I AM NOT

A trained artist.
A trained photographer.
A trained writer.

And yet, here I am painting, blogging and photographing away…and having the audacity to put it right out there in public for anybody to see.

'Who do you think you are?', one might ask.

I might answer thusly.

I am an artist.

I am a photographer.

I am a writer.

I am all those and a darned good cook, to boot!

I am an artist because I allow the beauty of this world we live in to sink deep into my soul and then come back out through the paintbrush in my hand. Do I do it well? Not necessarily. But I do the best I can. And furthermore, I am driven to keep trying. Will I ever be able to paint something as beautiful as the original creation? Of course not! Nevertheless, I will keep trying.

I am a photographer because I take photographs…with a purpose. The purpose is, once again, allow the beauty of this world we live in to sink keep into my soul and hopefully, capture some essence of it with my camera. I don’t have a fancy camera or a fancy editing program. Yet I sometimes manage to get some powerful images, I think.

I am a writer because I allow thoughts and feelings, of all kinds, to stew around in my soul and then put those thoughts and feelings into words that I write down. Occasionally, a string of words comes out that conveys a profound message.

The fact that this blog allows me to share all this with other people is a gift I do NOT take lightly.

Would I paint, photograph or write even if I never got to show the results to someone? I don’t know the answer to that…oh yes, I do! Who am I kidding here? I think I would do all three because…..

The beauty of this world we live in sinks deep into my soul and nourishes, sustains and inspires me….and does so constantly.

On this blog, I ask you to be mindfully GRATEFUL.

I hope for one more thing. I hope that I can inspire you to allow yourself to be the “I AM” that you are.

Amen.