Kat Eye Studio

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Filled with Intention

This morning, I continue to ponder the difference between intention and expectation, and the relationship between the two. I continue to seek a way to maintain the space created by letting go of expectations. With all of the random thinking I’ve been doing around this topic, I might have found a way.

Here are my thoughts:

  • Let go of the expectations. No easy task, here. But it’s the starting point. Identifying the expectations that are driving you in a direction, examining them and letting them go if they do not serve you. I started with this, in Lessons from Abroad: Letting go of Expectations, but I didn’t know where to go next.
  • In the space created, explore how you want to feel. Maybe it’s a feeling of peace. Maybe it’s acceptance of what is, or love for the world around you. For me, there is always this desire for balance. I have so many different sides to me, always pulling me different directions. I somewhere gained the expectation I should choose among them, but I have come to realize I am not complete without any of them. I’ve become clear: A feeling of peaceful, joyful balance is what I desire.
  • Fill the space left by letting go of expectations with the intention to feel as you desire. Intention becomes the mirror for evaluating actions. As I set out on a path, I reflect the path against my intention (non-physical feelings) instead of comparing it against some expectations (physical outcomes). If the action fits with the intention I continue; If it doesn’t fit, I change course. The path is guided by the intention, in the moment. I lose the rigidness of a predetermined plan.

I’m liking this sequence. Instead of holding the space left by letting go expectations empty, I’ve filled it with something. But that “something” allows me the space, flexibility and non-attachment to outcomes I am seeking. With my intention filling the space and becoming the guiding factor, maybe I can avoid getting myself into the same situation again. That darn situation of letting expectations for outcomes drive me. Or maybe I can avoid getting myself into the same situation as quickly – I seem to keep coming back to this place so I can only hope that someday I will truly learn and move on.

Thanks for joining me on my journey, no matter how many times I might circle back around to the same place. Especially thank you for your comments; they have been invaluable. Each one is like a spark of thought being shared across a distance. I take the thoughts from you and add them through my own, weaving them together in different ways until they bring me to a new place of understanding. That we can do this with miles of distance between us is testament to the power of human connection. But that’s a topic for another day…

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Happy Endings

You cannot have a happy ending to an unhappy journey.
–Abraham-Hicks

Wow. Those words are so simple and profound. I read them in one of those daily inspirational emails this morning, and they struck me to stillness.

We are all on a different journey in our lives. Each journey is unique in its challenges and our responses. But there is a universal truth in the quote above: How we approach our journey affects the outcome. Do we approach it openly, with a willingness to learn? Do we feel gratitude for what comes our way? Or do we rail against the unfairness of the universe, wishing things were different and trying to shape things to our liking?

There is a different energy that comes when we force or control than when we accept and learn, don’t you think? Whether a journey is unhappy or happy depends mostly on us, on our attitude, regardless of the circumstance.

Happiness is a choice. Gratitude is a choice. As we head into the holiday season, with all of the potential stresses and joys, I’m going to remember this. I’m going for the happy ending by choosing to be happy on the journey. I hope you will too!

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Shaking off the Rust

Whatever your medium, if you’ve been away from it for a few weeks, the first days are going to be clumsy and fruitless. But things get easier as the rust falls away. The ideas come more smoothly. The hands on the instrument, the fingers at the keyboard, the eye at the easel respond in sync to the urgings of your mind and heart. You are fit and gleaming. You can’t wait to attack your work.
– Twyla Tharp in The Creative Habit

Those of you who subscribe to my newsletter will recognize this quote. In the last newsletter, I talked about how rusty I am, not really photographing anything since my move back to the US. That all changed yesterday, when I took my camera out to explore my sister’s little town of Carbondale, Colorado.

I may not be fit yet, but I’m getting back in shape. It’s amazing how quickly the rust falls away, when you get back to doing something you love and have invested time learning. I found many interesting scenes to capture, and I could tell I saw things that I never would have seen two years ago.

Over the next few days I’ll share a few images of repeating patterns I found in Carbondale, since that’s the Exploring with a Camera theme right now. If you are ever in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado, between Glenwood Springs and Aspen, stop in this little town. It’s worth a visit.

PS – Today is the last day of the One Life 2011 Photography Contest. Will you come vote for me one last time? 

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Share Your View: Group of Three

The best laid plans sometimes go awry! When I went into Flickr today to pull some of your “group of three” images from the Exploring with a Camera pool to post here, all of the sharing had been turned off. At first I thought it was just a couple of people but it must be a Flickr-wide issue because everyone has sharing turned off.

Instead, I’m improvising to share with you this group of three pots spotted on the streets of Ravenna. I’m never at a loss of photos to share! It’s actually quite fun, my family gets into Exploring with a Camera along with me and after I’ve posted a new topic they are most helpful in pointing out possible images on the theme as we travel. My husband spotted this group!

This post is about you though, and your view. Since Flickr is acting up, please be sure to link in your Group of Three images below so that we can all enjoy them. I love the different finds and compositions you all have shared so far!

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The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Yesterday my fellow muse Suki asked a question to the Mortal Muses, “If you did a 365, what did you learn this year by doing it?” Initially, I dismissed the question because I didn’t do a 365. (For those of you who don’t know, a “365” is where you take a photo every day, for an entire year.) But then I realized that I do my own sort of daily photography practice, if a bit different.

A little over a year ago, in November 2009, I started posting a photo a day here on the blog. Up to that point my blogging had been sporadic, and I didn’t have much focus. I had all of these great pictures from our travels, but it was so overwhelming to think of editing and posting many of them to tell the stories. I wasn’t interested in writing about our daily lives or travels. Sorting through, editing and picking one favorite photo a day, however, was doable. I decided to try that.

This simple little decision has had a profound impact on me. Today I found myself journaling this in answer to Suki’s question, on what this simple daily practice has given me:

  • The discovery that photography is art. And I am an artist. I’ve been able to claim that title, grow confident in myself as an artist. Along with seeing myself as an artist, I see my work as art.
  • Finding my “eye,” the portrayal of the world around me that is all my own. I can see it, own it as mine. There is huge confidence and satisfaction that comes with that. 
  • The discovery that photography is a passion for me. I love being in the moment. Finding the evidence of life – beauty, joy, love, happiness, even imperfection – all around me in the smallest of things.
  • I’ve become deeply aware of my art and creativity as an extension of my soul. It links to something at the core of my being, unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced.
  • The discovery that I can share this passion, this confidence and wonderful self-awareness I’ve gained, with others through writing on my blog and now with my Find Your Eye course. My “corporate world” skills are not completely unrelated to my passion, they can directly translate into great things in my creative, artistic life.
  • I’ve found that I’m a writer. I enjoy writing, like communicating ideas via words, having a conversation with others online. Combining words with photos has been an incredible source of creativity for me.
  • I’ve learned that following my heart – whether it’s in taking a photo, writing a blog post, taking a course of action – is never, ever wrong. It has always led to good things, even if everyone around me is not immediately happy about it. Following your heart is not about making other people happy. 
  • I’ve found an amazing community of people here on the internet – through the blogs I read, the people who read mine and comment, Mortal Muses, other groups and challenges I’ve participated in. I’ve found people who have similar interests and passions and challenge me in such positive ways. Those connections are incredible. I look forward to forming more of them, more interaction, more friendships as I continue on.

It’s good to take a moment, look back and see all of the gifts I’ve been given through this one step. I don’t think it matters whether you specifically do a 365 or post a photo a day or write three pages every morning or whatever it might be. I don’t think it even matters that it is every single day (I certainly haven’t done that here!). What matters is that you find a regular practice that you learn and grow from, and you stick to it long enough to see the benefits.

I can’t stop doing this now, posting a photo and some words most days on my blog. I would lose some important, integral piece of myself. This practice, for me, is a gift that keeps on giving.

Today’s 9 Muses Musing challenge is GIVING. Stop by and leave a comment or link up to win the giveaway.
Tomorrow is my challenge day for 9 Muses Musing, and it’s LIGHTS. I know, big surprise! Get those holiday light photos tonight if you can – I have a great giveaway you won’t want to miss!!

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The World is a Canvas

Wandering the back alleys of Burano, I found this. Sometimes I wonder, do the people who leave these things out, for me to see, know what they are doing? Do they see what I see in them? The fusion of textures, the contrasts, the repetition of color? Sometimes I think they do, and I am lucky enough to see it with them. Sometimes I think no, this may just be a chair someone set here, to sit outside their house on a summer evening. I wonder.

This morning I picked up Eric Booth’s book, The Everday Work of Art, for the first time in a long while. Here is something I read on this topic:

The moment we see that the world we inhabit is not just a sequence of hard, dead surfaces with fixed absolutes, but that it also can be seen “as if” it contains many non-logical truths, many mysteries, we head into a better future. The “as if” transforms artifacts into live media for the work of art.

I don’t quite know if that makes sense outside of the context of the book, but I see it in this photo. This chair, in this location can be a place to sit, or it can be seen as a work of art. How do you see the world?

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