[ezcol_1third]How can it be January 5th already?  I’m unquestionably behind on everything… this is no way to start!

I haven’t sorted out all the New Year’s-fresh-start-cleaning I had planned (rather embarrassingly, the fridge still has leftovers from Thanksgiving in it!), I am painfully behind on getting the Spring issue of PITH + VIGOR ready (I am still accepting submissions, if you are interested, read here) and I haven’t even really fully sorted out my goals and resolutions – well, actually I partially have – but a plan to make them happen remains totally non-existent.[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end][/ezcol_2third_end]

But despite this somewhat demoralizing set of facts, I am undoubtedly in the freshest, most ready, frame of mind that I have been in quite a while.  Why?  I don’t exactly know – but I suspect you can only be in the fog for so long before fog just naturally goes away.  Or maybe it is because I have taken some baby steps (probably indecipherable to anyone but me) that have started to create momentum.

[ezcol_1half][/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end][/ezcol_1half_end]

And I have needed some momentum lately.  Momentum to write more, momentum to plan, momentum to reach out to others, to break old habits and make better new ones.  So this post is really quite simple – it is about keeping up the momentum.

I got a new camera and it is a really stellar piece of equipment.  It is a Canon 70D and it is light-years better than my 10-year-old Canon Rebel that was (I think) the first generation of that camera.  The garden is treacherously covered in thick ice-snow (even with the extra 15lbs I intend to lose as part of my momentum spree, my feet don’t break through the crust) and I nearly broke myself and the camera a few times while shooting around.  But with frozen fingers, and my trusty companion (Zippy) I persevered.

This is a meditation of sorts that I plan to do at least once every 5 days.  I’ll get better with the camera, my observations, and hopefully will notice a few things that are just waiting to be discovered and develop some rhythm.

So, here it is, documenting the first in a series.  The garden on January 4th 2015 – with a new camera that I don’t fully know how to use yet.  The aim – the capture the micro-season that is right now.  I’ve shared some other images on instagram as well.

As I look through these on my computer screen, I am just amazed at how easily this camera captured such crisp clear images (compared to my old camera which was having serious auto focus and granularity issues that I really struggled to overcome).  I see plenty of room for improvement, but am so grateful to have the tools at my disposal that will allow me to continue to grow and expand my skills.

I am working on a post to look back over everything that happened in 2015 – but I have to admit, there is a big part of me that doesn’t want to take the time, I’d rather barrel ahead.  But I think putting to paper all the things that I did will be something that I will be glad I did later.  It is something I’ve wished I’d done many many times in the past.

Do you take the time to review – either yearly or monthly or maybe even daily?  I have made it a habit in my life to never look back, go back, or allow for regret – it’s just not in my nature, probably to a fault.  But I recently read Erin’s post about her year (though she makes me feel horribly under-achieving) and am ever more spurred to take the time to review and look back… as my momentum builds I think it will help me to look forward.

-Rochelle