Inspiration

Every once in a while, I get uninspired. January was a tough month. I didn't feel like taking pictures, I didn't feel like blogging. I was sort of trudging through each day, doing what needed to get done. I forced myself to do a couple of blog posts, snap a few pictures. And then, the calendar changed. February arrived. I don't know if it was a post-holiday funk, or the effects of living in New England in January, but whatever it was, it left.

My best friend from high school had her first child, which inspired me to focus more on my newborn photography. I posted that I was going to do some free newborn sessions, and the response was overwhelming. I feel energized, refreshed. I love pouring myself into one particular part of photography at a time; learning it, attempting to master it. I love that people have so much faith in me, in my photographic "gut", that they're excited to have me shoot their babies. And I'm excited to deliver.

Then, I got an email from Mamalode, the online magazine that published my Strength, Hope, and Blueberries piece. I wrote a short essay a few months ago, reflections on a particularly tough experience I had at a playground with Addy, and they're publishing it next week. And I was reminded that people are interested in what I have to say. Even people who don't know me, don't know Addy, are listening. And all of a sudden, my mind was whirling, and my fingers were itching to type and share and pour myself out on paper.

And you know Pintrest? (If you don't, I'm not good at explaining it, so you'll have to Google it.) Well, Mamalode pinned my blog on Pintrest. I'm one of 13 blogs they have pinned right now on their "Mamalode Writers" pinboard. And the 12 other blogs are awesome. Which makes me sit a little straighter, smile a little brighter, because it's cool being included in that kind of company.

Every time someone tells me they love my blog, my heart swells. And when a stranger comments on a picture I took that was posted on Facebook, my heart swells. And when my week is topped off with an email letting me know I'm getting published, again, well... I'm about to bust apart. After a month of funk, I'm feeling good, energized, inspired.

A few pics from today's trip to the Museum of Science:

Meet Bear. You'll be seeing a lot of him, because he doesn't leave Addy's side. Unless you want to hear screaming, sobbing, "BEAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!"

It's going to be a good month.