"Let's go do things." (A 4 month update.)

Helen Keller once wrote, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." She was right.

Being an "elf" at Blister Creek Falls, Oregon.

I've always been more of a "Let's go do things." rather than a "Let's talk about things." kind of person. When I was little I was the girl who would try so hard to convince every kid in the neighborhood to be part of some giant adventure. One year when it snowed, I spent the entire day leading a group of kids through the Christmas Tree field solving a "mystery" while videotaping it. Sometimes I look back and realize my habits have stayed the same: still exploring, getting my feet dirty, being the "brave" one (even if I'm hesitating as I do it), and recording the memories. 

“Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

When I was little my Grandpa W.D. asked me, "What do you want to do with your life?" We were sitting in the shade of a willow tree in an almost-dead town called Dufur on a hot summer day. We camped there every summer and always chose a spot near the creek, where the branches of the tree could catch the moisture and rain relief down on our hot skin. I was young, maybe 8, so that was a big question. He always asked questions as if the question was more than it was, and I remember there was always a knowing smirk when I would respond.

My answer, "To see the world."

"Swimming" in Muncy Creek in Picture Rocks, Pennsylvania.

Goodbye 2014. Hello 2015.

"Self-criticism and judgement is the way you break your own heart." - Sarah Cuhr

Self-criticism, starts young, whether it be destroying the image in the mirror, or not liking the drawing we made in art class in Junior High, self-criticism begins the moment we realize we have an image. It's a well known statement that artists often hate what they create, and I'm no stranger to the emotional roller coaster of hating and loving (sometimes at the exact same time) my own work.