Boy is that true. It can spread like a wild fire! 

As some of you who follow this blog regularly may remember - at the beginning of this year I began a grateful project.  Every day I write down something, or many things, that I am grateful for that day.  I fold the paper up and place it in my "grateful jar."  If you'd like, you can read about it here. 

I cannot believe how much this grateful project has changed me.  After nine full months of focusing on gratitude I am a much happier person.  I don't dwell on the negative, which I'm sad to say, I used to do quite often.  And when something bad happens I can immediately think of things to be grateful for, realizing that things could be much worse.  Living gratefully helps me manage those times that life brings me negative and destructive feelings, or people, or emotions.  It is something that has been so simple for me to do, but has changed my life for the better in such a short time. 

Have you ever done a "Grateful Project?" We 'd love it if you'd share it with us!   If not, I do hope you will think about starting one.  You can do what I do, write in a grateful journal, or post on your blog.  I'm sure there are as many ways to do a grateful project as there are people in this world.  And it is such a wonderful feeling to start each day with a grateful heart. 

Fall...Medicine for the Soul.

by Kelly

"What would you think about taking a little road trip to go look at fall foliage?"  This is what my husband, Tripp, asked me Friday night. We had come back from dinner and Yolatti (our Friday night ritual), and we were downstairs in the basement watching Gold Rush on television.

{I know...serious party animals we are...but all I can say is that at least it wasn't Finding Big Foot.}

Anyway, as I had been feeling kind of croupy, I just laid there on the couch in a cough medicine-induced stupor.  I think I grumbled something to effect of  "can we wait to see how I feel tomorrow?"

{Please...try not to be jealous.}

I guess I should probably back up here just a little bit and share with you that if it was up to me, I would probably never venture more than five miles from my house.  Because truly I am happy to putter around the house for days on end. But Tripp...well he is my explorer.  

Thankfully, after a good night's sleep, the next morning I was feeling much more like myself.  And after two giant cups of coffee I was ready to hit the road.  So I grabbed my camera and off we went.

Well so before we set off on our afternoon road trip, Tripp called and invited his mom, Penny, to come along with us. And the thing about my mother-in-law is that she just has a knack for knowing about all kinds of backroads and little shortcuts.  My husband gets his love of adventure from his momma.  Anyway, after a quick pit-stop for gas, we were on our way. 

Now I know a lot of folks wouldn't think of eastern Oklahoma as a fall foliage destination. And maybe for the past few years, considering the drought that our state has suffered, that was true.  But I have to tell you, much like many of you who've been sharing your gorgeous fall photos in our Flickr pool, we Okies are experiencing one of the prettiest fall seasons that I can remember.  One of the reasons we wanted to get out to enjoy it.

As it turned out, Saturday was a beautiful day...lots of blue sky and warm sunshine.  But there was also just enough of a chill to the air to make it feel like fall.  And it made for a truly beautiful drive.

Well so our first stop was at the Cherokee Landing campground...it's right off of Highway 82, just before you cross the bridge over Lake Tenkiller.  From the water's edge, we could appreciate the lovely patchwork of fall color along the Cookson Hills.  The added bonus was watching a graceful Blue Heron skimming across the water.

After that, we made our way across the bridge and headed north on Highway 10, the twisty, two-lane road that runs nearly parallel to the Illinois River.  A few miles up the road, Penny sat up from the back and pointed out a gravel road that led up to the Elephant Rock Nature Park.  And once we got to the top of the hill we were greeted with breathtaking views of the surrounding hillside.

Pretty amazing the perspective one can get just by getting off the beaten path, no?

So after that little off-road adventure, we continued heading north where we then turned off down towards Sparrowhawk Village.

For approximately 10 miles, I sat in the front seat and oooohhhdd and aaaahhhhdd at the scenic drive. Every five minutes asking Tripp to stop so that I could get out to take 'a couple' of pictures.

It was at this point that Tripp was probably secretly wishing that my camera battery would die or my SD card would fill up. "How many more pictures you got on that thing anyway?" 

Can I tell you, though...it was such a perfect day.  And as the afternoon wore on, the light just kept getting prettier and prettier.  I just can't imagine any more wonderful place to experience fall than right there in the middle of the woods. Surrounded by nature.  

As it was starting to get late, we decided to make our way back home. But not without first stopping at the Hanging Rock Camp. During the peak summer months it is a campground/boat launch point for campers who are planning to raft down the Illinois River. But on that perfect Saturday, we had the whole place pretty much to ourselves. A wonderful opportunity to get up-close and personal with the scenic Illinois River.  This time of year so quiet and serene as compared to the often wild summer rafting parties.

So since we at FOL are setting aside the month of November for the practice of gratitude, I thought I might use it as an opportunity to share some of  my own.  Of course I could offer up gratitude for the beauty of nature...for the stunning colors of fall and the beautiful light.  But today I thought I would also share my gratitude for my wonderful husband.  For his adventurer 'ying' to my homebody 'yang'.  For not getting annoyed every time I asked him to pull over to stop. 

And especially, because he knows that sometimes, getting out of the house is just what the doctor ordered.

Yes indeed...fall is good medicine for the soul.  I highly encourage you to get out there and soak it all in.

Until next time, Kelly

The Practice of Gratitude

by Dotti

November is the month when those of us in the United States turn our thoughts to gratitude. This is a good thing. Wherever you live on our great planet, I hope you'll keep reading and take the little challenge I have for you this month.

Two years ago, I took a 'Pathfinders' course with Karen Walrond. There were two big take aways from that course for me. One, I was inspired to email two friends and start a collaborative blog, a story you've read here before so I won't repeat it. The second is that Karen turned me onto the practice of gratitude. Oh, my! What a game changer this is!

Simply put, I try each day to list at least five things I'm grateful for in that day. Most days the list could get quite lengthy, truth be told. Other days, when I'm tired, don't feel well, have had a 'challenging' day, it might not be so easy. But once I begin my list, my outlook on my life changes dramatically and I'm sure my blood pressure goes down. Yeah. As simple as that!

Because, you know what? We really are, each and every one of us, blessed beyond imagining. We just don't always recognize it because we become so wrapped up in ourselves, in the drama and negativity of life instead of the beauty, simplicity and love which beg us to claim them as our very own. And believe me, I am guilty as charged! Our world is saturated with drama and negativity. All you have to do is turn on a cable news station and your heart turns sour within one thirty second soundbite. But ... the choice is yours. You can wallow in that stuff, or you can replace it with the practice gratitude.

As a result of that course, I began the practice of 30 days of gratitude in 2011. I posted my first gratitude journal on Flickr. Last year, I posted it on my personal blog, Camper, and am doing the same thing this year. So ... I'm going to challenge you this month to take a photo every single day of something that you're grateful for or that represents something you're grateful for and post it on our Flickr page. With each photo, please share with us a brief description of what you are grateful for on that day. Each Saturday, we'll choose from the photos in our collective Gratitude Journal for Focus on You.

For our Instagram friends, you can post over there using the #naphopomo and #focusingonlife hashtags. For the month of November we will be posting our weekly IG mosaic on Sundays. And be sure to add your IG photos to the FOL Flickr phoneography page so those of us who don't visit IG regularly can enjoy your beautiful work.

And then, don't stop there! Why do this only in November? Continue to practice gratitude each and every day. Some days it might be as simple as 'I didn't have a headache today' or 'My son had clean socks'. Whatever it is, find five things that you are grateful for and contemplate their purpose in your life.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

                                                                                                 ~ Melody Beattie 

Focus on Phoneography

We are so grateful for our friends on Instagram who continue to share their beautiful pictures with us! Stop by the Instagram gallery (#focusingonlife) and see more of their beautiful pictures!

This is the final mosaic from Instagram, for the October theme "Fall"


Row 1- @karidesi @corinnaho @lyahle
Row 2- @nikonmomma2 @deevlasak @jolie_fee
Row 3- @alterer55 @karenmarie63 @jakkiwashington