Hello........ Over the past week I've been taking part in a Mindfulness Photography project over on Facebook, so I thought I would also share the photographs here on my blog.
Living with a Chronic illness can make life very tough and sometimes it's hard to find the joy in the day to day of life, so that's why I joined up to the Mindfulness Photography project.
Here's a description of the project.
'All you do is take 5 photos in one week, of things in life which make you feel Grateful, Happy Loved or Valued. They can be absolutely anything, small or large, anything which makes you who you are or puts a smile on your face'
So here are my photo's
Image one: I made this Poppy last weekend, it sums up in so many ways why I'm grateful. I made this Poppy for a good friend and popped a £1 in the Poppy appeal box
Image two: We picked the last of the pears from the garden this weeks,
it makes me happy to grow things, mother nature never fails to amaze me.
The sun was so low in the sky it cast such pretty light through the
colander.
Image three: On Monday we had a day of rain, I caught this image just as
the rain stopped, the clouds broke just as the the sun was setting, so
beautiful after a stormy day
Image four: is my lovely Merlin, he always keeps me company and makes me
smile, the weather turned colder this week, but he found a way to keep
warm hunkering down inside the duvet, with extra blanket, I think he's
got the right idea he spent most of the day like this purring and
snoozing, at the grand old age of 15, I figure why not!
Image five : I took this one this morning while I was playing, music
makes me happy and keeps me sane, even though I can only play a few
minutes at a time. I'm so grateful that I am able to write, sing and
play again. Don't know where I'd be without music in my life.
By the end I had seven photo's in total for my week, as I took one a day, so here are the other two with my reasons.
Image Six: Blue sky and sunshine, this time of year it's always wonderful, to get a sunny blue sky day but even more so for me, as it make me so skippy happy. As I mentioned earlier living with a chronic illness is not a lot of fun. I used to love being out in the sun so much, to feel the warmth on my skin. But the treatment I am having for my suspected Lyme Disease means for most of the year when the sun is at it's strongest I have to stay out of it, as one of the drug side effects is a allergy to sunlight.
Between November and March I'm able to tolerate the weaker sunlight so it makes me so happy when the sun shines, as you can imagine in Summer it's really miserable to have to cover up and avoid the sun, a life in the shade is just no fun.
Image 7: This is a picture of my lunch yesterday, it was really yummy mackerel salad with lemon, I try to eat as clean a diet as possible, in the hope it may help me recover. That's my new mantra to 'Live as clean a life as possible' to give my body the best chance of beating this illness.
Lots of rest, healthy foods, meditation and creativity all have a part to play in this, as well as Yoga I'm trying to get back into that, I have DVD for people with fatigue which is tailored for people with ME and I managed 3 minutes of the stretching and breathing section two times this week resting the two days in between, I'm hoping to be able to slowly build it up from there.
Well thanks for taking the time to have look at my week of Mindful Photography, what pictures would you have chosen from you're week?
Clare xx
Lovely pictures, lovely ideas, thanks for sharing xxx
ReplyDeleteSome really great photos and a great project.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos. The pear photo is really good with the light coming through the colander. Merlin looks incredibly cute! Our cat poppy has been snuggling under the covers of late I think she must be feeling the colder weather here. Enjoy your weekend x
ReplyDeleteI hope the clean living does help. Your cat is so lovely!
ReplyDeleteIt was lovely to read what you had been thinking about over the last week. Your photo of the sunset is stunning. What a beautiful sight that must have been. I hope that the diet and so on all works out for you, I hope that something works as I know that you have tried so hard to overcome your difficulties. xx
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea for that course, Mindful Photography sounds like a brilliant idea. Love your photos Clare.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Meredith
Your photos help me be mindful of my reasons for happiness as well, Clare. Thanks! This week II took some photos of the pretty pink camelia blossoms on our confused bush. It usually only has blooms in late Spring :) xx
ReplyDeleteAh, I do sympathise with the allergy to the sun. I have to keep indoors away from the strong sunshine of late Spring through to late Summer - depending on how the weather behaves of course! If I go out for a walk around the garden, or to the shops,I am always covered, no bare skin on show, apart from my face, and you do get strange looks for people in their skimpy outfits, brown as berries. But having had one skin cancer scare a couple of years ago, I am happy to be covered. The heat doesn't agree with me anyway, let alone the hot sun, so the sunny days we get at this time of year are my favourite. And I love mackerel salad with a zingy dressing too! Thanks for the visit to my book post.
ReplyDeleteI love your sunset photo, it's gorgeous. Hope you have great positive mindful week :) Jillxo
ReplyDeleteWonderfull post and fotos, Have a nice week,
ReplyDeletehttp://retriever-louisettesblogs.blogspot.be/2014/11/armistice-tombeau-du-soldat-inconnu.html
http://louisette.eklablog.com/mes-autres-blogs-p842116
I really like the sound of your photography project and believe profoundly that thinking about what makes us happy or grateful, and recording and celebrating it, is key to good mental health and a positive outlook on life. That sunset and the blue skies would've made me very happy indeed. x
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