THANKFUL FRIDAY

I am struggling with writing this post today. It has nothing to do with an inability to find gratitude in this week. There is a plethora of things from this week to fill up a Thankful Friday entry. We finally have a break in all of the rain, making it officially scooter season. I have managed to get up every morning for exercise and dog walks. I feel mentally prepared to teach my class next week at camp and a good idea of what I need to pack for next week. My optometrist told me that my eyes were not worse and I do not need a new prescription. Josephine finally got a haircut and is no longer tracking in mulch all the time. Things are really good right now. Hectic, but good. The thing I’m struggling with in writing about gratitude for this week in a meaningful way.

I was thinking about the things I wanted to mention during my class next week and my thoughts drifted to the word ‘practice’. During our staff meeting for camp this week, I heard so many of our staffers refer to a practice. A meditation practice. A self care practice. A mindfulness practice. Every part of daily life is a practice, but what are we practicing for? Every time I take out my camera I am practicing to be mindful of my surroundings in order to obtain a perfect picture. I am practicing for perfection. Now some of you will object to that idea and think there is no such thing as perfect, but hear me out. Some days in my photography practice, I only think about climbing up a retaining wall to take a picture of a magnolia bloom that is just out of my reach. Then there are the days where I don’t think, I just climb. And even though once I get up the wall, that magnolia bloom is still slightly out of reach, I take the picture any way. The picture I take may not end up as I intended, it may not be perfect, but the moment was perfect.

The concept of perfection is subjective and sometimes we need to set our own standards for perfection in order for us have something to work towards. I am practicing to create perfect moments in what is maybe a not so perfect day. I am practicing on sticking with my standards for perfection. Part of that practice includes being kind to myself and setting reasonable standards for perfect. That goes for what I write (or don’t write) in this space as well. So while I say this was a good week, I can also say that this was a perfect week. I am grateful for those moments during the week that have been perfect.