When I signed up for The August Break, I intentionally entered these last 31 days without expectation. I'd seen photo challenges, yet this was the first I felt drawn to participate in. Today, the final day of The August Break, offered the prompt, "August was...," inviting me to reflect this morning on just what August was.
I used the last page of my Morning Pages, the three pages of longhand stream of consciousness writing I do each morning, to flow about my experience. I feel compelled to share that with you:
"August was a reminder of the beauty of pause, of the beauty that surrounds us all when we take time to notice it. It was an opportunity for me to really enjoy the neighborhood and be awake and aware. It was a chance to express my creativity and connect with others. It was an opportunity to share my perspective of the world. Perhaps that's why the face/self portrait was so hard, it was the world looking in, a different energy, rather than me looking out. It was a chance to see my world through the lens. It was a chance to surrender through the prompts, to provide a theme for my day, of my world and my perspective. It was really a wonderful chance to reconnect with photography, through other people's pictures, to feel out my own rigidity and anxieties. It was really a chance to see how I could conform and how I could soften and how I could rebel and how I could comply and how all those states/actions felt. There was a tangible product, the picture, a tangible product of my perspective and the way I viewed the world. No one could change it or alter it. I think that might be why I don't like photo editing, it alters the truth, it alters the viewpoint, more rigidity, because I see the creativity and value in editing as an artistic endeavor. It is really the chance to let go. It provided me with an invitation to let go. That is the ultimate gift. I am grateful for this practice."
Every opportunity to let go, to surrender, is welcome. Every opportunity to soften is welcome. Every opportunity to connect is welcome.
I'm incredibly grateful to have chronicled my life through the lens during this last month. I'm incredibly grateful to have shared The August Break with you. If you missed any of the month's photos, here they are. ♥