Bringing my life to life!

Our office is always stocked full of Dove chocolates (the caramel ones are my fav!) and these little treats have a 'Dove Promises Message' on the inside of the wrapper. Sometimes they are pretty corny, some even mean (I got one that said 'Quit a bad habit for today'...so basically I should have spit out my yummy chocolate! That is just not nice!), but sometimes they are somewhat thought-provoking for me. I've had one on my desk for about a week now that says 'Bring your life to life: stop planning, start doing'.

I kept this one because I am definitely a planner by nature and so I started thinking about the things in my life that I'm not DOING- the things I daydream about and plan out how I would do them, but never actually DO them. I started thinking about how I need to develop a hobby. I looked at my life and realized there isn't really anything that I do just for me.

I see all my friends/family who have certain things they love to do and I see them enjoying the time they spend doing them. I would love to have something like that- something I so enjoyed that I couldn't wait to work on it again and I was always proud of what I accomplished. One person I look to for this encouragement is my Mom. She loves sewing, quilting and working on different projects. She could spend all day on a Saturday (or any given day) just working on her latest project and be thrilled to be doing it. And she's really good at it! Another friend, Jill, loves crafting and is so creative and artistic. I love keeping up with her blog because she always has the neatest projects going. Then there is my husband. Jason started getting into photography a couple of years ago when we went to Rwanda. He had never picked up a camera before, but he is such a natural! He has a unique eye and captures images and moments in time that are beautiful and breath-taking.

Jason and I were on our way home from Southern Missouri yesterday afternoon and I told him that I would really like to pick up a hobby. I told him I wanted something I that I love to do and enjoy to do, but that I wasn't sure what it would be. He immediately said, 'You love taking pictures'. And he was right. It was neat to hear him say that because photography is really the idea I've been throwing around for a while now. It's true, I love to take pictures. I really love having moments captured in time with my friends and family. I love smiles and hugs and laughs that just seem to jump out of photos. I even spent some time researching about photography online last week.

This is where it gets scary for me, though. I'm scared of failing. I have always been the type of person that won't try new things if I don't think I'll do well. It's one thing that I really dislike about myself. Who ever gets everything absolutely right the first time anyway? It just doesn't happen. I read something the other day about that (if only I could remember what or where...)...basically, it made me feel a push inside that said it's OK to fail, as long as I try. Of course I won't get it all right the first time and I might not even be good at it. But, that shouldn't keep me from giving it my all. How can I live life to the fullest if I'm too scared to give it a whirl!

So, I'm almost ready to push myself out of the 'planning phase' of this new adventure. I think I've decided to ask my sister, Clare to be my first photograh-ee. As you read this, if you know me at all, that will probably be a big shocker! My sister and I aren't especially close. Not because we don't love each other, but because we are completely opposite in every way and rarely even have anything in common to even discuss. So, why am I asking her then? Because despite the fact that we aren't close and rarely talk, I trust her and know I wouldn't feel uncomfortable with her. Since I don't even really know what I'm doing yet, I wanted to ask someone with whom I can completely be myself and with whom I will be comfortable enough to give directions, etc. So, that should be fun.

Of course, life is so hectic and busy right now that I'm not even sure when we would be able to set a time to get together. But, that's a worry for another day! I'm moving forward with this...next step, ask Clare! (O: