openings in my life

as much as i love big wide open spaces, lately i've been entranced with the idea of seeing the world thru small openings. it's my new photographic challenge to myself. as i wander with my nikon i'll look for openings to shoot. it will be fun to capture the interesting shape from this side of the camera and then whatever part of the world that can be viewed thru the hole. more shots to come soon.

of course, i can't think about these things without drawing some sort of parallel to my life. so i ask myself what holes have i climbed thru in my life? and what was the view like on the other side? i've had some embarrassing moments when i wanted to be swallowed up by a big hole, to disappear and never be seen again. i fell at work a couple of summers ago in front of two men -- one a co-worker and the other a vendor. my shoe caught on a rug and down i went in a skirt no less. then i picked myself up in total embarrassment and did it again. yes, it is true. i fell again, even harder than the first time. the other side of that hole found me throwing the shoes in the trash and sighing good riddance.

i dug myself out of a disappointing marriage once. or maybe it was me that i was most disappointed in. either way, the view on this side of that hole has been challenging, rewarding, inspiring and really quite rosy.

i've let myself sink into a hole of depression a couple of times. i can honestly say that sometimes we are our own worst enemies. and, once we acknowledge that, there's nowhere to go but up and onward, determined to fight the good fight every step of the way.

i've faced a few questionable openings in my life -- windows of opportunity and doorways to unknown destinations -- that i've leapt thru with hope and faith, courage and longing. i have a few regrets but for the most part life has handed me orchards of sweet, ripe apples and fields of juicy, red strawberries. all for the picking as long as i was brave enough to reach out for them.