The Present

At the beginning of the month, Stacy Julian posted this challenge on her site:

You have everything you need right now to be vibrant, happy and fully engaged in the creative process of life. Sometimes you just have to slow down, look around and realize it!

Here’s what I want you to do …

• Snap ten or twelve photos of your life right now. Or find recent photos that you've already taken.
• Compile these photos in [a mini album]
• Keep or carry this album with you, tucked in your purse or desk drawer for one full year.
• Promise to glance through the album every time you stumble upon it or pull it out.
• On October 1st, 2009, create a scrapbook page about your experience.

I think you'll find that regardless of what you choose to photograph, be it nature, your children, your pets, your home, your current projects --- anything and everything, that life is in flux. We and our surroundings are constantly changing (even when you don't see it or believe it) and this little challenge/project is designed to STOP you, in the throws of your busy-ness and show you in an instant ALL that you have and can choose to be grateful for -- ALL that is here NOW...

I decided to participate, and I made this 4x4 mini album from scratch (following a tutorial on Tresa Black's site) and filled it with 10 recent pictures. The pages have pockets with pull-out inserts on which I've written about the pictures and life as it is today. Believe me, I know my life will be changing QUITE A BIT in the next year, what with the Gutsy Dad coming home, the baby arriving, and a move back to the States, so it was nice to pause and reflect on what makes up my life RIGHT NOW.

Thanks, Stacy and Tresa, for the inspiration. Focusing on this little project got me a few days closer to the end of the RLBT.

(This last picture also features a cameo appearance by part of The Belly, as well as a glimpse of another one of the rugs from the Gutsy Dad.)