Monday, May 4, 2015

Time Well Spent

by Terri

Taking time for yourself.  We’ve talked about that a lot lately and how important it is. But when you get that time, doing something you love with people who love it too can fill your soul up in such a wonderful way.

After a particularly grueling week, the one thing that got me through was knowing I would be spending two days with two of my favorite people, doing something we all love.  My friend Carol Hart (on the right in the photo above) was coming down from Seattle for a few days and staying with a mutual friend, Barbara Hurst.  On Saturday morning, I drove up to Barbara’s to spend the day with them.  We are all in a still life class together and Barbara had set up little vignettes for us to photograph ...

. . . croissants with sprinkles of powdered sugar and a sweet grouping of teapot, teacup and some cotton branches as well as many other beautiful things.

Carol fixed us a wonderful lunch of paella which we ate out on the patio in the gorgeous spring weather.



After lunch, we set up our laptops and imported the morning’s photos into Lightroom. Both Carol and Barbara are experts by my standards and it was great to have them right there to ask questions and learn from them.
 

After a lovely dinner prepared by Barbara, I headed home happy and relaxed and looking forward to spending the next day with them. 

On Sunday morning, they both came to my house for breakfast and we headed out to the Desert Botanical Gardens.  Somehow I left the house without my camera. The only thing in my camera bag was a couple of lenses, absolutely useless without my camera! So in my present state of happiness, I didn’t beat myself up about it but decided I would make the most of shooting with my iPhone.  There were cactus in bloom so, of course, you know I was going to be capturing those!

We were blessed with beautiful weather, cool and just enough cloud cover to make the colors rich and vibrant.  We credited Carol for bringing some Seattle weather with her!  As I write this, it’s brilliantly sunny and 100 degrees, so we definitely lucked out with the weather during her visit!

But in the end, it’s not about the photos . . . it’s about being with friends who share your passion and taking some time to do something we all love. When life gets crazy, I tend to forget how much taking this time will improve my mood and get me through whatever bumps there may be in the road. The laughter, the learning, the sharing, the love . . . all combined to put a smile on my face that is still lingering. This post is a thank you to these women whose friendship means more than I can ever tell them.

I hope that this will encourage you to take some time for yourself, some time to fill your soul with happiness and contentment by doing something you love. Whatever it takes to make that happen, do it. There’s time. It’s important. You won’t be sorry.




10 comments:

Carol said...

You are so right, terri . I see so many women who are perfectionists with their house, their nurturing, their work -and yet they leave themselves out of the picture. Everyone deserves some down time to recharge. Photograpny does it for me every time -but no matter what your passion, or even if you are looking for your passion -do it now -give it your time. Its worth every minute, and every dirty dish left in the sink.
( and I have to admit, I love that you forgot your camera. As of now, I have forgotten just about everything but that -and I fully expect to do that too one of these days! I love that you made the best of it and realized what yiu were reallly there for)

CarolHart said...

I'm so glad we had that time together Terri. Such a joy to make good memories together.

Barbara said...

Such a sweet post Terri, so happy we all were together to enjoy not only the wonderful weather but also the love of photography. How cool is that in life to be able to have friends who really get us and what we are trying to accomplish. Your images are wonderful love your cactus and still life's. This morning I have 19 in bloom, 14 on one cactus alone. Got a lot of rain drops out there this morning. Such love in those blooms. Yes we need to make the effort to get together this summer even if it is just to have lunch during our 100+ days. Take care

Dotti said...

This reminds me of that saying, What's my favorite camera? The one I have with me. Thankfully our phone cameras are now good enough that we can really love them when we don't have our big girl cameras with us. And it's always rather liberating not to have to carry that gear around, don't you think? I'm so glad the three of you had such a delightful time and all the beautiful photos bear witness to that fact. How grand!

Deanna said...

What an absolutely glorious two days spent with lovely friends. My only disappointment is that I wasn't there to join you!!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful time for you and your friends! You are so right about spending time sharing something that is so close and dear to your heart with others! Its a great way to get your spirits lifted and the memories last a lifetime! Great picture of three beautiful ladies...thanks for sharing!

kelly said...

I can just image the wonderful time you spent with Barbara and Carol! Nothing like time with dear friends to help us recharge!

heyjudephotography said...

Theres nothing like being with people who get it. I'm glad you had such a wonderful time and recharged.

Viv@Thoughts from the Desktop said...

Being with kindred souls is the best. Love the shot of you together on the laptops x

Roxi H said...

You are so right! And I did just that Monday morning but I went by myself. Aren't you glad you've got a great phone?

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