Yesterday I cleaned the closet in our office. It holds a bookcase, art and office supplies, wrapping paper, a couple of suitcases, and lots of photos. Photos I have printed off, from various places, over the past ten years or so. I poured them out of the manilla envelopes they were stored in, letting them drop between my legs as I sat on the floor. There was no rhyme nor reason as to how they were stuffed into the envelopes, and soon I found myself making piles. It did not take long before I became emotional, following memories that filled me with both delight and anguish. I got up and made myself a latte.
When I came back, I picked the photos up, and stuffed them back into the envelopes lining them up on the bottom shelf of the bookcase. I finished the chore at hand and walked away.
I have decided (along with a couple of like-minded women) to play a bit more with my camera this year. For me this means looking for ways I might capture my emotions and energy; be it in camera, or in post processing. It also means more self-refecting, along with a bit of exfoliating.
Today have a plan for tackling those envelopes in the office closet. A plan that does not sound too daunting. I also plan to keep the envelopes, filling them with this years prints, for there is something magical about holding a moment in time in your hands, be it happy or sad.
The first thing I will do however, is label them.
There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.
— Martha Graham