a new dawn...

I recently had the chance to embark on a photo sharing journey that turned into a spiritual awakening of sorts.  

 

You might be wondering, even not believing how sharing photos can elicit a spiritual awakening?  Well, I felt the same way.  I didn't think that there was any way that a simple "challenge" posted by a fellow Facebooker could have any type of impact on my life, let alone a significant one.

But it did.

And as I have come to find, it's always the little things that somehow leave the biggest footprints on this path we call life.

You see, in this modern day life, where everything is hustle and bustle and there are few moments spent on smelling the flowers, or looking at the sky, or just simply 'being' without doing anything in particular, I was forced to stop for a few moments every day and to reflect on my day.  Within that reflection, I was asked to look for a specific event that I might have otherwise overlooked.  In the beginning, it felt unnatural to stop and think.  It also felt, for lack of a better word, fake.  I had an inner dialogue running with the two parts of my soul: the innocent, world-loving hippie part and the jaded, bitter and tired part.  Initially, my jaded soul tried to prevent me from reflecting by mocking the thoughts that I wanted to share.  I would hear, "oh, how cliche!" or very simply "der!"  There were also a few instances where I thought that my jaded soul would win out the battle and I felt the need to give up.  

But, I didn't.  

I had to force myself to feel vulnerable and exposed.  I had to force myself to NOT think for once and to just FEEL.  The hippie soul wriggled her bare feet in excitement and threw flowers in anticipation of the liberation of my thoughts.  So, I closed my eyes and reflected and then began to write my feelings.  A few times I had to ignore the perpetual knocking of the door by my jaded soul, but I was successful.  I took a deep breath and hit the "post" button and what happened after that was just amazing.

That first day I  waited with baited breath for replies to my post.  I felt nervous and naked.  People were reading my writing, and well, judging me.  That couldn't be good.  What would they think?  What would they say?  I kept reassuring myself that I did the right thing and was being true to my true self.  The replies were overwhelming.  The support was endless and my nerves had dissipated.  Suddenly, I couldn't wait for the next day's assignment...

As the days progressed, I found myself eager to reflect and write.  I would often take a peek the night before and then from the moment I woke up, I would look for the moments that I needed to document: a moment of sparkle; a delicious morsel of food; a favorite place, and suddenly the mundane moments that pass us by everyday became important and meaningful.  The things I took for granted every day suddenly gained an importance. Not because the world had changed, but because I changed the way I looked at the world.

I continued to document my moments and I found myself receiving feedback and support in a way that I had not been prepared for.  A challenge that I thought would help me find special moments throughout the day was suddenly helping me find myself. 

And so, here I am restarting my blog and reigniting a passion that I have had since a little girl: to be a writer.  I'm not sure what I will write about or how often I will write, but I will write and will try my best to remind myself and all of you, to not let the little moments pass by you.  Take hold of them, because you never know where they will lead you.

xo

Penny