december views: stepping away from the frenzy

When I think of December, I think FRENZY. There is something about turning the calendar to December that unhinges us.  Suddenly there are only 31 days left to the year and you wonder where it all went and how in the world you will have time to bake all those pies and wrap all those presents and check off the last of the resolutions you made at the beginning of the year.  In the midst of all this frenzy, you have to be able to find silence otherwise you will go positively bonkers.

And that is why I participate in December Views every year.  It’s for that time I give myself each day, in the midst of all the hustle and bustle, to just sit back and observe it, detach from it and pick the beauty from it.  To grab my camera and slow the F down and notice that there is a whole other world out there, outside of my head.  And the best part is there are no blogging rules.  You want to say something? Say it. You don’t… then let the photos speak for themselves.  Some days you’ll shoot, others the camera will stay in the bag… and that’s okay.

Thank you, Darlene, for starting such a beautiful tradition.  You make me stop and pay attention to what is surely one of the most beautiful months of the year.  I just get caught up in the frenzy and forget sometimes.

“And that desire–the strong desire to take pictures–is important. It borders on a need, based on a habit: the habit of seeing. Whether working or not, photographers are looking, seeing, and thinking about what they see, a habit that is both a pleasure and a problem, for we seldom capture in a single photograph the full expression of what we see and feel.”  – Sam Abell