I can’t quite capture in words what I’m feeling tonight. Today and this entire past week have been a roller coaster, complete with ups and downs, plenty of speed and momentum, and even a little nausea thrown in. I won’t go into all the details, but I would like to briefly share the final thoughts I have before this week wraps and we start all over again tomorrow. To top it off, tomorrow is the beginning of February and the birthday of my little boy. These moments get me somewhat sentimental and always make me think… about where we’ve been and where we’re going.

REFLECT: Time keeps on slipping… into the future.
Time moves so quickly that it’s hard to keep up. Each year slips by faster. My kids are the closest evidence of this fleeting time we each have and how quickly it passes us by. How do you use that time? How can you stop the clock? I believe our photography is one way, our stories, our messages, even our blogs. We stop time when we stop ourselves long enough to capture a moment, a thought, a feeling. Are you stopping time? If not, do it now, at the beginning of the month, stop time long enough to reflect on the previous month. Here are some ideas:

• If you’re on the tasra365 journey, review your images from the last month. See what you’ve learned, which ones stand out, which ones you’re most proud of and share them in a blog post or tweet so others can stop and pause as well.
• If you’re a scrapbooker, choose 3 – 5 images from January and create one page (digital or paper) that celebrates the meaning of January. Post it on your refrigerator throughout February to remind you to slow down.
• If you’re on Twitter, Facebook or are a blogger, take 15 minutes to review your posts from the previous month. What happened, what questions did you have, what victories did you achieve, what obstacles did you overcome? Pay attention to where you’ve been so you can think about where you’re going.

DREAM: Calling all dreamers.
I remember when I believed I could be a professional dancer. First it was being a ballerina in Swan Lake… until I was told I wasn’t tall enough. After that I wanted to be a backup dancer for Janet Jackson or Paula Abdul, until I was confronted with injury. So I gave up. I pretended I didn’t care, that I had matured, that I was too old for those dreams anymore. But, if you see me watching So You Think You Can Dance, you’ll see it in my eyes, I never stopped dreaming, I just stopped fighting for the dream. It became like the first image of the moon… a distant picture of where I wanted to go, instead of like the picture above that is becoming bigger and brighter with each passing day.

Do you remember when you had the wide-eyed youthful belief that anything was possible? You could fight fires, fly airplanes or dance in the ballet. It’s okay that your dreams have changed, but change them, don’t abandon dreaming altogether. We let practicality rain on our parade too often. Let February be a month of dreaming… about love for people, passion for your craft, and hope for your future.

BELIEVE: Shoot for the moon… you’ll land in the stars.
I had a poster with that saying on it when I taught junior high. I’m thinking it’s wrong. Shoot for the moon… and get to the moon would be better. Why settle for the stars? Like the image above, get so close that the light becomes blinding, that you’re not even sure where you are but you know it’s a beautiful place.

I think of my vision for Teen Identity and how I want every teen girl to unleash their true beauty, to have a voice and walk into their future with boldness and confidence. I want a new generation of young girls to take the world by storm and I’m doing everything I can to make that happen. As I shoot for the moon, I’m praying that we reach it. Why not you? What are you shooting for?

Manual: Page 31—Image Quality

Images: Looked at images in my Studio Photography today. Am going to take on some of the book’s challenges in the coming weeks.