I just realized I have made it a quarter of the way through this project. I guess that’s slightly encouraging when I’ve already started to feel somewhat bored and hard on myself about a lack of creativity. I’ve been having to keep discouragement at bay, which I think is from the monotony of being stuck indoors to feeling like I’m not making images that are of much interest to anyone other than myself and some close family and friends. Plus, I struggle with wanting to be further along than I am with my craft. And, truth be told, it’s also hard not to get trapped in the comparison game or think to myself here’s another picture of Cole in the same pajamas I posted last week or another one of Cole playing with the dogs. I mean, it is what it is. This is our life and the daily happenings can be quite repetitive. So, I’m learning not just in photography, but in my personal life too, to enjoy the process and to be kind to myself along the way. I’m working on finding that balance between enjoying this photographic journey while pushing myself further with my art.

“The breathtakingly wonderful thing about this reaction [to art] is its truthfulness. Look at your work and it tells you how it is when you hold back or when you embrace. When you are lazy, your art is lazy; when you hold back, it holds back; when you hesitate, it stands there staring, hands in its pockets. But when you commit, it comes on lake blazes.” —David Bayles & Ted Orland from the book, Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking

Now about the week: Cole started taking a daily vitamin, which he loves. What he doesn’t love is not getting to pop them like they’re candy. He runs to the kitchen while crying, “Bite! Bite!” When the weather permits we’re back to our walks, which usually consists of a pitstop at Romeo’s, our neighborhood market. We went to a new music class with some friends and it had parachute play at the end. That picture of Cole running is a personal fave, it captures his essence – my wild and free little boy. We went to the Peabody Museum again. And of course, some more of the same…