it's no secret...but there is a revelation



i don't think it's been a secret that i've been
struggling
a little lately

with family issues
with money issues
doubting myself in so many
arenas
of my life...
professionally
as a mother
as a wife
as a daughter
as a photographer
as a friend
as a person
as an artist
as a writer
as a blogger

i'm not sure what i am going through.

somedays it feels like adolescence
all
over
again.

i'm not sure who i am
i'm not sure where i'm going
i feel like every day i'm putting on a new face
and wondering
is this me? is this who i am.
is that what i represent?
is this where i'm going?

i feel like i am on a roller coaster of emotion
and for the first time in my life
the lows have been
extremely fucking low.
low like i don't think i can get out of bed.
low like the feeling of suffocation.
and i can't breathe.
and disconnect.
like i just don't want to think anymore.
like i just can't think anymore.
like i just don't want to care anymore.

yesterday felt like a turning point for me.

a culmination of rotten-ess eventually saw me
running up the stairs in tears an hour before my son's
birthday party feeling like a failure feeling like i suck as a mom
and throwing myself on my bed in hot angry uncontrollable tears
and then bursting into tears on the way to walmart
and again at the checkout.

but then.
the revelation.
which came when my brother and his wife got here
and one of my best childhood friends
and as the party went on
i realized
it didn't matter.


i realized that when i let go of the picture in my head
of how the party should be
when i let go of all the reasons it couldn't be the party
my mind thought it should be
when i let go of thinking of how other people might think
the party should be
and just let the kids, namely eleven...direct the party...
it would be ok.
there were balloons and noise and music and utter chaos
but
there was laughter.
so much laughter...and conversations shouted out above
the balloon warfare...and stories told...and chocolate cake.

and i realize now
that i have to let go a little.
that i am killing myself with my own expectations of myself.
that i am suffocating myself.
i am doing this.
no one else is doing it to me.
i am doing it.

so today.
saturday october 30 2010
i am making a pact with myself
to ease up.
to let go.
to laugh a little more
and stress a lot less.

{and if you have made it through this long post to
the end, i am wondering if anyone else has felt this way at 40?
is this what mid life crisis is?
i would love to hear from anyone that might
recognize themselves in this...
if only to justify my own behavior to myself
and know that i am not losing my mind.}

9 things i have done this week


-listened to damien rice over and over...at the computer, in the car
specifically blower's daughter and delicate...i am entranced.

-took a handful of smurfs, ninjas, a small ice cream cone and
a dinosaur to the park for a photo shoot

-planned an impromptu birthday party

-dealt with the meeting of a new boyfriend for 15

-dealt the subsequent break up

-saw the most amazing sunrise yesterday...full on hot pink whole sky
breath taking mind numbing trees a black sillhouette on the horizon

-ate fruit loops and watched it's the great pumpkin charlie brown

-wondered why it feels like there is always one ball on the floor,
why can't i keep them all in the air at the same time....

-recieved the most happiest of mail last night...my BOOK
from liz....i can't wait to tear into it, to sink into it, to lose
myself in it...but first, i'll make myself wait until the moment
is. just. right.

write it down, make it happen


so about a month ago,
i found a book in the bookstore.

it grabbed my attention right away...
it was called "write it down, make it happen"...
i wanted it but it was hardcover...
and yet...only 12.95

i brought it up to the counter,
pretty sure the price was wrong,
pretty sure i was going to be putting it back...

but no.
12.95.
it came home with me.

and i have been intrigued with it ever since.
each chapter focuses on different exercises for
writing it down
to get what you want.

one of the chapters talks about creating a group
a network, a buddy system, a team...
for support and for accountability.

and i love this idea.
anyone interested in teaming up...
in sharing goals...in providing a little pep talk every now and then...

the idea is to find someone who also has goals and ideas and plans...
and then to tell each other
this is what i want to do
this is how i am going to do it
this is when...
and to hold each other to it...

i was thinking of a weekly email
or possibly a blog...
i'm just throwing it out there
to see what comes back...

let me know what you think...

and then...there are days...

there are days
when you just don't feel like your
heart
can take any more...

and yet
it feels empty.

it is void
numb
null
useless
and yet
deceptively
full...
{of echoes}

and then there are days
where you just feel like giving up
like giving in
like throwing your hands up in the air
like relentless guilt
like wallowing despair.

and all you can do is
pick
yourself up off the floor
and dust
yourself off...

prop yourself up for another round.

days like today.

sunday night giving thanks...


Happy Thanksgiving {if it is Thanksgiving
in your neck of the woods
like it is here...}

I have spent this weekend trying to get caught up
on editing photos from this summer's weddings...
I feel like I did get a lot accomplished
but still have a long ways to go before I hit the end...
and the funny thing is
I just keep picking up more sessions as the days go on
even though I thought I would be done by now...

I feel I have much to be thankful for and since I have been planning
on starting a weekly "list of 40"
I think I will start with 40 things I am thankful for:

1. my husband {who is sweet and funny and supportive}
2. my kids {who I adore...they make me laugh and make me proud}
3. my health
4. the health of my family, both immediate and extended
5. old friends that I have had since elementary school
6. new friends made
7. my job...my full time every day of the week job...which I love
8. my second job...the photography business...which i also love
9. knowing that I live in freedom and safety and knowing that is not something
that I should take for granted, knowing that there are many who don't have that...
10. my camera, which has opened up a whole new world for me
11. this blog, which actually cracked open that whole new world even before the camera
12. cold diet coke in a can
13. my kia sportage which has worked well for me for a good price
14. internet connection
15. good food
16. security
17. a good sense of humor
18. the way my husband can always talk me off the ledge
19. positive feedback from friends and strangers on my photos
20. mike and ikes
21. caramel apples
22. damien rice (especially the song delicate)
23. that 15's panic attacks seem to be subsiding a little
24. that 15 spent the night at a friends' house last night...the first time in about 3 years...
25. brie cheese melted in a grilled cheese sandwich with ham
26. weekly phone calls with my mom
27. greys anatomy
28. my ipad
29. 10's excitement about his upcoming birthday
30. 10's sweetness when playing with the kids next door...he is so good with the younger kids
31. my external hard drive
32. presets
33. how today 10 suggested that I "relax for a bit from pictures and watch the Roadrunner with him" and how when I did he snuggled in beside me on the couch, his head on my shoulder...
34. crunchy fall leaves
35. the smell of woodsmoke
36. the sunrises i have been able to see lately when i leave for work
37. clarity
38. my relationship with my husband and kids...open, honest, respectful
39. lightroom
40. blog friends that feel like old friends to me now, after 5 years of following their lives and dreams and hopes and trials and successes...

and now...I am off to bed...tomorrow brings turkey and family and mayhem and giggles...
and I can't wait...
:O)