I’ve started putting some more nurturing activities into the end of my day to help me unwind and relax; a steam room, sauna and whenever I feel like it, the gym upstairs.
A day sat at the computer as you no doubt know yourself, doesn’t give you much chance for exercise. So a quick walk on the treadmill whilst watching, what is fast becoming, my favourite comedy and then retiring to the leisure facilities with a good book, has become a cherished part of my day.
My old back garden
The one thing though that has become a bit tricky is recognising people that I meet in the steam room or sauna once I’m out of it! Let me explain; I wear contact lenses though remove them before going to gym as lenses are uncomfortable in the steam room. So I wear glasses, though obviously not in the steam room or sauna and this is where the problems begin.
Quite often I’ll fall into conversation with the other members in the steam room. Vision wise I see the overall image of the person though not the individual beautiful details, making it a little tricky to recognise people outside the steam at a later date if say, they are wearing different shorts or swimsuits.
One night as I was lying on the sun loungers reading, I smiled at man in the pool whom I didn’t think I knew, only to discover a few minutes later that he was the person I’d sat chatting to in the steam room the week before. I was sure that he had a different tattoo! All at once I had an epiphany, no, not that I fell in love! I was struck by how sometimes, and I think creative people fall into this category quite often; the bigger picture is easier to see than worrying about the details.
And I realised that this is how I work best in life and business, or how I prefer to work although it’s not always possible; seeing the bigger picture, the vision, the goal. I see where I want to go and what I want to achieve. Getting there sometimes gets me bogged down in the details, the endless list making. The details can stop me getting out there and getting on with things. And sometimes I find it too easy, in those weaker moments to hide behind the ‘to do’ lists, over planning things rather than reaching out and taking action.
It’s been a bit of wake up call and I am becoming very watchful of my habits, noticing when I’m over tweaking things because I want to make it perfect, when really I’m delaying the inevitable of speaking to people. And these last couple of weeks I’ve found I’m having far better results with getting Healing with Photography where it needs to be by picking up the phone and speaking to people rather than simply sending emails.
So it’s onwards with my bigger picture, the only thing that is allowed to slow me down is my quest for daffodils’ in the spring sunshine. All week whilst I’ve been busy and unable to get out and get to capture them the sun has been out, now typically, I have more time available to jump in the car and follow the sun and it has hidden behind the clouds. I know; it’s a photographers’ regular lament!
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Living in the beautiful rural county of Yorkshire it was perhaps natural for Ruth to have an affinity with the countryside and its wildlife. Creativity is Ruth’s driving force finding an outlet in television & radio she worked for many years as producer for BBC & ITV.
However a love of photography and for being surrounded by nature called her to go back to her photography training and bring pleasure and joy to people through her connection with our planet.
Staying in the moment when taking her images allows her to experience the natural magnificence unfolding before her eyes. It is this moment of mediation, of gratitude, that she evocatively conveys through her images.
So nice to read this Ruth. It’s amazing how much of a distraction these details, irrelevant or otherwise, can be too. Trudie @pickle79 and I brought daffodils home yesterday. I can’t remember the last time I did that but they look significantly better now that I’ve read this. Warm wishes winging their way Northwards