weekend lookback, november 10

Oh, what great comments and conversations we've been having about "ah-ha moments!" I'm thrilled! In the comments in this blog, on the phone, over lunch, in email. What a fascinating thing to think about in relation to all aspects of our lives, even if it's as simple as, "I actually DON'T like to cook."

Neel has had some significant ah-ha moments lately, and they remind me of his big ah-ha moment which came when he realized that he was in love with science and didn't actually want to go to medical school. He was in the middle of applying for medical school at the time, and had been on that path for most of his life. He was studying for a college course and described pushing away from his desk and walking down the hall, having to move with the impact of this realization (I'm picturing Gru in Despicable Me saying, "Lightbulb!").

Not all ah-ha moments are like this, I'm sure, and I'm not sure the news was welcome to Neel at the time (everything seems to have worked out okay). What's fascinating to me is that in reading just the comments here on the blog, many of you have similar ah-ha moments (and Erin, Neel agrees, his best thinking is done in the shower too). I'm torn about the "don't force it" bit because I continue to think that good work is being done even in the moments that feel too hard, but that is, perhaps, a story for another day. I also think there's value in working through things that feel really, really tough, but maybe I need to keep telling myself that right this instant because of my own work I'm doing now. And that too is a story for another day. ;)

We're all creatives here, right? (And I'm teaching this morning, but as soon as I'm back, I'll respond individually to your comments.) So we must think about these things or experience them in some measure. As the bursts come to you (or don't) I'd love to hear more.

weekend lookback, november 3

Well, we're a little late around here today, aren't we? Blame standard time, blame me finally catching Cal's cold from last week, blame the coastal storm that dropped our temps and kicked up our winds... whatever! I love fall! I just want to thank whomever scheduled the school calendar for the the year for making the Monday after the end of Daylight Savings a school holiday.

We plan all snuggles all day until a hitting lesson at 4. Sounds pretty perfect to me.

Actually, minus the hitting lesson, sounds like most of my weekend. Neighborhood fire pit for Halloween, monthly brunch with friends on Sunday, a lot of sofa rest with the beagle in between. I can't really complain.

On Friday, a member of my photo group had a birthday and that was really nice. Seriously, this meeting, twice a month is one of my favorite parts of my week. We're formalizing the format a bit (lots of forms in that sentence) since it's easy for groups like these to devolve from "photo group" into "coffee group." And last week we talked about some of the ah-ha moments we've had along our photography journey as well as some struggles we're having. If I limit it to three, I can pinpoint specific "ah-ha moments." One is a specific lens. One is discovering, with the help of one of my instructors, another photographer, and the other I'll tell you about in a little bit.

I guess the important thing is to be able to look back on your journey and see the things that have shifted perspective for you. That have made your leaps. Regardless of your medium, what ah-ha moments have changed you?