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One photo has the ability to capture emotion in a fraction of a second.  Likewise, it also has the ability to provoke emotion in the viewer in a mere moment.  Photography is truly powerful work.

Spending lots of time taking photos, for me, is time well spent.  I love art.  Nature is art, and capturing it through a camera lens gives me incredible joy!  Nature moves slowly giving me time to connect with it.  I don’t create the beauty, I simply absorb it and that is what I do best.  The ability to consciously connect with the beauty around me and fully take it in is what I consider to be one of my strengths.  Often when you want to be successful at something you need to hone in on your strengths, and narrow your focus to take steps towards being great in your field.  After thousands of hours of practice, of course ;-)

Striving to become a better photographer in one area, in turn helps you become better at photography in general, but it is very helpful to be aware of your particular strengths if you want to be unique and stand out as the best you.  Nature is that narrower focus for me.  It gives me a greater feeling of being one with the universe, and when I capture nature through a lens it often gives me a more long lasting appreciation of its beauty.

The biggest mentor for me in this area is without a doubt Peter Lik.  I say mentor even thought I don’t know him because his work and unparallel ability to capture nature has had the greatest influence on my specific area of passion.  From the first time I saw his work in 2003, before I had a clue about the name behind it, I was completely moved and knew I was forever changed.  He is the master of his field, and someday I WILL own some of his fantastic work and hang it gleefully on my walls.  It is on the bucket list! 

Although I love taking pictures of my children, and my loved ones, it is not something I am particularly good at.  Practice helps, but it is not my thing.  Often when I am photographing people I feel like I am missing out on the moment, which makes it harder for me to connect.  Connecting on a deeper level is important in creating your best work.  Two of my favorite photographers that have great strength in this area are Kevin Patrick and Lenz Love.  Their ability to capture the beauty and essence of people is remarkable and I completely ♥ their work!


Another aspect of photography involves setting up a scene and capturing it in such a way that it appeals to our senses.  This is another area of weakness for me, evidenced by my food and product photography.  Sometimes I cringe at what comes out because I’m not happy with the result, but it plays apart in some of the things I write about.  I have tremendous appreciation for this gift.  The most talented person I know whose ability to completely create a scene with stunning detail is Jessie Lynn.  Honestly, if you are looking for a rising star in this field you would be very smart to scoop her up quick!

Two of my favorite photographs of hers, among many, are of toy cameras.  You can see them here and here.  It is particularly special to me because it reminds me of how much I completely LOVED playing Barbies with her as a kid.  She was the Barbie queen and being able to go over to her house to play made me so excited it felt like Christmas.  The toy camera photo reminds me of the adult version of us, now sharing a love of playing with our cameras instead of Barbies.

It also brings back memories of one of my absolutely favorite days ever.  Spending the day with Jessie Lynn in Las Vegas, margarita in hand, taking photos All. Day. Long.  Not many people would have the patience or want to spend an entire day doing that.  The only thing that could have topped it would have been to have our extremely talented friend Rachel right there with us.  Who I might add is also a very brilliant artist and great photographer.  When I was with Jessie Lynn that day I remember thinking if we could make this our job I would truly LOVE what I do!

Nature is the subject that I connect on the deepest level with through a camera lens.  Combining my love of nature photography with words that are powerful and teach love, is an area I am passionate about pursing.  As the saying goes ‘many great ideas are not new’, and many beautiful places have been captured many times over, but when I combine messages that are important, from my heart, and have special meaning, with the art of photography, the result is my unique fingerprint on the world.

I hope you enjoy what I truly love doing!

Thank you for being here ♥

Instead of a question today, I’d be thrilled if you would please take a moment to check out the links of the talented artists!
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A few days ago Hubby and I watched Capitalism: A Love Story by Michael Moore.  We really enjoyed watching it.  My favorite part about his films are that they open up my eyes to things I didn’t know before, and the movies always get me thinking and stir up some great conversations between my husband and me.

I’m not going to preach to you the good vs. bad about Capitalism here.  Plus I don’t want to ruin the film for you if you have not already seen it and would like to, but I will share with you one of the thoughts I had.

Success

Do you remember a few days ago when I said I believed success is related to the energy that goes in?  There are some times when this is completely wrong.  One such time being when you are working your butt off in a system that is working against you.  In that case it is very hard for many to achieve success even with a huge input of energy.  Not necessarily impossible, but very hard nonetheless.

What Does It Mean?

That being said, in my opinion I think it is important for us as a society and as individuals to re-evaluate exactly what success means.  The definition of success should probably vary from person to person in some ways depending on what is most important to you. 

It’s All in the Name

If one chases success solely in terms of money, power or fame I think finding happiness in that would be very hard to do.  For me personally, I believe the more love and support we give out the more happiness that is created both in our own lives, and in the world, hence the name Give Love Create Happiness. J

Growth from Opposition

Whether you truly believe in capitalism, are completely against it, or are somewhere in the middle, I think watching films or reading information that opens your eyes to new ways of thinking is beneficial.  Trying to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, and see things from their perspective helps us grow.

I love the idea of challenging myself and my beliefs by learning about opposite perspectives.  Maybe you’ll find yourself coming out feeling stronger about your beliefs than you did going in, or possibly you’ll start to question why you think the way you do?  Either way there is growth in that.  There is beauty that comes in being wrong, so I urge you not to be scared of it!

What’s Wrong with Being Wrong?

Initially a scary aspect of starting a blog and openly writing about my feelings and experiences on a number of topics is that there is going to be documentation for the world to see of many times when I’m wrong.  Times when I firmly believed one thing and now no longer do.

Since then I’ve changed my perspective.  Being wrong is exciting and I plan on doing it a lot!  The writing of Scott H Young helped open my eyes to the idea of “practicing deliberate wrongness.”  Being wrong means I’m growing.  That is what I am aiming to share with you, the growth along my journey.  My greatest hope is that it will in some way help you too.  Not that we are going to feel the same way on all topics, in fact we’ll probably see things differently a lot, but we’ll open each other up to new growth.

Challenge Me

On my journey I’ll probably be wrong often, and I encourage you to challenge my thinking on things.  Open me up to ways I didn’t see before.  I’m only coming from the experience of one life, and that is so very small in the grand scheme of things. 

It All Comes Down to Love and Support

Know that underneath it all I am aiming to come from a place of love and support.  Most importantly I want you to know that I am extremely grateful for the tremendous support I am receiving by you sharing this amazing ride with me.  Your energy never goes unfelt.

Thank you for the love and happiness your support is creating for me daily!

 
Life is a love story.

*Thank you very much for your comments, support, and advice yesterday!  It really helped me get a new perspective and gave me some wonderful ideas for how to face the challenge.  By the way the not-so-nice word Big Brother picked up absolutely came from our household.  You know when you stub your toe, step on a sharp train, or get hurt in general...yeah that’s where it came from!  With your help we feel like we can better deal with the situation and we now feel better pre-pared for the future.   Thanks again!!


Question of the day:

Finish this sentence

I was wrong when...

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Today when I was checking my email and doing my normal internet browsing, favorite blogs, Google reader, and so on, I came across an advertisement for personal development.  The add stuck in my head throughout the morning and I later decided to Google it.

The web page I ended up at most likely had nothing to do with the add, but I am glad it worked out that way.  I firmly believe in the intricate workings of the universe, and that things can happen for a reason.  The site I ended up at was Dr. A.J. Schuler’s Personal Growth and Development: How to Maximize Your Strengths article.

The first piece of information and bottom line in his article on personal growth is to “identify what you do best, and do more of it.  Identify what you do worst, and stop doing it.”  I was instantly intrigued.  My thoughts ran something like this:

How simple, it is so logical, and I want to keep thinking about this.

Is this something most people know and practice in their lives?

What a great thing to share for those who have not considered it before.

 

Although I have not wrapped my mind around it 1000% yet, it makes a lot of sense to me.   I am all for doing what brings you the most happiness in your life.  What is more important than love and happiness?  Think about how you feel when you do something you do best, usually it makes you happy.  And when you are spending time doing something you are not good at, a lot of the time you are simply unhappy.  To create more happiness in your life it makes sense to focus on the things that make you feel good, like your talents.

We have all been told that practice can make you better.  So what if practicing, or devoting a lot of time to something you are not good at doesn’t make sense, or make the most of your life?  Do you really want to spend your time and energy devoted to something you don’t like just to lessen the impact?

Of course there are times when doing something we aren’t good at is essential in life, and warrants our energy.  Otherwise most of us might have cooks, or a cleaning staff.  With my sense of direction, I would have a driver for sure.  But, hey I don’t want to close any doors ;-)

What if each time we find ourselves engaged in an activity we dislike or don’t have a talent for, we make a conscious decision.  Is partaking in this activity essential, or am I just draining my happiness by doing it?  The beauty in the world being filled with infinite kinds of people is that we don’t all have to be good at everything.  So why focus on being good at something you are not, and put a better use to your energy whenever possible?

As much as you can, spend your time on things you are passionate about, things you would do no matter what. 

This relates to the purpose of my blog in that I love to share!  It is a passion of mine.  Writing for me is not my passion, or something I consider a talent, its greatest importance in my life is that it is a means of sharing.  That is what I love.

I became particularly interested, on a more serious level, to personal growth with the birth of my kids.  This came from the biggest desire that most of us parents have, that we want the best for our kids.  What exactly is the best?  Well to me it is that my kids are happy and loving individuals.  All the rest is pale in comparison.

The next step was what is the best way to ensure that my children are happy and loving people?  It was then that I fully, deep down realized, the best thing I can do to help my children achieve this is to lead by example.  The reality is my husband and I are the single biggest influences on our young children.  I need to work on my own personal growth, not only for my sake but for theirs.

After completely coming to terms with that realization, I decided to spend more time reading about personal development.  The books I choose to read; when I manage to squeeze it in, mainly revolve around this.

The blog comes into play because not only do I care about my personal growth, and the growth of my children, I care about yours.  I truly mean that.  I am passionate about sharing, and hope that in time over seeing my development, it can help someone in their growth.  Well, then all the hard work, and time devoted writing will be worth it!

This blog is my way of giving back, in exactly the capacity I am capable of doing with focusing on 2 young children. 

It is my way of giving love, and creating happiness not only for myself, and my family, but in my greatest hopes for all of you.

Thanking you for reading, for enlightening me, and for the help on my path.

Wendy Irene

Are there any thoughts on personal growth you would to share?

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A special thank you toDr. A.J. Schuler for your article on Personal Growth and Development: How to Maximize Your Strengths.
 
 
It is both very exciting and scary starting a blog of my own.  I believe that having a creative outlet will do wonders for me.  Opening up to others can be scary, however, freeing at the same time.  It allows you a sense of freedom to be completely who you are, and to document your incredible journey through life. 

Being a stay at home Mom is an amazing experience.  I love it more than words can express.  However, there are other parts to me that need to be expressed as well.  There are times when I need to take the Mommy hat off, and explore the other sides of myself.  By having a blog I hope to achieve a greater balance in my life.  Being a mother, although it is the best job I have ever had, can be very consuming.

  I hope to share the experiences I have, as well as my ideas.  Cooking is also a large part of what I spend time doing, so I am sure I will include recipes I have tried along the way.  Hopefully, my blog will make you laugh, help you to know there are others out there living similar experiences, and maybe even inspire you.  Happiness is contagious, and I hope that by starting a blog I can somehow spread love and joy.     

Here is to giving love and creating happiness together!

I hope you enjoy my blog.



This blog was mainly inspired by two other blogs I really enjoy:

thoughtspunctuated.blogspot.com

carrotsncake.com





 
 

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