9 comments so far
3 comments so far
I love how you see.
What exactly are we look at here - were you using a macro lens? It is AMAZING.
love the textures in these images, they look as if you should touch them.
(12.06.11 @ 10:55 PM)
p.s., go here.
11 comments so far
Oh, you brought so many lovely memories flooding back! I am so glad I got to meet you and be a part of this with you! Such an amazing experience!
(11.30.11 @ 01:10 PM)Lovely post! I remember my life as an artform workout like it was yesterday. Change my life both personally & professionally. Glad you ha the opportunity and same result :)
(11.30.11 @ 01:50 PM)yes, such beautiful memories. miss you all ;) thanks for the warm words, my dear friend :)
(11.30.11 @ 02:26 PM)more Jesh meetings to come!
You know, Shannon, there has always been a very deep place in my heart for creating. You have discovered much earlier how to use your deepest need. Who knows where else God will use this new track that you are on. It could be many sideswipes of fun in other directions that you don't know about now. Who knew i would start carving at 76? Who knew I could create baskets on my sewing machine that tickled peoples fancy! I have other things I want to start doing, also. Maybe all those paint supplies will come out (I'm a little afraid of that direction yet)....love you love you! gr ma
(12.01.11 @ 09:26 AM)How very true! If there's anything I don't like about photography, it's that I'm my own boss. I never thought I'd say that, but it's true. I always wish I had someone telling me how to do something or what to do or when to do it. But I don't. So I have to rely on myself. And sometimes that is the hardest thing. But it looks like you're doing mighty fine! :)
(12.05.11 @ 11:46 AM)How very true! If there's anything I don't like about photography, it's that I'm my own boss. I never thought I'd say that, but it's true. I always wish I had someone telling me how to do something or what to do or when to do it. But I don't. So I have to rely on myself. And sometimes that is the hardest thing. But it looks like you're doing mighty fine! :)
(12.05.11 @ 11:46 AM)Reading through this again. So wonderful to relive so many happy memories through your images and words. Thank you for reminding me how irreplaceable all of this is.
(12.06.11 @ 02:23 PM)Oh, how I loved going to Jesh's workshop. This one must of been pretty epic; I went to the one in LA, the beloved workshop. Ok, now we have even more in common...we must hang out soon!
(12.12.11 @ 10:03 PM)Love that last shot of Amy with the I Like You sign. This post reminds me that not only did I learn so much that week from Jesh but that I also learned and saw so many things through everyone's eyes, including yours. I was opened to new thoughts, and creative ideas - not to steal and just use - but to fill my creative tank. Seeing these photos now brings it all back and adds another level to what I didn't see then but can see now through you Shannon. Thanks for sharing. Thanks for honesty and almost yoga. And thanks for dancing! (how's all that for morning ramblings!)
(12.16.11 @ 05:06 AM)
7 comments so far
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHANNON!
Your blog is such a happy place for me to come and visit, and I felt like I got to visit with you for just a few quiet, whispered moments of glee on your birthday.
How cool that you share a birthday with Madeleine L'Engle!
I like that you like normal days. Me too, more and more with each passing week.
PS: That tree with ballerinas is so amazing! Love it. xoxo
(11.29.11 @ 11:41 AM)Happy Birthday, Shannon!!! (And a happy posthumous remembering of Madeleine L'Engle, one of my favorite authors.) The ballerina tree is the best! It makes me want to pick up my pointe shoes and pirouette again!
(11.29.11 @ 12:29 PM)beautiful, beautiful shan! this birthday feels extra special for some reason, and yet, like you said, just like a special, normal day.
i love you dear friend. :)
(11.29.11 @ 12:48 PM)I'm glad you had a happy birthday. :)
I love those ballerinas!
Aww...happy birthday, Shannon! I know that for the few minutes I've met you that you've enriched my life in a great way. :) Here's to many more special normal days!!
(11.30.11 @ 01:01 PM)shannon! thank you for the book rec, i LOVE madeline l'engle! yes yes, we are kindred souls. :)
(12.11.11 @ 11:56 PM)
there is a lady dancing in starbucks right now.
i dont know if i have ever blogged from starbucks----
i dont know how i feel about admitting i'm AT starbucks.
sorry peets, don't worry, i still think your milk foam consistency is way better.
okay i have NEVER had such a hard time figuring out my thoughts.
this blog post has been started four times.
story of my life right now.
the video took 60....
........i changed my mind on my haircut today about 10 times. she kept having to put the cape thing on again because i would want one more little snip to happen. its nice when people are gracious though. gracious with watching something emerge.
so working on shine has caused me to forget to do key things, like the dishes. laundry. dancing. going on walks. calling my friends. eating fresh foods. blogging. it's interesting how easy it is to let your natural and healthy rhythms slide down the priority list when your heart is so excited about something else!
it's also interesting how the crash of life can come down on you when you get just one second to breathe. last weekend i went to a birthday party and walked in the door and was for some reason about to cry. i was kind of surprised at my own emotions: i didn't plan for you, tears. what the heck. i think it was that i had been working so hard on shine and then had a moment of realizing: oh. its out. my idea is out. its vulnerable to have something be OUT. i also hadn't taken time to pause in a really long time. it's easy for me to forget, and to work like crazy. i dont want to be a person who works instead of being a human.
ive experienced though, that launching shine while i'm still in the process of getting everything together has caused me to feel so open and raw and like my heart is out there in the world with no strings holding it down.
i'm done with walking in the neutral zone with my photography. i actually feel like i'm being pushed out of the nest. this is simply where life has brought me. and now the choice is to either fly or fall. ha. i choose fly.
yeah to release a dream into the world and to let it live and breathe.....
its a bizarre and beautiful experience.
so i dont know.
this week has been both freeing and also has left me feeling this lack of control, which is so good for me. to not have it all planned out.
i am sensing this new phase for both just my life and my process as a photographer:
admitting, yup, this is me.
this is what i care about.
and ha..... its not like this is a new idea. its more just a clarification and a declaration. i've always been about the real, the daily, the path of an individual woman toward being fully herself, because it's my story too. i'm on the path too. even back in 2007 i did this photo project in school where i photographed my friends in their dorm rooms. my jaw dropped when i read my description about what i was all about at that time. so similar to now.
i dont know.
its interesting feeling called into being even more open when you thought you already were.
10 comments so far
I really love the photo at the top of this post? Is it in your home? Because it looks like it's taken from way up high, like the second story of a building, and I never had the impression that your pink house had a second floor!
Also, I think it is so cool + amazing that you've been about the sacredness of the everyday since that 4x5 project. So cool to see that you're getting more and more clear and in tune with who you have been all along.
I'm still so proud of you for taking these steps forward -- for launching shine out into the world, but also declaring that you are done with certain forms of photography work so that you can be completely clear and free to do the work only you can do.
I so know that feeling of vulnerability from putting your idea and yourself OUT THERE. I had that exact same feeling after I finally opened registration on my Look at Jesus course -- it was my first time taking a huge step like that, and I felt very exposed and raw and vulnerable, but also really alive, like I was living more fully into myself.
Long comment! But all that to say, I love the person you are and the story you're living. xoxo
(11.23.11 @ 08:16 PM)you inspire me, girl. beautiful vision. isn't it amazing that the ideas we were chewing on and wrestling with in college are still present today? i know mine certainly are. keep breathing. keep being. keep shining.
(11.23.11 @ 10:39 PM)thank you for being so real and open. you are an inspiration! i am also hoping to crack open my shell and begin pursuing what i know is in my heart.. also my dream since studying photography in college (and well before). it is a vulnerable place to be and just reading your honesty helps validate my own thoughts and fears and hopes and dreams. keep it up!!
(11.28.11 @ 09:27 AM)thank you for being so real and open. you are an inspiration! i am also hoping to crack open my shell and begin pursuing what i know is in my heart.. also my dream since studying photography in college (and well before). it is a vulnerable place to be and just reading your honesty helps validate my own thoughts and fears and hopes and dreams. keep it up!!
(11.28.11 @ 09:30 AM)thank you for being so real and open. you are an inspiration! i am also hoping to crack open my shell and begin pursuing what i know is in my heart.. also my dream since studying photography in college (and well before). it is a vulnerable place to be and just reading your honesty helps validate my own thoughts and fears and hopes and dreams. keep it up!!
(11.28.11 @ 09:30 AM)I know you posted this a while back - and admittedly I'm new around here - but I had to add a comment, because yes. YES. "i'm done with walking in the neutral zone with my photography." You have expressed in this post, so beautifully, something I have been feeling quite a bit this past year. It's always good to hear you're not alone in the uncertainties that plague an open, creative life.
Your photos and blog are wonderful! Continue to rock it!
(12.13.11 @ 12:25 PM)YES! yes! YES!!! LOVE it! You ROCK, Shannon!
(12.30.11 @ 07:14 PM)
because in real life, danielle is a woman who is gentle and open,
absolutely beautiful,
4 comments so far
I just read Danielle's blog of her experience. Wow!!! What a God given gift Shannon.......to assist folks to become what they have been meant all along to be! Shabash!
(11.18.11 @ 12:54 PM)This is so raw and beautiful. Finally!!! You will help so many :) !!!
(11.19.11 @ 04:18 PM)These are absolutely beautiful, Shannon. I love the idea and story behind Sine... what a wonderful gift for any woman on her journey. Your heart and spirit is amazing!
(11.26.11 @ 01:28 AM)shannon, these are beautiful! you captured her spirit for sure :) xo
(12.07.11 @ 01:14 PM)
anyway,
13 comments so far
I LOVE LOVE LOVE video Shannon. :) I am SO EXCITED about SHINE!!!!!
(11.17.11 @ 03:51 PM)I LOVE LOVE LOVE video Shannon. :) I am SO EXCITED about SHINE!!!!!
(11.17.11 @ 03:52 PM)I LOVE LOVE LOVE video Shannon. :) I am SO EXCITED about SHINE!!!!!
(11.17.11 @ 03:52 PM)best video EVER.. THANK YOU for pointing out the awkward fact of talking to a computer. And I'm so proud of you for following through with this idea/call.
(11.17.11 @ 09:20 PM)Way to make the video happen Shannon! Love it!
(11.19.11 @ 08:54 PM)"it is the person that I care about. It's not being this documentor of an event." beautiful. :)
(11.20.11 @ 01:07 PM)"it is the person that i care about. it's not being this documentor of an event." beautiful. :)
(11.20.11 @ 01:11 PM)LOVE this Shan. i respect how your journey of discovering who you are has actually led to a job change---and not only that, but a job change toward helping OTHERS discover who they are. i could shout out how excited i am for you!
(11.21.11 @ 02:27 PM)perfect. for you, for this season, for all of us who will be able to share in your work.
(11.21.11 @ 02:49 PM)Shannon, I'm super excited for you and for this project. What an awesome adventure awaits =) God has undoubtedly given you so many gifts. Thank you for sharing them with us. Hugs!
Shan it's so good to hear your voice and see your pretty face! Shine is such an awesome idea, I can't wait to see your photos! Quick question, are you still gonna do engagement shoots? Cause I've always wanted to fly down to LA when I get engaged and get you to take the pics, exactly for the reasons you talked about, cause you capture personality, and real expressions in your photography! I hate engagement sessions that try to make couples look in love, but you can tell they're just posing... especially cause they really are in love, it's just not being visually captured! :) But either way I'm so excited about what you shared, and I just love knowing there are pics of yours in the future...AMAZING pics that I get to ogle! Blessings Miss. Awesome.
(11.21.11 @ 04:18 PM)so happy for you shannon! you are doing something so true to who you are and i know it will produce such great fruit. i'm inspired by your passion. and i think your video was SO CUTE.
(11.21.11 @ 09:22 PM)I want to be a shine person!
(11.30.11 @ 03:44 PM)
Oh my gosh-- brilliant. I have a bajillion notebooks I have never finished. But only one at a time. And maybe, I don't finish them, because I feel I need to keep to one topic when writing in it-- yet, I have only thought once about having multiple notebooks-- brushed it off as a silly thought... but now that i see you actually doing this, I think it is awesome... Thanks for this post! :)
(12.07.11 @ 12:20 AM)I love this!
I am a total notebook person. And the notebooks have to be *just right* for me to be able to use them at all.
I'm also a total planner girl. I get obsessed with having the exact right planner for my needs. This becomes a problem when my needs change ... then I have to go find a new planner to fit the mold.
About six months ago, I got into Karen Walrond's approach to journalling: having a single Moleskine notebook that is the place for EVERYTHING. It's where I put my to-do lists, my blog post ideas, my brainstorms, my drawings, little tidbits and ephemera that I come across in daily life.
So I guess you could say that I'm becoming a one-notebook kind of gal. Which is different than the tack you take of one notebook for each part of your life. Interesting. :)
(12.07.11 @ 12:59 AM)Umm this post was brilliant. I know that you keep journals/notebooks. I do too... but this post made me realize that I have some fear of having too many or being too cluttery in life. But I often feel like I need a different journal for everything -- that it would be cool to be able to look back into my "Motherhood" journal and read about that aspect of life over the years instead of just sifting through my one everything journal. Oh thank you for this!!!!! I'm resolving to start more journals now.
(12.07.11 @ 08:14 AM)Umm this post was brilliant. I know that you keep journals/notebooks. I do too... but this post made me realize that I have some fear of having too many or being too cluttery in life. But I often feel like I need a different journal for everything -- that it would be cool to be able to look back into my "Motherhood" journal and read about that aspect of life over the years instead of just sifting through my one everything journal. Oh thank you for this!!!!! I'm resolving to start more journals now.
(12.07.11 @ 08:17 AM)We are twins in this!! I've always had an obsession with journals... my annoyed mom can attest ("Do you REALLY need ANOTHER notebook!?"). Yes. Yes, mom, I do. Journals from trips I've taken are my most prized souvenirs, journals I've filled are my favorite decoration on the shelf, journals I'm writing in now make me excited to write and dream. And the journal HAS to be perfect - it has to speak to me, I have to want to write in it. Someday, we're going to go to Berkeley together and I'm going to take you to Castle In the Air. The most beautiful journals in the world live there (along with a thousand other beautiful things). Love you!
(12.07.11 @ 09:17 AM)You. are. so. awesome. Holy cats. You really inspire me, like, as much as coffee does. Every time!
(12.08.11 @ 08:59 AM)Your notebook dreaming fills me to the brim with energy.
(12.08.11 @ 02:40 PM)Oh man, you really hit the nail on the head with this post. I'm a lifelong notebook-keeper and I loved reading about your process with getting thoughts onto paper.
p.s. your blog always makes me breathe a little deeper and enjoy the everyday things a little more. Thank you for that.
(12.09.11 @ 11:00 AM)yes yes yes to notebooks. i love them, and have so many as well! i should create a new one per project though. :)
(12.12.11 @ 12:18 AM)