Photo challenge #3 | Messy

Prompt: Messy

Used

You're probably wondering, "what in the world is that?" Or maybe you aren't. But that's my bed quilt covers.

The prompt reminded me of it my mum always says I need to "straighten it out". To her, this is messy.

To me, it used to be messy as well. Not really as much anymore. I've learned to embrace the mess. Not everything needs to be perfect.

Mess is often seen in a negative light. While I acknowledge that mess can hold a negative connotation, I think we often undermine the beauty of the mess. Many a time, we find ourselves in a messy situation which could be interpreted as a bad thing. But if we were to pause for a second and think about why this was a mess in the first place, we would be able to even see the beauty of it.

This could be a follow-up from my previous post. In the journey of life, it's not always a smooth sailing time. We will sometimes encounter messes. Messes are needed to help us think through our decisions. They can be useful in redirecting us. Or it can be a time when we need to be grateful with how much stuff we are able to posses. We're making use of something. We're learning. We're exploring. All these are good things. Often it's really hard to achieve these things without encountering mess.

You could be in a really bad place now. That's another kind of mess. But no matter what your mess is, how it got to that state or what the mess is about, you don't have to clean up everything right now. Take your time to figure out how to organise the mess. Sometimes it takes just a second to straighten the sheets out, sometimes it takes a bit (or a lot!) longer. Find people who will help you walk through and sort through the mess, without judgement.

For me personally, I am really appreciative of those who share their life mess with me. These are the people whom I know I can be real with, who I can journey with. If your life is spick and span, I'm sorry to say that you haven't lived. Get a little messy, have a little fun. Join someone in their mess. Invite someone to join you in your mess.

How are you dealing with your mess?

p.s. Please seek professional help if you are unable to handle your life mess. It is not shameful to speak to a counsellor, psychologist/psychiatrist.

Photo challenge #2 | Look Up

I must admit that I hoped I could get a very different picture than the one I currently have. I only managed to take one today. I thought of giving up and passing for the day, but I decided against that. I want to commit to it and not do it halfheartedly. So here it is. Today's picture.

Prompt: Look Up

Climbing

Something that pushed me to continue with this photo was the fact that climbing up a stairs is like life. In life, there are destinations that we need to get to. Some journeys are worth it, some are not. Just like when someone calls you from the top of the stairs just to tell you that they'd forgotten what they called you up for. But some are totally worth it. Like perhaps a cheesecake. It doesn't matter how big or small the destination is. Lots of obstacles might get in your way, or there might even be phases of the journey before the final destination. But at the end, with perseverance and persistence, you'll reach your destination. Some times, it may look daunting, but at the end of it, you'll be proud of yourself to know how far you've come. Having good support networks is essential. They are the people who will encourage you and guide you along the way, some who make the journey a worthwhile one, and even some who journey alongside you.

Sometimes it's necessary to abandon the journey. Do so carefully, so that you don't tumble down the stairs. Use it instead as a step in another direction and build upon what you gained from it.
Sometimes it's necessary for a pause to reroute or rejuvenate and that's okay too.

Keep climbing. I'm rooting for you.

How are you doing with the stairs of life?

Photo Challenge #1 | Empty

I'm trying something new. I like photography of still objects, nature, landscapes, food, and occasionally people. I really do want to improve my manual photography skills. This is sort of like a project for me. I found this challenge on this website. Basically, a prompt is given for each day of the year, and we are supposed to use our creativity to interpret what the prompt is and find something that corresponds to it. Since I'm not moving around much/doing lots of different things, I am quite limited in what I can take. So I know I won't be able to have a photo everyday of the year (although I'd very much love to have a photo everyday), but I thought it would be a fun challenge and project to do for the rest of the year.

But here's what I managed to capture for today's prompt.

Prompt: EMPTY

 

 

This was my favourite of the two that I took today.

Delicious

 

But here's the other one. I liked the effect of being able to take a subject up close and have the background blurred off a bit (is there a technical name for it??), but after I took it I realised that this restaurant's glass was really dirty and it didn't really give the photo a nice look. But I still kept it anyway. 

Anyway, if you know a thing or two about manual photography and all the different settings of the camera, I would love to hear your feedback and learn a thing or two about how I can improve my photography. As I'm really an amateur at this, I don't really know how to ask for any specific feedback, so any feedback is good! But please be kind :) 

Being the philosophical me, I have to leave this question. After all, there's a reason why I've named my blog as such! ;) These are empty, but my stomach was full. When something's empty, something else is full. 

What's empty and what's full in your life?