Day 308

I have had interesting responses to last night's entry.

"Perhaps you can use these remaining days to be the teacher you are. To reflect on the 365 day project and the process for you. It would be a gift to those who may want to start, but don't know how or what they are embarking on. Of course we will be patient with you and hold you in whatever moment you may need to be." A.B.



This is a picture that Emma is doing on Paint. She is writing a story titled "Deer Rider" and this is a cover picture. She didn't finish it tonight, but she got further than this. I'll share it in a bit, but the reason why I put it up is it is not unlike the process of the 365 Day project. Let me explain. Taking pictures was making me really happy last year, and when my brothers came together and got me the Pentax it made me feel wonderful. We all knew Mom was going to die soon at that point. We knew she was having a more difficult time communicating weekly. It became obvious that we all needed to put some of our own lives on the back burner and put her comfort and happiness on the front burner. So we did. And I decided that intentionally documenting that time with both words and the camera would help to take care of me, too.

I did not share a lot of the words with Mom, a few postings, but not a lot. I did share the photos weekly. Every weekend when I went down she sat through a slideshow of all the photos I took that week. She shared with me what she saw, but what we really talked about was the product at the end. What piece of the whole and in what way would be most interesting to an audience, and useful to me in my process?




So I have decided on somethings which explore the themes that the process has developed. Now one theme is, people and portraits, both children and adults. My life is made up of people. This year has been about people. It is about the surfaces between people, the impact of people on one another, the innocence and the anger and the humor and the many complexities of human relationships. Taking portraits is a skill on which I believe I'm improving. The first block of photos will be 12 adults and 12 children. I think they will say something about people.



As for the teacher in me, I have to invite people to notice the patterns that pop out for them. I have to invite people to ask what questions they would appreciate exploring without having to answer. Yep.... the teacher in me...