new beginnings

I come back to study this space once or twice a week. I look at it with my head cocked to one side remembering the days of having the time and space to fill it up with my meandering thoughts and photographs. It is both a comfortable friend and a mocking empty canvas. What to put here? Words? Pictures? Nothing?

I have so much in my head and so many half-started projects and creative ventures that I think it has overwhelmed me to the point of inertia.  Almost.  

But soon, I think, the wheels will unlock and I'll skitter-bump into forward motion again.  Because I want to share the exciting possibilities of what I'm doing and planning.  Writing makes me accountable, which has become necessary for me since leaving my comfy and secure career over six years ago and working from home while being a parent.

Here's one little piece of the puzzle - a commitment to a 365 project:  one (or more) photos every day for an entire year.  To develop my skills as a photographer, and give myself permission to look away from the computer, the mundane tasks of daily life, and the business of developing not only my own business but a project so big and exciting that I've barely breathed since it was recently announced publicly. 

So here, to ground me, is my hand firmly clasped with Sweetpea's.  Because there is no piece of the puzzle, no new beginning that does not have her in it.

And just in case you were wondering what that so big project might be, I will be co-directing/producing the 2012 San Francisco LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER show with the wonderful Kirsten of  The Norwindians.  I will have more information soon on just what it will involve, but for now I'll say that one of the reasons I'm involved is the Open Mic session that took place at Blogher in San Diego this past August.  It was an intimate venue where women were invited to step up to the podium and read their words out loud.  Ann Imig, the founder of Listen to Your Mother, hosted the Open Mic and it was hands-down the most inspiring and FUN event I've attended at a conference.

Wish us luck?  And if you are a writer/mother in the San Francisco Bay Area, be prepared for us to come knocking....