A Yoga Project

One of my dreams is to actually practice all the things I’m truly interested in, and regularly. I’ve long enjoyed both the practice and the idea of yoga and in the last year, as my back pain has blossomed, yoga has been one of the things that has exhibited actually curative effects. When I’m regular at yoga,  my back feels better. It’s as simple as that. I move better, I notice less pain, and I feel stronger.

At the recommendation of a friend, I subscribed to the free YouTube channel Sarah Beth Yoga earlier this year. She’s skilled, low-key and down-to-earth, and I really like the variety of her videos. She has a paid membership, but I’m not committed enough to feel like that is justified. 

I love this text from my dear friend, Beth, whom I recently got to visit. I told her that I felt a bit bereft after my visit with her, so I was staying busy, working on the sourdough starter she gave me, editing the photos from her daughter’s wedding reception, etc.. Her response gave me a moment of pause and reminded me to “be wise.”

Isn’t it always that way?  Feeling the empty space after it was so full and overflowing?  Maybe that’s why some of us go overboard trying to fill the space.  

I hope to have some room to fill before long. But hopefully I’ll be wise:). 

It’s so good to have friends, resources, and options. I’m blessed and I don’t take it lightly. I do tend to go a little crazy with motivational challenges, projects and something-alongs, but they do motivate me and get me moving, even if I am not perfect at completing them. I’m also learning to let some of the opportunities go in the name of slowing down, focusing better, and finishing some of the things I’ve already started.

Today's yoga practice was a simple vinyasa flow practice. I felt my mind empty and focus. I felt my breath open up. I was able to achieve some consistent minutes of Ujjayi breath, and I felt energized afterwards, even though I hadn't slept well. This is pretty convincing evidence for me to keep at it and keep trying to make it a daily part of my routine.

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A Knitting and Reading Project

I'm really trying to use up my stash yarns, so this project from Heidi Gustad of Hands Occupied appealed to me. I'll be driving through mountains on my upcoming trip, and spending time in them, so I think this simple project is perfect. I'm going to take 3 projects with me--socks, this blanket and my Rona. I hope to have Bluestem done before I leave. 

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Photography Project: Birthday 365

I'm using my recent birthday to inaugurate a Project 365. In this age of Instagram, it's fairly essential that I develop a more consistent style to my photography. One of the ways I want to explore is to take more photos just for fun. I'm going to document this here rather than on my photography blog, because I want to keep that one in the general shape of a professional blog. This blog is for all my messy experimentation and trying.

So, here are the days of catching up for the last week:

(iPhone) August 23 Lancaster, CA: My birthday was spent at my friend Beth Davis' house. It was the day before her daughter's wedding, so I took a few quiet moments in the morning to sit in the cool morning air of the desert. While there, I experimented with some new film-like filters on my phone. This is her son's bike, just sitting in the front yard. It was a delightfully ordinary day.

(Canon 5DM4) August 24, Los Angeles, California. This was on the front lawn of the LA temple. I was not the photographer for the wedding, but did have all my gear with me. It was fun to snap a few shots here and there. We enlarged this one for the reception and Emily, the bride, really liked it. That was nice to hear. I do think this photo is my "style." It's natural, the focus is selective, and it's composed off center. Those are definitely things I tend to do.

(iPhone, Portrait Mode) August 26th 2018 I love walks in the desert at Sunset. This is me playing around with my phone, pushing Portrait Mode to create depth of field without a face in the photo. It fights me on the focus sometimes, but I love how this one turned out. 

(Canon 6D, 24-105mm) August 27, Ventura, CA. We went for a beach day and had a few hours of lovely sunshine, then a storm blew across the horizon, it clouded over and the temperature dropped 10 degrees. We ditched the beach and went for Tacos. It was a really lovely day.

(Canon EOS something--my film camera) 28 I'm counting this even though it was taken a couple of weeks ago. I was on a plane all day on this day. I got the scans back this week and I played around with them. It was fun to fiddle with film again.

(Canon 5dM4) August 29. I was taking photos for possible featuring in a hub I'm a member of, and came up with this one. I didn't get featured, but it was fun to capture and document Eric always being willing to clean up after I cook.

(iPhone) August 30. This was taken on a walk around the neighborhood. I looked up and was blown away by the clarity of the sky, the beauty of the green, and the harmony of the entire scene. I do love that this is my neighborhood. 

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My Room

I wake up feeling warm and relaxed. All is well in the first moments of the morning. I think I linger in bed and even work here because it’s such a safe, pleasant place for me. I love being wrapped up and cozy. I love the color of my room and the quilt on my bed. My room has the close, hobbity feeling I love in a space. My bed, like so many others, was a central hub of family life, as much a gathering place as the dining room table. I miss that and treasure the memories.

Anxiety about the coming day often keeps me in bed, and little but an obligation to another person will get me up. If there’s nothing that involves another person on my agenda, I can happily stay here all day to work and nap and cocoon. I revel in the privacy, especially in this age I’m in of sharing my house.

I’ve always loved to linger in that space just after waking and before starting the day. It’s not a particularly useful quirk of my personality, and I suspect by the time I’ve mastered it, I’ll be at an age when it will be acceptable for me to stay in bed all day.

Such is the way of the anxious introvert. With a beautiful quilt in a cozy room.

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New

Something has shifted. After 3 years, my house is mine again. I willingly shared it with a series of non-family members who each needed temporary homes, and while it was a privilege and a joy to do so, I’m relieved and in a bit of shock that this season is over.

I feel a newness welling up, as I expressed in the last post. I’m enrolled in a coaching program designed to reprogram me in terms of weight. I’ve lost the proximity of an important friend. So many changes have happened in the last 3 months. I’m planning a long road trip. I’m revisiting all the things I claim to love to do and trying to do them regularly, to see if I want to keep them all in my life. Things like knitting, spinning, art journaling, papercrafting, reading, writing, sewing, gardening, etc.. I’ve felt such a compulsion to try and collect and learn about and do all these things over the years, but now I feel a little suffocated and want to find out what really fits. I want to figure out what I want the next 40 years of my life to really be. Really.

The time of house-sharing came right on the heels of Evan leaving for his mission, so the house has never really been empty except for a few months during Evan’s freshman year of college. This really is new.

New is good.

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