Questions on living in the real world while trying to have a spiritual life

The Art of Well Being

THRESHOLDS
+ What are your threshold moments?  What experiences changed you, woke you up, taught you something important about life?  Think about challenging moments and also moments of great happiness and achievement.  Consider moments just after the difficult times, when you started find your feet again.
- Wings.  I woke up to myself.  I realized that I have this kid joy, yearning for closeness and touch, and need to express myself out loud.
- My Father's and Mother's death.  My Father's death.  Loss of family. Deep close connection evoking loss of safety, belonging.
-Boston U graduation.  Passage from a sense of failure to having my Father be proud of me and relief.

+ Think about how you could honor or celebrate one of those threshold moments to photography. 
- Emergence to joy, abandon movement, hugging/touch, live out loud - Dance
- Something very close to me and losing it. - Hugging my kids.
- Pride. relief. - Living a good life.

+ Loosely, openly consider making images about that threshold.  Think about what crossing that threshold felt like.  Think about the things, scenes, and people that populated that time of your life.  What would it look like to make images about these things.  Spend a few moments visualizing and then write down any visual ideas.
- Exhaling.  Blowing out after holding breath. Dancing wildly out in public.  Jumping up and down.  Laughing.  Throwing flowers up in the sky.  Splashing puddles. Running.  Throwing myself into the water.  Me throwing a stone into a window.

+Consider what you gained when you crossed your chosen threshold moment.  What scenes or subjects represent the new you.  What could you photograph to represent that?
- Connection with myself; connection with my joy
- Images: me in the mirror - old me/new me.  old me in tie and jacket.  new me, funny hat and glasses.  Bridge crossing.  Well worn path to wandering uphill...



SANCTUARY
+What are your safe, happy places - your places of personal strength?  What places/people/things/experiences feel like sanctuary spaces to you?

Strength: Gym (physical).   Meditation (spiritual)   Marianne (emotional)
Happy: My children.  Photographing around Portland. My friends.
Safe: My bed.  My home.

+Reflect what your sanctuary spaces feel like.  What feelings come to mind?
- comfort, warmth,  safety, enclosed

+What ones are charged with visual potential.  Write down the visual ideas.  How can you photograph your favorite sanctuary space/person/thing/experience?  How can you visually represent the feeling associated with your sanctuary space?
- Me totally wrapped up in a blanket with my face hidden
-

SENSES
+ Think about the sensations that make your world come alive.  What makes you feel physically good? Think about specific senses.
+ Which senses feels most compelling to you?  Consider what it might look like to photograph that sense.  Write down any ideas.  Ask yourself what it feels like to experience that sense.  What would it look like to photography your sense through the lens of that feeling?

JOY
+ What makes your smile?  What people/places/things/experiences bring joy into your life?
+ What makes you laugh?  Think about the last time you laughed fully, completely - the last time you were bursting with silliness and joy?  What makes you laugh out loud?
+ Choose the items that seem filled with the most visual potential.  How could you photograph such things?  What could you do to bring that joy and humor alive in your images?  Write down any subject/location/aesthetic ideas.