The Bad Stuff Sticks?

Today is a very special day for me.  I am honoured to have a blogger that I have followed and looked up to for sometime now honour with writing a post for me.  Today Corinne Rodrigues from Everyday Gyaan has agreed to write a post for my blog. 

Corinne is one of the very first bloggers that I connected with when I first started trying to grow my blog.  From the first time I read her blog I was hooked.  I love her positive outlook on life and her wonderful ability for reflection.  In addition, while designing the look of my blog Corinne was instrumental in more ways that even she knows.  She offered her advice many times on different designs I was working with but I also used her blog as a template when designing mine.  I am very excited for todays post and I hope you all have time to check out her website as well, I think you will enjoy it just as much as me.

Everyday Gyaan

Without any further adieu.......

THE BAD STUFF STICKS? 

Aaron and I 'met' recently and from the very first connection I was amazed by how positive he was. "Here's  someone I could learn a lot from", I thought. And I was right. Aaron continues to surprise me with his outlook and now more recently with his captivating photographs. It's an honor to write a post for your blog, Aaron. Thanks for asking.

from google images


  Every time I happen upon "Pretty Woman" on television I can't help watching the movie to the end. There's just something about the movie that captivates me. I feel the same way about 'My Fair Lady' - which is more or less along the same lines. I think the story of the underdog getting a break and making the most of it and winning the 'hero' over by just being herself, that gets me.

Anyway, it was only last week that I watched 'Pretty Woman' again (!!) and that's the first time these lines struck me:

Vivian: People put you down enough, you start to believe it.

Edward: I think you… are a very bright, very special woman.

Vivian: The bad stuff is easier to believe. You ever notice that? 

The bad stuff is easier to believe.......and I thought to myself 'Is it really?'  

A few years ago, I would have said an unequivocal 'Yes, it is!". 

But now I say the bad stuff is easier to believe when you suffer from low self-esteem.  When you don't think highly of yourself you don't believe anyone else can. So for example, if someone says to you "Oh  you look so pretty/handsome", you give the credit to your hairstylist or the place where you bought your clothes from. You find it difficult to say a sincere "Thank you."  In other words, compliments and positive feedback doesn't 'stick' with you. 

On the other hand, when someone says things that aren't very pleasant, they're easy to believe because it is a reinforcement of your beliefs about yourself. 

Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one's own sunshine. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Vivian had an Edward to 'rescue' her and help her to see herself as she really was.   Are you waiting for an Edward to come along? Or are you going to rescue yourself? Fall in love with yourself and soon you'll find that the bad stuff doesn't 'stick' anymore!

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Why Leukemia Was the Best Thing To Happen To Me

Have you ever heard the cliché, “Cancer was the best thing to happen to me”?  If you have been following my blog for a bit, you will have heard some variation of this over the past year.  You must think the person is crazy to be uttering such a statement.  Don’t worry its okay to admit J 

Before I got sick I thought the whole “Cancer was the best thing to happen to me” was just a crock of shit.  I mean how could it be?  You are told you might die; then you go through treatment more akin to torture than treatment, which in the end might not even work.  And if it does work, you can look forward to living with the fear of the cancer coming back at sometime.  I used to think “you tell me how that can be the best thing to happen to you, because I am sitting pretty over here.”

Well we all know what happened since, I got leukemia, went through the treatments that thankfully worked and am now recovering.  In addition, over the past year I was converted to one of the “crazies” who thinks Cancer is one of the best things that could happen to me. 

The funny thing is that, although I have felt this way for past year if you were to actually ask me why it was one of the best things to happen to me, I actually wouldn’t have been able to answer you.  Sure I would have told you that it had caused me to re-examine my life, weigh what is truly important to me, and helped me build character.  But that is just a cliché answer to a cliché question.

I say that because anyone can make those changes, you definitely don’t need cancer to be able to do it.  Therefore, there has to be something more.  It must change people on a deeper level, a level not readily available to everyone.  I can’t speak for other cancer patients because everyone’s experience is completely different; let alone their disease, so I will only comment on my own circumstances.

It wasn’t until I was leaving the hospital from my check-up this past week when the light bulb finally went off and I understood the root of why Leukemia became one of the best things to happen to me.  After my appointment with the doctor, I visited with a gentleman named Keith, who is going through his transplant currently.  We were discussing everything to do with the transplant and I was giving him some tips to help with the side effects.  We ended up chatting for about 45 minutes, but there was one specific topic that stuck with me as I left. 

We were discussing the transplant, and got onto the topic of just how brutal the treatment truly is.  We were discussing how they literally bring to the brink of being dead and then bring you back again.  I always knew how brutal the Leukemia treatment protocol was but to actually verbalize it and realize they are basically killing the patient by bringing them right to the brink and then bringing them back from the dead brought a sobering and humbling feeling to whole experience. 

We often talk about how things in this world always happen for a reason.  Well this was one of those days for me.  After visiting with Keith, I went to get my prescriptions from the pharmacy before leaving the hospital.  As I was leaving the pharmacy I was still reflecting on our discussion when I just happened to look up at the quote board.  Each day PMH has a new inspirational quote wrote on a white board in their hallway.  Most days I walk by without looking but this day I decided to look up as I walked by.  The quote for the day came from Dorothy Thompsom and it read:

"Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live"

It was almost a chilling experience when I read it.  At that instant the light-bulb went off and I finally understood the root of why Leukemia was one of the best things to happen to me.  Leukemia and the treatment had forced me to stare death in the face; in fact, twice! I was no longer afraid of it.  This lack of fear has enabled me to focus more on other things in my life, begin to truly appreciate the gifts it offers, and enjoy all the aspects of living.

I would love to hear your thoughts on my reflection and I hope it maybe helped shed some light onto that common Cancer Cliché. 

As always the photo still needs a title so don’t forget your suggestions!

 

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A Greyish Morning - Self Evaluation

Today was originally going to be the beginning of my series titled "A Black and White Affair" in which I would share my favorite black and white shots.  The reason for the title difference is I have included two images which aren't quite black and white. 

This past weekend was just brutal weather here along the lake.  It was cold, raining, and extremely windy.  This really reduced my ability to take pictures.  It did however allow me to take a step back and look at the big picture when it came to my photography.  This included where do I want to take it, what do I enjoy about it, what is my style, and most importantly I went through everyone of one of my images evaluating them.

I had read an article on Thomas Hogan's website before about how difficult it is for people to evaluate their own work.  The reason we have such a difficult time is we have an emotional connection to the work.  We sees stories and subjects that might not be conveyed that strongly in the piece because of our personal connection.  A photograph should take no explanation for the viewer to understand it.  This is why I like vague titles for my shots and don't often include the stories behind it.  I like you, the viewer, to find your own story in the piece.

If it isn't your strongest work, you aren't supposed to share it, well at least that is the rule of thumb.  So going forward I am going to limit my photo posts to only 3-4 images.  I will only go over when there truly if it is truly special.  Because the weather was so bad this past weekend  I was refrained from shooting, so instead I went through evaluating all my images.  Don't worry I still got my one shot a day in, so my 365 is still going :) 

I learnt some really interesting thing going through my images that I had never noticed before.  First off, there were a bunch of shots that were almost there.  By this I mean the scene and composition were good but I was just missing one piece to make it a great shot.  I now have a list of shooting locations that I can go back to and just wait for that missing piece :) 

I also learnt something really interesting about the way I look at the world.  In photography one of the main compositional techniques is to move a viewer from the bottom left hand corner into the frame as this is the way most of us naturally want to see.  As I look through my pictures I have realized that I am the opposite.  In most of my photos I compose coming from the right hand side into the frame.  I even was looking at shots from years ago when I knew nothing about photography, but same thing, I moved the viewer from the right to left.  Is this wrong or right, you tell me.  I don't I will change because it is my natural style but I found it was an interesting observation. 

To self evaluate is a very difficult exercise.  We need to set all emotional connections aside, take a step back, and ask difficult questions.  Although, it is hard it is essential for us to improve in whatever craft we are evaluating.  And you never know, by doing so you might find out some interesting details that you never knew about yourself :)  Without further adieu, my Monday morning photos....

Pondering

Recession

Barren

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