This evening on Facebook, I stumbled upon this post from a fellow photographer, and it stopped me in my tracks...Go here and read this letter and then come back...I'll wait.
http://fototails.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/a-letter-on-my-doorstep-portraits-are-more-than-paper/
Did you read it? If you did, this will be a little blurry right now because if your like me, your crying.
Oh my gosh.... this letter gets me right at the core. There is nothing I wouldn't give for one more picture of my mother and I together. This February she has been gone 10 years. She was like most of us mothers....myself included. Always worried about the few pounds we've gained, the new wrinkle or grey hair. I've said this same thing on my blog before...how important it is to put aside how critical we are of ourselves and just take the picture...but I have to admit that I find myself doing this very thing....hiding behind the camera and taking pictures but never getting in front of the camera. And that's not fair to my husband or my kids. But you know what? These people in your life, your family...they love you. Just the way you are. In fact, they wouldn't have you any other way. So....of all the resolutions I have considered for the new year, I think I will make this my top priority...to be a part of the memories I preserve for my family. This is the last pic I could find that I am actually IN with my daughter. I think its from like kindergarten. And now she is in the 4TH GRADE!!!!
So as I said before, I will be in more of the photos, rather than just the one taking them. And I hope that you will take this to heart...Life doesn't wait...don't just record it, jump in and be a part. I am sure we have all heard it before, but it's still just as true. The past is over, the future is uncertain, all we have for sure is this moment. That's why its called the Present.
