idle: January

So as I've have been thinking about my word for this year, I decided to give myself a grade for my performance. For this months' attempts at idle time, I give myself one star.

I thought that maybe I shouldn't I give myself any stars at all. I mean, I've felt pretty busy and crazy this month. But, I did do some good ground work for making idle time a regular part of my week.

Dave and I outlined a weekly schedule. We've been following it (with the occasional necessary exception) for about 2 weeks now and I like it. I like knowing what's coming and what to expect. I think Dave likes it for the most part too, although he is more into spontaneity than I am, so we'll see if this really ends up working for him. The 'idle time' that I've scheduled in is 3 nights a week. I'm suppose to go for a walk and let my mind wander. But, what's happened is, that I'm so excited to be out of house by myself, that I end up speed walking and my mind is a mess of excited energy. I plow through ideas like a bulldozer. Not quite what I thought my idle time would look like. But, it's a place to start. So, Robyn, you are awarded one star.

Keep at it. Keep tinkering. You can figure this out! You have all year, after all.



And, I made this scrapbook page yesterday. I really like it! I took a chance with drawing that subtle white line around the edges, but I like the effect. Phew.

Here's what I wrote:
I didn’t used to take pictures. I didn’t like to. I didn’t like my results. I didn’t really know how to use the camera. And I felt embarrassed about taking photos. Especially in public.

Even after Andrew was born, I still avoided it. I remember setting him up on the bed for a photo shoot and not getting any good shots. They were either blurry, or the color was off, or the baby in the photos just didn’t look like Andrew.

And then, I started reading blogs. And then I wanted to start my own blog. The blogs I read had beautiful photography. Magazine quality. The photos seemed quiet and peaceful. They drew me in. And I knew I wanted my blog to look like that.

And so I began to take more photos. I experimented with settings and read about light and ISO. I learned how to set my white balance. I played around with the composition of what I was shooting and the angle I used. Having a blog to photograph for and daily motivation to take pictures got me really excited about photography.

Just before Isaac was born, my grandmother, unexpectedly and uncharacteristically, sent me a very large check. She surprised all of her children with this generous gift. We were to use it however we wanted. And so I bought this camera. A real, live DSLR camera. Very fancy. And I love it. I use it every day and my photos are getting better and better. I am planning on taking an online photography class this Spring to learn even more.

Now I can't imagine photography not being a big part of my life. It's so expressive and beautiful and, I do have pretty incredible little subjects.