August Mindfulness Challenge

August 1 – Morning Light. I love the way the sun creates bright shapes on the wall.

It’s August!

ALREADY!

To counteract the part of me that wants to run screaming, “No…I’m not ready for summer to end,” I decided to savor every moment of August that I can and to greet each day with presence and mindfulness.

August Mindfulness Challenge

One way that I savor each moment is by slowing down to notice beauty in ordinary life and by making photographs of the beauty that I see. Focusing on being awake and aware in each moment brings me joy. But creating an intention and practice also helps me to maintain that focus. Having a different word to think about also helps me to focus in different ways.

So my challenge to myself for August is to make a photograph every day of the month for a set of prompts that I have created.

At first, I thought I would use Susannah Conway’s August Break 2019 list of prompts.

But on the second day of making photographs I decided to create my own list.

Here’s my list of prompts (including the first 2 from Susannah Conway’s lovely list:

1. Morning light
2. Pink
3. Life force 
4. Deep
5. Dark
6. Sparkles
7. Dog days of summer
8. Illusion
9. Paradox
10. Believe
11. Bountiful
12. Miracle
13. Shadow
14. Soft
15. Reflection
16. Truth
17. Deception
18. Hunger
19. City
20. Country
21. Sky
22. Sunset
23. Fleeting
24. Water
25. Wind
26. Imperfect
27. Light
28. Feather
29. Leap
30. Splash
31. Sweet

At the top of this post is my photo for August 1, Morning Light.

August 2 – Pink

This is my ragged looking Kindle with it’s stained pink and brown cover. My Kindle is so old that I can’t find new covers designed to fit it anymore. Despite it’s age, it keeps being a good friend that I take with me wherever I go. Oh, the lovely books I’ve read with this trusty device.

August 2 – Pink 2, watercolor painting I made this week

After photographing my Kindle I noticed this rough painting I made earlier this week. The pink in it makes me smile so I decided to include two photos for the prompt, “Pink.”  The paint color is called Opera Pink (by Daniel Smith) and I love it’s bright cheerful hue.

August 3 – Life Force

This tiny tree seedling decided to grow in a most unlikely place, between two pieces of wood at the edge of our deck. The life force is incredibly strong.

“An organism desires to be, to endure, to be more than it is.

It hungers to unfold itself, to propagate itself, to enlarge itself… 

This is a hunger for life. And this hunger is life.  — Andreas Weber, The Biology of Wonder

August 4 – Deep

I am deeply committed to practicing watercolor painting regularly, even though I find all sorts of excuses to not do it. Yesterday I signed up for a one month membership in Angela Fehr’s Fearless Artist Community. The sketches above were two different exercises in Fehr’s Watercolor Workout online class.

August 4 – Deep 2

Yesterday I walked without a cane or walker for the entire day! To celebrate I made homemade cinnamon rolls. I am deeply grateful for the ability to walk without assistance!

May you walk in beauty.