Being self-employed isn’t always fun.
I know I’m supposed to say “THIS IS ALL GREAT” because I have so much freedom, can choose my own path, etc.,
But it’s also wildly stressful, all-consuming, and the work never ends. Weekends? They don’t exist.
And for many months now (years if I’m being honest), I’ve come close to crashing. (This is a lie - I have crashed multiple times)
My focus is always on money, survival, and money again.
I haven’t always taken care of myself, especially my brain, and the results of this stress have caused me problems in all aspects of my life.
That’s changing - and mindfulness is one of the things that’s bringing me back from the brink.
Having a daily photography practice is something I’ve almost always done (either editing or taking photos), but I’ve changed things up recently by creating an app that helps me be mindful.
Every day, I load the app up and see something like this:
So at some point in the day, with any camera I have (I often force myself to use a weird or unused lens - or a new jpeg recipe - or whatever to inspire some creativity), I take some photographs with this prompt in mind.
Later, I write my response, and export the results to an image file:
Then I save it in my calendar for the day (I use “CRAFT” to journal, take notes, and create drafts of my content). You can use whatever you’d like, or just print it out - or just delete it and call the “act” good enough!
I love this app and the idea of going back to these moments and reliving both the positive and negatives of life. I’m learning that accepting both with equal measure is a key for my future.
Doing this daily is a reminder that the fabric of life has complex patterns, but we can take a moment here and there to be fully present. It matters, especially in this time of difficulty in my life.
If you want to use the app, you can find it HERE. (It’s free and does NOT upload anything anywhere. It uses the local file on your computer or phone. I built it using the “Lovable” site, which is very easy to use.)
Here are some more photographs from this morning.
I love them.
I took them using a Panasonic G9II with a Voigtlander 0.95 25mm manual-focus lens that’s bright, soft, flawed and wonderful. I used the “Leica Monochrome” profile with some grain applied in-camera (this profile is the only reason I’m keeping the G9ii).
These are all stright-out-of-the-camera jpegs steeped in the emotion of the morning. I never edit these - it would defeat the purpose of the way I view mindfulness!
(This is the song I listened to as I made this post. It resonated with me - hope it does for you.)
Thank you for reading!
I love questions and comments. As a former high school teacher, helping people makes my day… so if there’s anything I can answer, just ask!
Hi Jerred, I love the topic - I could talk about it all day and write often about it. Meditation has actually been a tool since '96 that's helped me in photography and life in general. Your images are awesome! I enjoyed looking at them (I often look at images together and then read). But you know what else I enjoyed? Getting that email today from OM-Systems featuring YOU as the OM-3-inspired photographer! Congratulations!
A man of our time. Brilliant idea to create an app like this. I can’t get enough of your creativity and positivity.