Surprise Inspiration

As sometimes happens, I sit at the computer and I start this domino chain of wandering that most of the time ends nowhere. I hop from site to site, either on a whim, or from a connection made from that site. I do not leave the chair more enlightened or happier or richer or satisfied. In fact, I usually end up leaving annoyed that I wasted a few hours of my time aimlessly surfing.

But sometimes, I visit my favorite sites and there's a little link I end up following that leads me to another - and before I know it - I feel like I was guided there by some force trying to help me improve. Although most of the time I do not know it at the moment. But sometimes I do - that the site I just "accidentally" landed on is something that will change my life forever in some way, large or small.

I started writing a post this morning, somewhat related to this - about how I found another of my favorite photographers, Carla Ten Eyck. She has become my greatest inspiration over the last few years in photography and I found her quite by accident. :) The post is about lens flare (which I will explain about in the post!), and that being the reason I found her, since I was searching the web back then about what this phenomenon was and just how the heck did one go about doing it! No one knew. It was something lots of people did capture, others wanted to try and capture, but no one really knew how they did it... and then she went and just happened to have a little tutorial right around the same time on her old site about how she does it. Voila! Instant Connection. :)

But anyway, that post is going to have to wait for another day, since today became a wandering day - with sick kids and therapies and such, there were so many distractions today! It was just not panning out as a working day. So, quickly sitting down, trying to find answers for something food and health related, I somehow ended up back on photography stuff - stepped through many sites and ended up here, on Karen Stott's Pursuit 31 page, with this quote that I just needed to hear today. Her story deeply resonated with me and her workshop is something I could really use right now, and it's good timing that I ended up there - accidentally. Huh. :)

This quote comes at your fear from a different angle than most inspirational quotes you hear, I think that's why I liked it so much:


"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Marianne Williamson

Like I have said before, you just never know when inspiration, motivation and connections will be placed in your path, just when you need them most. :)

A little lens flare preview for tomorrow's post: