DOC NZ* is running a competition on Instagram & to enter you need to post a macro photo of anything 'nature' & use the appropriate hashtag & tag them. Simple ? Yes simple !

The competition closes Sunday 23rd August 2020 & it’ll be really interesting to see what comes of it.
Most of the 2.4k posts that I’ve seen so far are photos taken by professional photographers - which is fine & understandable, especially as they have all the gear ** but what part of ‘macro’ do they not understand ? 

I don’t even know why it irritates me so much - but it does.
I think it’s the arrogance & superficiality of it all. 
The hashtag is flooded with pretty pictures; mostly birds & flowers.
They're big photos of big subjects with amazing definition & super saturated colours.
Very few are subtle, most are boringly recognisable.
Very few make you wonder.
Very few make you want to look more closely.
Very few are anything other than pretty pictures.
Very few of the photographers know the name of the thing they’re photographing - some even make stupid jokes about their beautiful subjects.
Very few are macro photos.

All my whingeing aside I have entered too.
​I have posted a couple of photos using the hashtags & the appropriate @mention.
If I get a lovely pic tomorrow, on the last day, maybe I'll post that too.
I love taking photos & I love looking with new eyes.
It's so much fun to see what you can see. 

To add insult to injury (of my ego!) the photo I posted today seems to be blurry on IG hahahaha
It's still a cool photo & is accompanied with a typical Sal style epistle.
Just to make a point.
You can only look with new eyes if you learn to & you have to want to see with your new eyes.

To be fair it's probably what DOC is trying to achieve too.

​Take care my friends - it seems this Covid19 thing is here for the long haul. 
Sal x

​ps here's a link to my IG post 

The working title for this blog post was 'The Sum Total of Half Heartedness : July 2020' as I reached the end of the month feeling pretty despondent about what I didn't get done in July.
The pile of half finished things seemed (& still seems) to be growing at a faster rate than the completed things. It is such a vicious, soul-destroying pastime to focus on what you haven't finished & yet I'm doing it a lot lately.

I decided to actually 'add it up & see'

'The Sum Total of Half Heartedness : July 2020'

3 stitched coins
2 stitched samplers on cardstock
1 handmade & embroidered lunch bag
4 stitched people
1 knitted hat
1/2 a stitched blue embroidery
2 x 1/2 stitched muka embroideries
1 small stitched muka sampler
cast on a shawl to knit
took 14 opportunities for wild writing practice 

Of course, there are also all the projects I started from May & June & although this list doesn't include them it is actually the sum total of all of them which leads to that feeling of  despair. 

BUT the thing of most concern is my attitude ! I mean, REALLY, what is the point ?!

Here's what I know:
I know my energy is low 
I know my attitude sucks
I know I'm tired & tire easily
I know I just wanna do something . . . anything 
I know, I know, I know !

Here's what I've worked out:
I'm back at the beginning of the spiral
I'm enjoying books - the reading of, the purchasing of, the hidden delights of
which means
I'm researching again
which means 
I'm on the scent of something again
which means 
I have to keep going
I have to relax & follow my lead
I have to trust it will become evident eventually 
AND
I have to pull my head out of the hole & enjoy the process ha
does that sound familiar ?

I'm always saying I'm a process driven artist - it's not about the outcome blah, blah, blah
wtf
I have to believe that that is true
because it is true 

And the process is not pulling teeth (thankfully) so it doesn't have to feel like pulling teeth !
​
And we are allowed to row our boat into the middle of the lake.
We are allowed to stop rowing.
​We can lie back in the boat, feel the sun warm our winter cold skin, feel the boat bobbing around on the calm water, knowing we've packed a picnic & a thermos which we will get to eventually and everything will be ok if we close our eyes & rest for a while . . . .

because we tied the oars on before we fell asleep ;) 

We had an outing 
​
For the first time since lockdown we went for a drive together 
Just the 2 of us  
Because we wanted to

We drove across the country, in the rain, to the other coast
On the way there we watched familiar scenery go by & enjoyed a Sunday drive

We spent time with people we love
We spent time in their space & in their conversations
We were well fed, wrapped in warmth & happiness

The next day
We drove back across the country, in the rain, to this coast 
On the way back we took a slightly different route & enjoyed different scenery

Winter has begun 
​June has ended well