Things As They Are

It is something of a hard and fast fact that things just simply, and hilariously, don't always go like I wish them to. Even now I just typed thongs instead of things in the title. Sigh.

Always a flip side to this little life I live. Crooked cakes that just sit in all their awkward prestige, a patch quilt of frosting shrouding the poor creatures; slanted personalities I like to call them, just needs a little love. It's what's on the inside that matters anyway, right? Also known to accompany me on my venturous baking attempts are a many "Oops, that was supposed to be 2 teaspoons, not tablespoons." Or a, "Was I supposed to butter the pan before I put the dough in?" muttered through an array of flour dusted hands or oven mittens.

And, this being the case of most recent days, I have been plagued with photo shoot after photo shoot with nothing more accomplished than a hand full of mistakes that sit over my head, concepts left unfinished. Days that slip over me, just a sun rising and falling; I stare and stare at him, the sun, watching him march by, his light casting shadows upon a day filled with nothing accomplished...

Always a flip side.

I thought, rather circumspectly, to share that other realm of misfits and mistakes that make up so much of any photo adventure I pursue, that place of perfectly imperfect moments; a behind the scenes, if you will, of what surrounds a photo, of what builds a memory that is so treasured in my mind, of what is not seen but still lives in my heart.

My life, as it is, is certainly not perfect. I mean, just take a glance at the photos below. This, as these things go, is not a complaint against these, shall we say, bloopers. Whatever a perfect life on this earth could even be, it is not mine. And I rejoice in that. Life can't be all that we want it to be; it simply can't go exactly like we plan. And that's hard, I know. I am certainly not one to smile at everything that happens in my day. Just ask my family. I don't laugh at every little ill thing that occurs regularly. I don't always find joy in trivial mishaps such as early mornings. Some days it seems that I don't smile at all. But it takes a willing heart to love a life far from one thinks it should be. And, when this sad soul has those rain clouds looming and distracting once again, my greatest comfort comes in the promise that God's sovereignty is above our earthly wishes; and sometimes we just need to dance in the rain.

So, a few photos, to share some of my misfits, some tales of real life.

A before and after of a sort. More of an expectation and reality, I think. A reality is my constant state, really. I take time to have these little precious moments to breath, simply, solitary in the course of the day; to hush my mind. But, even when I sit in the pooling sun with my tea to take a photo, life simply happens.
Ah yes, steam you steamy steam you. Ouch, hot. Darn. Spill. Yes, hello reality. How are you? Take a seat, the kettles on. What was that? That noise? No. No, I hear nothing. Please, just put your feet up. I'll get back to you in a second.

I think, perhaps, an explanation is very much in need concerning this photo. Yes, I am in my bedroom, under a billowing bed sheet, yes, yes, that is indeed my face. I was, well, I was practicing. Trying to see if I could nail a pose and get the sheet to move like I wanted it in one shot, while maintaining the appropriate face. I still think I could do it. But now I have this. In all it's glory.

 As I read by the window, the light slips in every afternoon in just the simplest of ways. I like to sit and breath it is, as if I have never had anything else to sustain me for the entire day until that moment. Deep breaths; and my book. And the light. Ah, the light. I suppose I imagine that the hands of God guide it just so, like a ship upon a golden sea; it comes with hope and peace.
 This video is a testament to how my Instagram stories usually work out. Someone barging in while singing, and the wind not obeying my ideals of peace and happiness and AH WHY CAN'T YOU STAY PUT.

These gems are from a photo shoot I attempted the other day with my cat. Getting her to corporate was so hysterically difficult, but who could blame her really. I mean, I was hoisting her on my head and trying to get her to crawl on my neck, hoping beyond reason that she wouldn't jump away to leave me be the dweeb that I am alone in a picture. And so I now have these photos, sort of moments in between glorious timing and not. Those last two photos are when she jumped off right when the shutter clicked and then ran away to hide behind the chair. Poor Susan.

Yes, the beach can be a picturesque place where one might think it a pleasant enough place to read. *Cough* No. At least not this beach. Could be that I was right in the wind, unwilling to move, rooted in determination to stay and beat the wind at whatever the heck I thought it was playing.

So, a view at the unseen, a look at the hidden; and yet the door is wide open, as open as a new born sun across the sky, just waiting for us to step out and follow it to whatever possibilities it promises every new day. I think, as we tread each our own path, toward sun and moon and horizons of broad unknowns, that to find joy where you think none will be, is one of the most pleasant of surprises one can find, and perhaps, it is something we should look for in more places. 

Remember to dance in the rain.