mystery and beauty

view from the hot tub on a very cold high-desert evening - seeing mystery and beauty in the night sky

I sigh with relief after the holidays are over. I am not a big fan of Christmas and often feel very out of sync with the massive materialism of this time of year. I have been swamped with new job details and would rather focus on a future of getting organized and enjoying life.

I do like to reflect on the New Year simply as a time of renewal and re-focusing on what is important. It is as good a time as any to get my house in order – figuratively – although getting my house “de-cluttered” is part of my plan.

While it seems like I haven’t been taking many photographs, I have spent countless hours getting my huge inventory organized and processed. It is a huge undertaking. A friend mentioned to me that I need to give myself the time to reflect after such a big project of 365 days of sunrise photography. Among many other things, it did give me a reason to go out and practice my art. I am taking my time pondering what my next big project may be. I think of it like a plant that put massive energy into producing a flower –
now is a time to restore my roots and stems and leaves.

Time to reflect – time to think – these seem to be considered time wasted by some standards of our society. By that measure, I will be wasting a lot of time in the coming year.

What will I be doing in the next year? Among other things and in no particular order:

• Listening to my inner voice and following it to new photographic challenges


• After three years of straying from exercise, finding a new balance between photography and physical activity(new friends at work want to take up snowshoeing and going to the health club across the street from work at lunch time)


• Continue to plug away at organizing my photographs – don’t think of it as a task with a clear ending – but as a continuum that is always evolving and moving forward!


• Further simplify my life and house. I am in the process of clearing out years of clutter that started forming when I moved into this house in 1990. Over the years, I have kept many things related to my children who are now in college. It is time to separate the wheat from the chafe and lighten the load. Or maybe I could think of it as letting more light into my home!


• Willingly allow myself to be drafted into the political process beginning in February. My political friend has put me on notice and I will feel better knowing that I have been part of the decision making process rather than a bystander or “victim”!

Wishing all of you a bright New Year full of change and love and peace.

p.s. as I look out my window at the birds, I am going to add birding to my list of new challenges!