Perfection

Just got my copy of The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are in the mail yesterday. I have only read the preface so far (I read for a little bit right before bed) and I am head over heels for this book, and Brene! She has a blog that I cannot wait to read!

Do you dress differently depending on how you feel?

I definitely do. When I am all business I dress more plain, and when I start tapping more into my emotions and creativity I find that I have more fun getting dressed. Today it is raining and I will be editing all day, but I woke up and put on my new favorite dress, and purple sparkles on my lids, just for me. My husband let out a chuckle when he came down to the kitchen this morning. I think the socks look better peeking out of my boots;)

I am now going to blare some music and edit away.

xo

*I hate to shop and don't go very often. I am loving these footless tights and socks I found at H&M on a rare shopping trip I took with my friend Sam a couple weeks ago. I especially love them with my black high boots. And this has to be the most comfortable dress I have ever had. It even has pockets! My friend Cal from Hodge Podge made it! If you like beautiful comfortable clothes check out her etsy. She also has a great book for making your own clothes.

I took this photo on vacation with my boys last month. It tugs at my heart. There are parts blown out and the noise from using high iso shouts obscenities at me, but I love it anyway. It is the first picture in a long while that has what I have been longing to feel when I look at my images but can't seem to manifest, through all the rule following and ideas of perfection I have ruling my brain most of the time.

It gives me hope and brings me to tears. Because there is a part of me I stopped listening to. I don't know when or why I stopped listening but I did. It is this creative voice that started me on the path I am on and I feel a deep need to encourage this voice. Yet it seems counter productive to establishing a business where clients know what to expect. If my work keeps evolving who is to say they will like what I create for them. I think this is why I stopped listening to the voice that encouraged me to really explore, to take risks.

There are so many blessings in my career right now, yet I feel frustrated, tired and burnt out. The pressure to make money, to please clients who I want nothing more than to love, I mean love the images they pay me to create, and the business aspects that require so much energy to stay on top of is weighing on my soul.

So today after meeting one big deadline only to be faced with lots of client work, I took a moment to revel in this image that reminds me that the voice is there, I just have to find the courage and conviction to follow it...

Monday Morning

Yesterday I came back from being away for 4 days. It was our 12 year wedding anniversary yesterday. Today was the beginning of little T's second week of Kindergarten. It was a wonderful day yesterday but this morning we had a bit of a rough start.

We had to ride our bikes to the bus stop, so we wouldn't miss the bus.

Once he got on the bus, in comfy clothes and with a packed lunch and snack, I had to get both bikes back home. The solution? I rode my bike with one hand, while holding his with the other. This was one wobbly ride, and a perfect metaphor for our morning.

Came back to the kitchen:

A: Half a roll I ripped apart in desperate attempt to find something resembling a sandwich that he would be willing to eat for lunch. Regular bread/sandwiches just wouldn't do and I am sad to say this half roll no longer sounded appealing to him once I had it in my hand.

B: On the 4 hr ride back from Squam Art workshops yesterday, I noticed my eyebrows were in complete disarray so this morning I attempted to tame them. You know it is just so important to have groomed eyebrows for the bus driver. I sometimes get sidetracked...

C: Breakfast dishes- we did have a lovely breakfast together:)

D: After a million lunch ideas were rejected I started begging for him to take anything. He finally agreed to chocolate covered raisins- they are a teeny bit healthy right?

E:Little T felt tortured by the seam in his socks- so this new pack of 8 will be returned, eventually.

F: One minute before heading out to walk to the bus, little T decided that his shirt looked like a pj shirt, this was after 20 minutes of clothes drama upstairs earlier. I ran upstairs and came down with multiple options-these are the rejects.

G:Trail mix- option for lunch turned down.

F: How about cereal for lunch? Nope.

How was your monday morning?