Be Open For Surprises

by Cathy

It happened one day as I walked around a small downtown area. I was taking pictures of historic buildings when my instincts told me to “check out the alley.” My brain said, “Don’t go down there! You’ll waste your time!”  I’ve learned over the years to trust my instincts, so down the alley I went. Now before you panic, I have common sense and I carefully checked out the surroundings. I would never enter an alley that looked dangerous or creepy. I'm talking about a wide, clean alley in the daytime. Anyway, down the alley I went waiting for the “AHA, this-is-the-reason-I-came-down-here moment.” The alley ran between brick buildings. On each side were narrow steps leading to back doors. One door stood out from all the rest. It was painted a beautiful blue and right beside it was a large matching metal flower. What a surprise! Someone thought to brighten the back door for those walking by or possibly for the deliver guys. I know it brightened my day and still makes me smile just thinking about it.

There was a bit of graffiti painted on the wall near the metal flower. I’m definitely not in favor of graffiti, but whoever took the time to paint the door and add the flower also wanted to sent a message to those passing through.

My instincts took me around the side of another old building. This building had been converted into apartments. A very creative soul used vintage garden tools to create  a work of art on one wall. Not only had they decorated the wall, but they added a table, chairs, and pots of flowers creating a small patio area. That gut feeling was right again, a surprise was waiting around the corner!

I’ve seems that when I follow my instincts, magical moments find me. I’ve learned to trust that feeling that pulls me one way or the other. My instinct has failed a few times, but most of the time it’s “spot on.” One old building I walked beside was boarded up and no long in use. Across the alley was a flower shop who took advantage of the large window ledges to promote her business. I'm sure she has the prettiest ally in town!

In a recent interview with Huffington Post, Sophy Burnham bestselling author of The Art Of Intuition, said, “I define intuition as the subtle knowing without ever having any idea why you know it . . . It’s different from thinking, it’s different from logic or analysis . . . It’s a knowing without knowing.”

Whether you call it instinct, sixth sense, intuition, gut feeling, or inner voice . . . listen to it.  Step away from your plans and what your mind demands and go exploring. Just be sure to be safe and be open for surprises!

To See with Fresh Eyes

In still moments by the sea, life seems large-drawn and simple. It is there we can see into ourselves. ~ Rolf Edberg

“What would you think about taking a long weekend trip to Costa Rica for our anniversary?”  This was my husband’s question to me several weeks ago.  At the time, I was knee deep in taking down the decorations and getting the house back together after the holidays so I didn’t give it too much thought…I responded with, “Sure, dear, that sounds wonderful!”

As our trip got closer though, I got more and more excited. And as I expected, it was a perfect weekend in every way. Time alone with my husband. A beautiful resort located by the beach. Warm and sunny weather. A relaxed atmosphere. But what I didn’t expect was how much I would appreciate this time away…how much I needed this time away.

I have always maintained that there is beauty and magic and joy to found in my ordinary life. It’s the driving force behind all of my creative pursuits.  And I still stand behind that statement wholeheartedly. But to be honest, lately it has been a struggle. I have been struggling. It feels like real life has been chipping away at my soul and clouded my vision.

This is why I think it was so refreshing to get away for a few days. To allow for some time and space from the routines and responsibilities of everyday life. To allow for some perspective.  To see things differently.

To see with fresh eyes.

This is what photographers do.  And in my own experience, everything good in my life has been a result of seeing things differently.  It was the answer to my identity/mid-life crisis.  It was the new-found abundance in my empty nest.  For me, this ability to see life differently has been the greatest gift of my journey in photography.

Thanks to our time away, I was able to see my present circumstances with fresh eyes.  But whereas in the past, the hope and encouragement came with seeing how things could be, this time, the comfort and peace came with seeing things as they truly are.

I don’t want to leave you with the impression that this is a negative thing, because the truth of the matter is that I feel quite liberated.  It has allowed me to identify some specific actions which have already helped bring some quieting to my emotions.  The other areas of my life which are causing me some anxiety…well, it’s not as simple.  But because I am now able to see more clearly, I am resolved.  I am at peace.  And I am grateful. 

Until next time,

Kelly

Adventure Time

by Leigh

"Life is either a great adventure or nothing." ~Helen Keller

It was a perfect February day....nice enough to head out to a local nature park.  It's a beautiful woodland area smack dab in the middle of the city.  If you didn't know about it...you probably wouldn't even realize it was there.  Right alongside a turnpike is a wooded area with paths and creeks where deer and hawks reside.  It's an easy place to escape the busyness of the day.  

I watch as my daughter and niece explore the area....peering over the bridge to count how many turtles they see.  Of course, the mother in me can't help but say "watch out!...don't lean over too far....I don't want be fishing you out of the creek."  

We walk along the path feeling the gravel crush under our sneakers.  We stop to watch a couple Woodpeckers staking their claim on a Cottonwood tree.  There is a treehouse built around it and the girls decide this is a good place to take out their sketchbooks.  

As we make our way along the path we can hear the trickle of water and we know we are getting close to the creek.  This is our favorite part of the nature park.  I watch as the girls navigate their way across the exposed rocks to make it from one side to the other.  I call out to them multiple times "watch your step...the rocks are slippery....don't get your shoes wet!"  This is after all February...and while the temperatures are mild the breeze whips up every now and then just enough for your nose, ears and fingers to get cold.  I think to myself that maybe I should have brought another layer, but then the breeze dies down again and that thought slips out of my mind.  Why does it matter if their shoes get wet anyway?  I shouldn't ruin a fun moment by hovering over their every move.

I take a step back and start to realize just how often I'm telling them not to do something.  I'm sure it's just my maternal instinct wanting to protect them.  But how are they going to learn to navigate this world by themselves if the don't learn to use their own critical thinking and good judgement. These are skills they need to hone now.  I can't teach them to make decisions.  Raising courageous children means they have to make their own mistakes and learn lessons from those mistakes.  Perhaps next time they will scope out their path across the creek before they start jumping from rock to rock.  I watch as they brainstorm and work together to figure out how to get across without landing in the water.  

A simple walk in the park kind of day....a fun adventure for the girls....a defining moment in parenting for me.  I need to lead less and follow more.  I want to let them guide me on an adventure all their own.  Letting them make their own decisions empower them, makes them feel important, teaches responsibility, and they learn more about themselves.  And perhaps if I'm less concerned with telling them what to do, I will learn something from them. 

SOUL Journey

by Carol

I have a friend of 30 years who just embarked on a journey. It is an outward journey to an inward destination. Her journey's purpose reflects everything that we here at FOL are all about - self-knowledge, fulfillment, empowerment through creativity.

Most of us here ( maybe all of us here?) started our journey late in life, but my friend Tomi Petrella has been an artist all her life. Trained at The Rhode Island School of Design and The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, she has earned a living and built a life supported by her art, which is a major accomplishment in itself. Beyond that, she is the artist in everything she does. Her own words here -  "My business, along with making a home, made me realize that visually, everything is a composition and palette, whether it is a mural, furniture selections, a kitchen cabinet layout or a fabulous meal........I believe that beautiful, cohesive choices in all the things that you surround yourself with always enhance the quality of your life."

I can vouch for that. She has always decorated (and constantly redecorated!) in a unique and fascinating style. It was a new adventure every time I went to her house - a new arrangement, faux painting, wall (!), nook - always creating something from nothing. She helped me redesign my upstairs floor when I needed a third bedroom, finding space where I never knew I had it. It was her mantle that inspired my first photographic series.

I once went to a last minute dinner party at her house. (BTW, planning a dinner party with less than 3 or 4 weeks notice qualifies as last minute for me.)  She planned the party while cleaning out her basement the day before. (The cleaning would have been my weekend!))  Anyway, she had come across a pile of tiles in the cellar. We guests arrived the next day to a beautiful venue, a delicious and original meal, and at each place was a hand painted tile! One afternoon, as we sat on her porch with wine, she noticed some interesting weeds in her garden. She grabbed a can of gold spray paint and a few pins or something, and before I could blink an eye, the little weeds had been relieved of their deadheads, and had become little people with bowed heads and dreadlocks drying on her railing. Going to craft fairs with her was a bit discouraging though - I would come home with a squeaky clean wallet and a few bags of goodies. The next time I visited, she would have recreated the crafts she had looked at for pennies! Sigh.....

I could go on and on. Watching her live was one of the forces that made me so badly want to unearth my creative side. In recent years, some major life changes have thrown a curve ball at my wonderful friend. And now, she has not only caught that curve ball, she is throwing it straight to home plate. She has sold her house, sold or stored her possessions and hit the road to pursue the true artistic goals that have been in her heart since college. Tomi is documenting her journey in a new blog called "Eat, Pray Paint," and it reflects her heart and soul, as well as her creativity. Her first post is here, and explains why she is making these choices, and the challenges ahead of her. The blog resides on  her website, where you can also page through the beautiful art she has spent years creating. Like our FOL guest post friends, Sherry Galey (FOL 2/20/14) and her sailing adventures,  and Patricia Turner (FOL 2014) and her personal Walden Pond, or Terry Hood and her photographic recreations of the Dutch Masters, Tomi is a true inspiration. I hope you will be watching and supporting her on her journey, as I will.

As David DuChemin says "Don't let the stuff that currently sustains what you do, and what you love, put out the fire. Make the time to do your best work for yourself, to complete your personal projects, be with your kids, to pack the tent into the truck and go to the woods for the night. Don't let too much time pass before you jump into a lake, or go to Venice or see the friends you love.....Neglect the fire and everything that makes you who you are starts to fade. Your brand gets muddy. Your value slides. And the quality of your work declines. Feed the fire, fan it to flame, and (to quote Jonathan Edwards) the world will come to watch you burn."

So, Bon Voyage my sweet friend. You have the support and good wishes of all who love you and all who will come to love you through your travels. May you find adventures both internal and external and may you enjoy the seeking!

The art of getting lost . . .

by Kim

"There is an art to wandering. If I have a destination, a plan-an objective-I've

lost the ability to find serendipity. I've become too focused, too single-minded.

I am on a quest, not a ramble. I search for the Holy Grail of particularity, and

miss the chalice freely offered, filled full to overflowing."

- Cathy Johnson

For me, there is nothing more satisfying than to stumble across or into something enchanting, that was unplanned. With . . . or without my camera.

No expectations, no disappointments.

To be in the right place at just the right time, via the universe.

Sometimes it's being lost in a place, sometimes it's being lost in a moment.

Instead of searching, receiving.

And sometimes, it's just allowing myself to be in the stillness of a space with out a plan, and that absolute feeling of delight when something or someone unexpectedly crosses it.

Because it seems Murphy's law says, the more we chase things, the less likely we are to find them.
Because in the chase, often times the very things we are looking for, cross the very path where we were too impatient to wait. (Even if we were unsure of what it was we were waiting for)

( Our own Kelly, lost in a moment at sunset in Galveston before she thought she was in my way - are you kidding - for me it was total serendipity!)

Souvenirs

by Katie

I go hiking once a week, usually on Wednesdays. Wednesdays have always been my "do-nothing" day, a day where I don't do any housework, errands, socializing, nothing whatsoever related to being a stay-at-home momma. In fact, Wednesdays have been re-named "Adventure Day" and my husband and kids know that I will not text back or call back when I'm out hiking and exploring. The only criteria to Adventure Day is that I make it back by 3:00 to pick up my son from school. But that's the only rule.

I love getting away from my daily routine, to get outside and see this beautiful state that we moved to nine years ago. Before, we lived in the Washington, DC metro area, in northern Virginia actually, and the closest countryside was a good three hour drive west. One way. Once you got past all the townhouses and strip malls, you were really too exhausted to go hiking, and if you did have the energy to hike, you only had about 30 minutes to do so before piling back into the car and driving the three hours back, fighting traffic the closer you got  home.

Not much fun.

But after moving to Arkansas and smack dab in the middle of the Ozark Mountains, there's no excuse not to take advantage of all the hiking trails that are abundant in the area. I keep a list of places I want to explore on our pantry door, and I'm slowly crossing them off.  It's something I look forward to every week.

Something that I do when I'm out hiking is pay close attention to the rocks that lay scattered about. Most of my hikes involve rivers and creeks, so rocks and pebbles are plentiful. Arkansas rocks are very smooth, smooth from being washed over by the waters of the Buffalo River, the War Eagle River, Lee's Creek, the White River. And they're very round and mostly flat. They make great skipping rocks; in fact, I make it a point to skip a rock for each of my children when I find a good spot along the water's edge. This little rock above is from my latest hike to War Eagle River, just 30 minutes east of where we live.

When I find unique rocks, unique in that they have beautiful colors or just feel really nice in my hand, I bring them home as souvenirs from that day's hike. These rocks are from the King's River (top), the Buffalo River (middle) and the White River. The last one was actually given to me by one of my daughter's friends because he knew I liked rocks and keep them scattered about my office. It's one of my favorites because it's in the shape of a heart.

My son found this one from the King's River hike that we all went on last month. It sits on my desk next to my monitor.

I don't bring every rock home with me. Other hikers before me leave tower-like formations behind for others to enjoy, maybe even add more rocks to the the structure. But the beauty of Arkansas rocks just speak to me, I don't know what it is, but they somehow bring back my childhood and a sense of comfort.

And they make great paperweights.

So tell me, what do you like to collect? What do you bring back from your adventures?

(and don't worry: i always tell my husband where it is i plan to hike, text him once i get to my destination and once again before i leave for home and i always, always take my phone with me.) 

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