Like many of us these days, I sit down to my computer to do the simple things (like send ONE email) but then end up sitting there for an hour or more, lured into link after link on Facebook, Pinterest and other blogs. I like to tell myself that a lot of this is important stuff – marketing and research, of course! Unfortunately, all that excess time spent surfing is less time devoted to my business, which is not really a great thing in these infant stages.
Lately, however, I feel like I’ve been spending so much time on the “business end” of things and not much actual time on the “photography” part of my business! Sure, there are always deadlines to be met, and it IS that time of year to get organized and file my taxes . . . but the last week I found myself really missing picking up my camera and having a purpose. I keep starting projects just to be sidetracked (my neglected 365 Project and 52 Week project just two recent examples). Once I hit the slippery slope of missing a day (week!) or two, it’s just too hard to get back on that wagon. Hmm, kind of like going to the gym . . .
Anyway, today I clicked through many, many links and ended up on Rebecca Cooper’s blog, Simple as That. She has a weekly photo project called Simple Things Sunday, where you simply post one photo a week of your everyday life – something simple that makes you happy. For me, “simple” was the key word! And maybe, just maybe, I can handle one shot a week and not be fenced in by a theme (although I may need some inspiration at some point and will fall back on my 52 Week themes, or use Rebecca’s handy and very awesome checklists).
As the family photographer, as well as the mom, I very rarely end up in any of the pictures. It just seems like a lot of trouble to lug out the tripod and remote, or fiddle with the self-timer. But I realized that one day when my kids go flipping through all the family photo albums, I will seem not to exist. I spend a lot of my time nurturing my family, but not in the way that is glamorous or photo-worthy. I mean, really, has anyone taken a shot of you folding laundry or chopping vegetables?!
Tonight after I read Rebecca’s blog, I decided that I will take my camera out every single day and take photos of us doing boring stuff. I won’t feel the obligation to edit and post every day, but it will certainly help me practice some new skills I am trying to master. And it certainly helped to make homework time with my seven year-old a little more tolerable . . . secretly, I really dislike first grade math (still!). Maybe one day she’ll look back and laugh at her chicken scratch handwriting or the serious look on her face as she thinks so hard or the fact that she picks the same Hello Kitty pencil EVERY NIGHT to do her math. And maybe no one else will think it’s interesting, but that’s okay. This project’s just for me 🙂
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