A Year of Gratitude – February 6, 2024

I found my gratitude in spending my afternoon doing something I love. Since I was a young girl, I have loved to look at the world through a camera. I have had this camera since I was about 14 years old. I asked for it as a birthday present that year. So many decades later, I still love to spend time with a camera in hand.

There’s something about closing one eye to allow the other to focus on what can be seen through a camera’s viewfinder. To do so is to look at the world as a visitor, to scan the landscape for something interesting. Sometimes, you find something beautiful. Other times, a camera can be used to document the tragedy of a moment, the sad stillness of a second frozen in time.

Over the years, I have taken thousands of photos here at the farm. I’ve started to try and catalog more of them this year, to look back on the changes that this old farmhouse and the land it rests on have undergone in the nearly 20 years since we moved in. Those first photos feel like they were taken yesterday, yet also like they happened a lifetime ago. I’m so glad to have the photos to remind me of those moments.

I hope to dedicate more time to looking at my world through a camera this year. When I do, I can feel myself relaxing, taking a deep breath, and becoming present in the moment. The camera demands it and I choose to listen, to give in to it.

I’m also hoping to create a collection of photos to add to our Mercantile Shop and share with you. When my children were quite small, I sold my photos at a local gallery. I loved the entire process of taking the photos, editing them, and producing prints that could be sold and enjoyed in someone’s home. I’m so eager to get back to that, to producing beautiful images that can be welcomed into your homes and enjoyed for years to come.

 There’s joy in capturing beauty and sharing it with others. I was grateful to be wrapped up snugly in that joy today. With my camera in hand, I hope to be creating joy to pass along to you soon.

I hope that your day included a moment of joy and beauty and that it treated you gently.

This post is part of our A Year of Gratitude Series. You can find the introduction, inspiration, and entire year’s gratitude’s posts here.