One Photo a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

 

Brent and Susan gave me a book for Christmas: One Photo A Day Keeps the Doctor Away by Joost Joossen. The subtitle is Inspiring Ways to Slow Down and Look Around.

When I opened my gift, they both said they know I take lots of photos already. But when they saw the book while they were on a work/pleasure trip to Maine, they bought it for me anyway.

  "I've always found myself searching for more peace, more structure and a more conscious life that is truly lived in the now. Over time, I began to realize that looking and seeing, and by extension photography, was the key to all these things. ... Taking pictures is like shining a spotlight on your subject, temporarily making it or them the most important thing in the world. Together, we stop the clock and share a moment."

--Photographer Joost Joosen

 I used one of the photo prompts several days last week. It said: Take a few pictures today to describe how you are experiencing the weather.  

I didn't even have to go outside for a few of the photos. The howling wind deposited snow inside our old farmhouse.

Maybe Old Man Winter took my front door decoration a little too literally. I didn't really mean for it to "snow" inside the house.

And then there were memes from several people on my Facebook feed during the winter weather:

If you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life, but still the same amount of snow.

 

So I ventured out, keeping in mind the quote that Joossen included on that photo prompt page:

Learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience.

-- David Foster Wallace

 

Time to Think

"To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake it is necessary to stand out in the cold."

—Aristotle

(From a Guideposts devotional)

 

Yeah, so much for the "one photo" a day. And the photo prompt did say to "take a few pictures." 

I've always been an overachiever.

An important note from the author:

Whenever you're feeling overwhelmed, like the day is getting away from you, and you know you need to take a break: That's when it's time to grab your camera and open this book. ...Most importantly: You can only do one photo challenge a day. We already multitask more than enough as it is. Tomorrow is another day and another photo. Today, just do one, and be done. ... You will continue to see new things. Keep looking. Keep seeing. Keep photographing.

--Photographer Joost Joosen