I declared 2018 my year of NO travel, and that will be true…after June. So far I’ve spent a month away in India, Sri Lanka, and Florida (that sounds a lot less exciting after the other two). Soon I’ll be heading to Tennessee and Wisconsin before going to Greece and Maine. That’s all by the third week of March.

With that pace it is extremely difficult to keep up routines. I find myself in airports, hotels, Airbnbs, grandma’s houses. I move so quickly from one place to the next that they barely have time to stick in my memories. When your circumstances change, how can you keep a routine? I do my best. Yoga everyday, even if it’s only for 15 minutes. Lots of water. Emails every morning. Reading everyday. Outside of that, nothing is the same.

I’m home for a few days in between trips, exhausted from traveling, body aching, but all I wanted was to create – freely, without interruption. Instead of pushing myself beyond what is wise into the cold for a photo shoot, I searched my computer for long-forgotten images. There I found the spark of something interesting. I didn’t know what it was, just that it could be.

I found an underwater image that struck me as graceful and full of emotion. I had already edited those up for the most part, wasn’t interested in redoing them. I wanted something new. I started to look at the image differently, thinking that the bubbles looked like stars. And so I began creating what I knew could be something interesting. Watch the editing process here:

It is wildly important to act on our creative urges, in whatever way is available to us, in whatever way feels right. I find it necessary to keep motivated. So often we talk about what is recommend to stay healthy: good food, exercise, fresh air, etc. But something I vehemently believe we need to add to that list is creativity. An outlet for our imagination. And I would put that before most else.

How often do you exercise your imagination, release your creativity and make something for yourself? 

I’ve spent a long time letting go of the word “good” in this context. I bet everyone here has had the experience of not creating because what you were making didn’t seem good enough. Now that I’ve had some distance from my process of creating, from my body of work, I can see much more clearly. There are works I create that are good and bad. Some that will remain, others that will be forgotten. In the moment they all feel so important, and they are. But what is important is not how they are judged, but how they made you feel while creating them.

When was the last time you did
something completely for yourself?

Do you notice a change in your health
when you set your imagination free?

“Moonrise”, February 2018

Model: Sara Silkin
Dress: Michelle Hebert

What we can’t guess at is how they got to the top. Was it a tough climb or an easy ride, air lifted to the top? The answer is irrelevant. Regardless of how it happened, they got there. And similarly, you can choose to climb or ride. The only difference is that the ride may never come.

Sometimes we lie to ourselves by reassuring our injured egos that a person who has accomplished more was simply given a break, and they didn’t work hard to get there. This is usually a lie, and even if it wasn’t, it has no impact on your life or your journey. Because while there are many ways to get to the top of your mountain, there is only one way that you can choose…to climb.

Unless you can’t function at your optimal level because of it. Disorganization is something I have challenged head on this year. I redesigned my office so that everything has a place. I organized my email so that I answer them quickly instead of waiting sometimes months in between. I have list apps on my phone and desktop to keep me on task, and I have a nightly and morning routine that keeps me organized as well.

Those have been huge changes for me, and the results have been spectacular. I no longer panic about missing emails or wonder as I fall asleep what I need to accomplish in the morning, and those small changes have been really big for my well being. Just by having my emails caught up on and always having clear goals planned, I have decreased my stress. I have more free time, I worry less, and I enjoy working more.

Here are all of the changes I made. The video also shows my new office, and I included some “extras” (re: ridiculous) clips at the very end. Apologies for the focus issues in this video. I think I need glasses.

1. Wake up early. When I am up early, I feel an odd sense of pride, as though I have already accomplished my first mission. I am taking advantage of my most productive hours, no one else is awake then, and I have time to fall into a routine.

2. Drink water. This is another one of those things that makes me feel motivated and healthy. I drink 3 liters of water a day. I drink one of those liters before I do much else in the morning. It energizes me and allows me to feel accomplished.

3. Stretch & meditate. I do this each morning in the open air and it makes me feel invigorated and alive. My body hurts less throughout the day (the Fibromyalgia can really make my joints hurt) and I feel inspired by the time I sit down to work.

4. ToDoist. This is an app that I have for my desktop that allows me to write out, per category, what I need to get done and then check it off the list when I finish. It also has tons of other features I haven’t even tapped into yet. Absolutely adore this app to pieces.

5. Email organization. I have my email categorized into three main folders: My immediate folder. Anything I put in there needs to be dealt with within 24 hours. My pending folder, where emails that require follow-up go. And my assistant’s folder, where emails that deal mostly with scheduling go. If I hit inbox 0 for my personal immediate inbox everyday, I feel significantly less stressed and I sleep better. I try to do this in the morning before any other tasks so that I am still excited to complete the other things on my to do list.

6. Happiness & resolution documents. I keep two text files on my desktop. One says “Happiness” and the other says “Resolutions”. The happiness document lists all of the things that makes me feel healthy and happy on a regular basis so that I can always check in on it to make sure I am doing what makes me feel good. My resolutions document simply lists all of the things I want to accomplish this year. It is always in sight and I can keep on track that way.

7. Inspirational quotes. The image on my desktop background is always rotating through inspirational quotes that I’ve downloaded in image form. Mostly from Winnie the Pooh and Alice in Wonderland, these quotes remind me all the time of who I want to be and inspire me to reach for more.

8. Hard drives. I keep my work backed up on two hard drives that are almost always at my computer plugged in. One I travel with and the other stays put. Because I have them out in the open, often plugged in, I never have to worry about finding a document because they are all, essentially, already on my computer waiting to be found. I organize my images based on folders of: YEAR — TITLE.

9. Uniform password. For my passwords on my computer and social sites, I have a root word for my password. Take LANTERN, for example. And then I add on a signifying word to that for each website. Let’s say we are signing up for Flickr, you would write LANTERNFLICKR so that you never forget your password and so that they are always different. I have two base passwords – one that my assistant and husband know, and one that is for personal use only.

10. Colornote. On my phone, just as I do with ToDoist on my desktop, I use a to-do list app. This allows me to write out a checklist or text document that I can later transfer to ToDoist if I am traveling.

11. Inspiring workspace. I have never had a space of my own that I have found inspirational, so this year I redecorated. I got new desks, a filing cabinet, and I even decorated my walls. I filled my office with props that I have used in photo shoots and hung my work on my walls (other artists coming soon). Everywhere I look there is a touch of something personal and special, and it makes me feel excited to sit down to work every day.

You can check out the video for what my new office looks like.

How do you keep organized? Any special tips that make you feel extra healthy, productive, or motivated?

Most people go through this change in time. For most people childhood moves rather slowly because we are unaware of life’s duties and the inevitable passing of time. We are largely unaware of death and the things we want to accomplish before then. So we are blissfully ignorant of time at all, and thus, it moves slowly.

Depending on who you are, you might think about time frequently. Maybe you’re at work and have a deadline and comment on how you wish you had longer. Maybe you are savoring a good moment and wish it could last forever. Or maybe you are growing older and thinking of when you had more time. No matter what the circumstance, we all think about time at some point in our lives, and usually it is a constant companion.

But the reason I write about this is because of my shift in how I perceive time. I used to worry about it. I used to think it moved so quickly. But now things have changed. Just the other day my husband asked me if I felt time moved too quickly, and without hesitation I said “no”. Because, without realizing it, I changed my perspective on time. I stopped wondering where it had gone and instead started to embrace where it was now, for however long it chooses to stay.

I started thinking about what changed in my life over the last few years. People always say that as you get older time moves faster – an old saying to be sure, but one that is very often true. The older we get, the faster time seems to move. If this is true, then I must be nearing the edge of a black hole, because time is doing just the opposite.

What changed for me is my attitude toward life. I used to see it as a race. I used to want to be better (than who, I can’t exactly say), and achieve more, and be rewarded for these things. I saw others doing more and wanted to hustle to be like them. I saw greatness swirling around me and wanted a piece for myself. I tried really hard to get to the top. I valued that which now I see as a plague.

What changed is how I react to situations, as well as how I create them and how I leave them. Instead of working to be better, I work to be complete. Instead of creating situations that are full of stress I create situations that are full of peace. And when one chapter closes, I do not think of all I could have done but instead all that I did do, and I feel fulfilled.

1. Set goals for yourself, but do not set strict time limits.

I am all for setting goals, and I am even all for giving yourself a timely goal to complete your task. What I am not all about is what I call the Pass/Fail grading system. If you set a goal for yourself, and a date to complete that goal, it is not healthy to judge yourself solely based on how well you met that arbitrary date. Should your plan not come together fully by that time, do not give yourself a failing grade. Do not look down at yourself. Keep going, and realize that your dream is worth it.

2. When something goes wrong, teach yourself how to see the good in it.

Failures are for crazy people…meaning you have to be crazy to buy into them. Forget about failures. Stop seeing life as failure and success. Instead see it as an in-between, no matter how wonderfully or how terribly something goes. If it goes wrong, seek out those things you did well in the effort. If it goes well, seek to better yourself by identifying weaknesses. Life is almost never about a failure or a success. It is about your journey to get there and how much you have grown once you’re on the other side.

3. Keep a list.

When looking back at our life, it is easy to identify different chapters. Childhood. College. Marriage. Parenthood. Career. Self-discovery. Etc.

This is how people think. We split our lives up into these smaller pockets so that we can keep track of what has happened to us. Let’s play into that a little bit. As you enter each new experience, write down words to describe how you felt about it. I am not good at journaling my experiences. I get bored with it. But if you can remember to, every so often, write down simple words that indicate what you’ve learned from a specific situation then you are more likely to savor those lessons and keep them closer.

Here are some good examples from my life. I used to be far too interested in the worry that surrounds the internet: is so-and-so copying my work? Did I get a negative comment? Will people like me? From these naturally occurring questions I began to develop answers for myself, though not in direct relation to the questions. I learned humility, in understanding that the world does not revolve around any one person. I learned optimism, in realizing it is far more fulfilling to trust and love than to distrust and hate. I learned confidence, in understanding that I must love myself before anyone else will take that chance.

Learn from your circumstance, and remember those lessons. Keep them close, and let them govern your life. The more lessons you gather, the more life seems to slow down and taste a little bit sweeter.

4. Ditch the media.

My phone is a phone most of the time. It doesn’t update me on emails, and I frequently have it turned to airplane mode. I don’t bring my camera and laptop most places I go if I can help it. I turn my computer off when I’m not using it so it isn’t as easy to access on a whim. I’ve implemented a new system of coming up with creative ideas: instead of logging them in my phone, I write them on notepads strategically placed around my house, in my car, and in my purse.

The obsession that is wanting everything immediately largely stems from media. If we can take it down a notch and do things the old-fashioned way from time to time, we begin to savor the moments we spend doing those things a little bit more. Instead of driving, walk. Instead of emailing, write a letter. Instead of starting your day with the computer, watch the sunrise. Let nature take over. Appreciate the immediacy of life.

5. Start a gratitude club.

Start a tradition for yourself where you share what you are grateful for. Maybe it is at the dinner table, or you start a dinner club once a week for your friends to talk about gratitude. Maybe you start a blog, or use it as a space to talk about gratitude. Maybe you write it down for yourself.

At the end of every week (I choose Fridays) I talk with my husband about what I was grateful for during the previous week. This allows me to focus on the good, learn from the bad, and understand more clearly what is good about my life. If I am having trouble coming up with enough points, I search for my failures. There is more goodness in failures than in successes.

6. Find meaning in everything.

Search. SEARCH. It is what keeps us questioning and wondering and alive. Search for meaning in all things big and small. Do not wait for momentous occasions for your life to seem full and important. Create them for yourself. Run through the forest and pretend you are the wind. Notice someone’s smile on a bus and smile back, and feel the humanity in that. Cry when you want to cry and laugh when you want to laugh and enjoy the power in that. From the most mundane, everyday objects to the most important, life-changing travels, everything contains equal potential to astound us.

7. Find your innocence and curiosity.

Childhood goes by so slowly because we are discovering. When I was very young I had a dream that I flew, but I believe it really happened. So instead of telling me that it was all a dream, my mom told me that everyone flies once in their life, and that was my turn. What grew in me was a sense of huge imagination. I believed her. I believed in my ability to do whatever I wanted. I believed I was special. When we are children we believe these things so easily. We see our potential without recognizing it as such, and we believe we are worth trying for.

Get that feeling back. Believe in things you would usually discount. Learn to deny nothing and find the possibility in all things. Create your own possibilities, and believe you are worth it.

Don’t let this new year come and go. Spend time in the middle of it. Enjoy each moment of it.

Be present.

Be curious.

See everything.

—

Photograph taken during my stay in Hana (Maui) Hawaii in October with model Marsha Denlinger.

When I finished editing the image on air, and the cameras went off, everyone in the room let out a big sigh. We all knew it didn’t really work out but we were happy we tried. When I got home from Seattle I decided to start editing it again. I tried twice more and it still wasn’t coming together. That was when I took a slightly different approach.

I started choosing new shots to work with – a higher angle of my subject as well as different house shots from the kiddie pool so that you could see more of the house under the water, thus adding to the believability effect. Those changes made a world of difference for me, fixing some perspective issues as well as changing what was a very static shot.

I have been on a book kick lately, really wanting to experiment with how books (stories, really) can transport you to another reality. Books are old, universally recognized, and provide an amazing symbol for anyone to latch on to. There are many different emotions attached to books, but one thing remains the same. If you read, you take your imagination to a different level. What an amazing metaphor for creating.

I ended up using all of the same techniques to edit this image when I was home as I did during the CreativeLive editing segment for this picture. Some of the featured tools were the Background Eraser Tool, Curves Adjustment Layers, and changing of the Lighting Dynamics. I think something that brought the image together for me in the end was the choice of clouds, and really creating a light source as well as light variation so that some of the image was in darkness and some in light.

Thankfully the light for this image was quite natural, with no extreme highlights or shadows, so changing the light slightly was not a problem. Of course, I can’t say if the image did ever come together or not, but it did satisfy a dream I’ve had. I always know when a picture is finished when I feel it matches what I saw in my imagination…so I want to thank you for watching and for supporting this photo shoot through your encouraging words as well as to CreativeLive for setting this up for me!