field notes

6/6 GHR Check-In

by

Time to evaluate my progress for my Groundhog Resolutions, the 10th
annual attempt at creating life-long habits for myself. I’ve discovered
that right after the end of the year holidays I am not mentally or
physically capable of sticking with resolutions for the upcoming new
year. I need a break so I take the whole month of January off to reflect
and plan and start on 2/2 instead of 1/1.

I’ll check back in on myself on 7/7

Fun-

Get another tattoo: I am dragging ass on this one. Why?

More camping: Attempted
and failed to secure a spot at Lil Sahara, recently.. The park office
was closed. Park ranger said we could stay no penalty but it was SPARCE.
It was either sleep on sand or asphalt parking lot. No shade or water
sources. Um, no. See also, a camping trip in Robbers Cave last month.

More skinny dipping: Gotta get sneaky since summer is here

Join a book club: Still no decent bookclubs around town.

50 Books a year challenge: Currently reading “I Married Adventure” by Osa Johnson of Kansas. Adventure! Photography!

Fitness-

Yoga:

Almost daily practice using the Sworkit app and DVDs. Is it supposed to hurt when I stretch?

Consistent training: Working
out with Tracy is mutually beneficial. Accountability may be the one
thing I needed to maintain this. We’ve just started out this past week
and so far so good for both of us. Will utilize digital encouragement as
well with our Fitbits.

Consistent nutritional training: Work
in progress. Bad food is too cheap and easy to acquire while healthier
options are scare and pricey. Looking at some non-meat options as well
as eating at home more. Again, accountability is key here.

Hashing: Summer
is here! More runs, more beers! Got called out by THHH Mismanagement
for not showing up in awhile. Will be paying for it when I’m back on
trail.

Hiking: Taken
more than a few hikes this year and explored familiar and new trails.
Ancient Forest was extensive but limited access. Will go back. Also,
urban hikes along River parks, Midland valley and Turkey mountain.

Geocaching: I am 0 for 12 so far this year. Um, what? Meanwhile, Tracy has decided to sign up and has found two that I wanted.

Meditation: Will be utilizing the same space as kickboxing and yoga for this.

Creative-

Complete my book: Plot and character developments Novel or short stories? Hmm…

Photo essay on a topic I am passionate about: Fail.

Video log every month: I am on Vimeo. So far just dark, grainy video of me looking tired but giddy for some reason.  

Leave inspirational notes everywhere: Send me inspiration.

Year in photos album: 2017 is just there, waiting on me. Cannot wait to see what 2018 memories I’ll have at the EOY.

Shoot more film: Buy more film. Ain’t cheap!

DAM: Constant work in progress here

I SUCK AT THIS….is it worth it?

And Action!

by

How beneficial is all this research I am doing for various projects if if I’m not willing to apply it?

I
tend to overthink and research topics to the point I am overwhelmed and
paralyzed into inaction. I will do a little more research and thinking I
haven’t done enough. Procrastinating?

It gets to the point when I
get comfortable with just doing the research and thinking that is
enough. Learning isn’t the same as doing, I know this but ignore it.What
I don’t know is if my applying what I have learned is going to be
either perfect or will it be half-assed?

This shouldn’t
paralyze me but it does. If anything else I will be closer to my goals
by trying it and editing along the way. Like Nike tells us, “just do
it.”

Tools

by

Attempts at putting ten year old thoughts and plots into a novel is frustrating. Finding the right/write tools even more so.

They matter and then they don’t.

5/5 GHR Check-In

by

Time to evaluate my progress for my Groundhog Resolutions, the 10th  
annual attempt at creating life-long habits for myself. I’ve discovered
that right after the end of the year holidays I am not mentally or  
physically capable of sticking with resolutions for the upcoming new  
year. I need a break so I take the whole month of January off to reflect
 and plan and start on 2/2 instead of 1/1.

I’ll check back in on myself on 6/6

Fun-

50 Books a year challenge: Up to 9 so far. Need to get a move on.

Fitness-

Calvinball: Acquired balls but need to dedicate time to learning the rules and enjoying

Yoga: Work in progress

More 5 & 10k obstacle course racing: We did it! Just today we ran the Warrior Dash. Now we’re looking into local 5ks and cause to support.

Consistent training: Working
 out with Tracy is mutually beneficial. Accountability may be the one  
thing I needed to maintain this. We’ve just started out this past week  
and so far so good for both of us. Will utilize digital encouragement as
 well with our Fitbits.

Consistent nutritional training: Work
 in progress. Bad food is too cheap and easy to acquire while healthier
 options are scarce and pricey. Looking at some non-meat options as
well  as eating at home more. Again, accountability is key here. No
Whataburger in weeks!

Hashing:   Waiting on warmer weather. Got called out by THHH Mismanagement for it too. Will be paying for it when I’m back on trail.

Hiking: Taken
 more than a few hikes this year and explored familiar and new trails.
Ancient Forest was extensive but limited access. Will go back. Also,  
urban hikes along River parks, Midland valley and Turkey mountain.

Geocaching: I am 0 for 15 so far this year. Um, what? Meanwhile, Tracy has decided to sign up and has found two that I wanted.

Meditation: Will be utilizing the same space as kickboxing and yoga for this.

Creative-

Complete my book: The plot thickens…finally.

Photo essay on a topic I am passionate about: Waiting for a topic and inspiration.

Video log every month: Landed on Vimeo instead of YouTube because I am getting rid of Google soon. So far just dark, grainy video of me looking tired but giddy for some reason.  

Leave inspirational notes everywhere: Waiting on weather to get better and people hit the streets. Send me inspiration.

Year in photos album: 2017 is just there, waiting on me. Cannot wait to see what 2018 memories I’ll have at the EOY.

Shoot more film: Buy more film. Ain’t cheap!

Find my muse: Found her. Now how to use her?

DAM: Constant work in progress here

Creative Storage

by

“
You must be constantly adding to your store. For this purpose you
create… principally upon your own impressions, feelings and experiences.
You also acquire material from life around you, real and imaginary,
from reminiscences, books, art, science, knowledge of all kinds, from
journeys, museums and above all from communication with other human
beings.

“

Pleasant Distractions

by

These are the pleasant distractions currently occupying my attention in no particular order…

  • My secret, ambitious book project
  • hikery
  • portrait photography projects
  • re-learning javascript, html5, CSS
  • building my photography group
  • re-building my server
  • wandering
  • writing more for my website
  • audio/video updates on my progress

3/3 GHR Check-In!

by

Time to evaluate my progress for my Groundhog Resolutions, the 10th
annual attempt at creating life-long habits for myself. I’ve discovered
that right after the end of the year holidays I am not mentally or
physically capable of sticking with resolutions for the upcoming new
year. I need a break so I take the whole month of January off to reflect
and plan and start on 2/2 instead of 1/1.

I’ll check back in on myself on 4/4

Fun-

Get another tattoo: Coming soon

More camping: Waiting on warmer weather

More skinny dipping:

Waiting on warmer weather

Learn Spanish more fluently: Downloaded the Duolingo app for practice

Join a book club: No decent bookclubs around town. Start one?

50 Books a year challenge: I
need to average 5 books a month to complete this goal. I’ve read two
and started a 3rd. Not bad for the month of February going into March.

Snail mail friend: Need to seek, find, write

Volunteer: Looking into organizations that I can contribute to

Fitness-

Kickboxing: Dusted off an old DVD called Tae Bo and set up a space to work out in. Let’s see how this will work.

Self-defense: Eh. Not to thrilled with this one. May drop.

Yoga: Almost daily practice using the Sworkit app and DVDs. Is it supposed to hurt when I stretch?

More 5 & 10k obstacle course racing: I may have missed the boat for OCR this year. Looking into local 5ks and cause to support.

Consistent training: Working
out with Tracy is mutually beneficial. Accountability may be the one
thing I needed to maintain this. We’ve just started out this past week
and so far so good for both of us. Will utilize digital encouragement as
well with our Fitbits.

Consistent nutritional training: Work
in progress. Bad food is too cheap and easy to acquire while healthier
options are scare and pricey. Looking at some non-meat options as well
as eating at home more. Again, accountability is key here.

Hashing:

Waiting on warmer weather. Got called out by THHH Mismanagement for it too. Will be paying for it when I’m back on trail.

Hiking: Taken
more than a few hikes this year and explored familiar and new trails.
Ancient Forest was extensive but limited access. Will go back. Also,
urban hikes along River parks, Midland valley and Turkey mountain.

Geocaching: I am 0 for 12 so far this year. Um, what? Meanwhile, Tracy has decided to sign up and has found two that I wanted.

Meditation: Will be utilizing the same space as kickboxing and yoga for this.

Creative-

Complete my book: Researching settings, plot, characters and more. Novel or short stories? Hmm…

Photo essay on a topic I am passionate about: Waiting on warmer weather and a topic.

Video log every month: Landed on Youtube instead of Vimeo. So far just dark, grainy video of me looking tired but giddy for some reason.  

Leave inspirational notes everywhere: Send me inspiration.

Year in photos album: 2017 is just there, waiting on me. Cannot wait to see what 2018 memories I’ll have at the EOY.

Shoot more film: Buy more film. Ain’t cheap!

Find my muse: Found her. Now how to use her?

DAM: Constant work in progress here

image

Therapeutic Photography

by

As I’ve stated previously, it’s
been a shitty year and not a lot to show for it. In fact, I have lost
so much. There are times too, that I have been bored or uninspired with
my hobbies, including photography. Most of the time, however, I just
pick up the camera and go. Go out, anywhere. Shoot anything to make
myself feel better. The camera and the process is therapy to me. It
relieves me of stress and helps me create. Photography helps me to focus
(see what I did there?) on what’s in front of me and allows for a
pleasant distraction. It reduces frustration and anxiety. 

self-portrait 5m after waking

Photo Walks

I am a big fan of photo walks. No agenda, no direction. I just wander with an open eye for something, anything of personal interest and capture it. Stretch, walk, breathe and relax.

Group Therapy

I’ve
also discovered interacting with people to be therapeutic too. It
sounds counter-intuitive, I know, but it works for me. I feed off their
personalities and passions. Even their presence is energizing. Ever sit
in a coffee shop and feel the buzz? Me too.

Getting out and
talking to strangers on the street breaks down my walls and theirs. I’ve
been doing quite a lot of portrait photography with my HOT project. These beautiful faces make me smile. See? Therapy.

Communicating
with like-minded people is a huge positivity boost. Photographers are
isolated and protective by nature (why?) so this could be more stressful
at first…but the payoff is amazing. Who else but we, can understand and
support one another? I am really excited about my new photography group coming soon.

Focus

One
of the best things about photography is again, focusing on details.
Distract yourself by focusing on the boring, mundane, everyday details
that can deliver the best images and make for the best subjects.

Anything and everything all of a sudden becomes interesting. Beauty in the details. Forest through the trees.

I
lean heavily on photography when doubt, depression and frustration kick
in. I give them a kick back when I grab my camera and go.