All kinds of clear focus

Really good day today: everything just seemed to click. I drew/wrote a couple of cards for friends, went to dance class, did my morning pages over lunch at a Korean restaurant, then came home and put in a good couple of hours shooting and editing photos for almost all my remaining Craft Happy inventory. (Yes, that was a long time ago! That’s what happens when you go on vacation only a few weeks after a show!)

Taking product photos is always a bit of a pain, just because it takes so long. You’ve heard me gripe about this before. Today was no exception, but I’m much happier with the way these photos came out. I don’t know if it’s because I was feeling so good after dance, whether my Writing Diet is already affecting my focus, or because of the visual and photographic immersion of our Hong Kong trip, but I really like this batch of photos. I took more than 300 shots this afternoon and am now ready to list many more items!

And as far as time management goes, this photoshoot closed a lot of my open loops (some of which I haven’t told you about), so I’m very glad to be done with it. Now I just need to do a modeling session with some of my fripperies and a cash apron, and that’ll take care of the CH inventory completely.

I must say, I’ve been feeling a lot more present and mindful since we got back from our trip (well, once the jet lag wore off), but doing this writing diet is really kicking the mindfulness up into high gear… if such a metaphor can possibly be applied to mindful living! I suppose eating less and exercising more is bound to reduce sluggishness, and the change of scene and fresh perspective the trip gave me are helping me see everything more clearly. I hope this lasts, because if it does, the rest of this year is going to be amazing.

Oh, and speaking of amazing… I saw the most breathtaking flowering tree today. I didn’t have my camera and anyway I could never have captured its glory. Just… so many pink blooms everywhere! They were such fat dense blossoms, almost like peonies. The tree had stretched its branches out over the sidewalk so I could stand there and see pink cascading overhead and on both sides, and between them, the spectacular blue sky of the East Bay’s sunny days. It was the most beautiful sight, and it completely stopped me in my tracks.