When I'm 80 and sitting in a rocking chair listening to the Rolling Stones,
there is absolutely no way I'm going to feel old or forget my younger days.
~ Patty Duke
A friend of mine once described a particularly happy experience as a rocking chair moment. He said he knew that when he was old and sitting in a rocking chair that he was going to think back fondly on that event. We humans do have a tendency to reminisce and it can be fun to look back in time. One of the things I also registered from the comment and realized is that we still had a lot more living to do and a lot more moments to experience that would become a part of our treasured history.
Rocking chair moments don't have to involve expensive vacations or life changing events necessarily. Many of our most special moments take place because we are doing them with loved ones or simply participating in a favorite activity. Talk to most parents and they will have very specific memories of their children growing up that stand out to them. There are poignant moments during milestone markers, such as completing kindergarten, graduating high school, getting married, having a child, losing a loved one or achieving something meaningful, no matter how big or small.
One of the ways I like to track time and record special moments is through photography. Photography is a favorite art form and also a storyteller. Several years back I even participated in a photo blog group and for over two years I posted at least one photo a day. There were a few group leaders who would post the word of the day and the goal was to interpret or represent that word with a photo. It was fun, creative and sometimes challenging. It enhanced my tendency to look around myself with wondering new eyes. I know the photographic project came easily to me because I already had a tendency to look around myself with artful eyes.
Whether you are around the house, just going around town or away enjoying a summer vacation, look around you with the eyes of an artist and a photographer. What do you see? What do you notice? What draws your eye? What could you want to capture as an image? What would you want to share with others?
I recently went away on vacation with my husband and twin daughters. We spent a few days in Monterey and then moved over to camping at Little Basin, near Santa Cruz and Boulder Creek. Being on the coast and in the redwoods provided a smorgasbord of images to delight me.
Here is a slideshow from the Monterey area and another of camping in the redwoods at Little Basin with more photos.
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I'd love to see some images delight you. Consider what sorts of things make for rocking chair moments and photograph them, describe them in words or paint or collage them. The creative options are wide open, so explore and have fun.
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