”If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears.”
Glenn Clark
The funny and lovely Cherish and I have been exploring Vancouver’s East and West Side and it is proving to be a fun project that is pushing us, well at least me, to go out and explore our city. Since starting this project, I feel like I look at places, landmarks and most things around me with different eyes.
Cherish is on Vancouver’s Westside and has been for the past 10 years. As for me, I am an East Vancouver gal through and through and love it most days.
Yesterday was one of those days. I had about an hour and a half to walk our backstreets and pay a short visit to the Hastings-Sunrise area. The sun was shining, it was warm for a change and really there is nothing better than walk around looking, exploring, and seeing.
I was lucky enough to have some alone time with my boy yesterday. It was great and I felt like he definitely benefited from our time together. He is growing up and with the changes that come with this I have had to think about the way I react to his behaviour – For instance, the other day he unwrapped a packet of gummies and before taking one himself he offered it to his sister with the words ‘ladies first’. I love chivalry and immediately reacted in my usual over the top manner which in turn embarrassed him and he didn’t know how to react except give me a slight push with the words ‘no mama’… yes I have to rethink my actions, that’s for sure!
Our day began at Trout Lake with a date with our friend Angela, but more on that later! After this Jivan and I headed downtown to meet his class at the Vancouver Art Gallery for an Emily Carr exhibition and to make some art. It was a fabulous experience.
This was followed by some hot chocolate and just walking around downtown and then catching the bus back to pick up his sister from daycare.
And of course I grab any chance I can to take pictures of him, as it is much easier to do when it is just him and I.
Thank you my baby for such a special day! I love you so very much.
I adore taking pictures of where I am standing. I don’t know what it is that attracts me to this form of capturing but it excites me. I also feel that there is a story to wherever we are all standing. Does this make sense?
Currently I am not feeling too grounded, so maybe that is why I am gravitating towards my feet, to get a sense of balance and a feeling of standing firmly and confidently in one place.
The onset of Spring and Summer not far ahead offers wonderful things but also it brings me the busiest time of the year. At my day job I am organizing a thousand things for the start of the next academic year. With my photography I have ideas and projects coming out of my ears (although all good and very exciting). And with my family and home, well needless to say longer days and warmer climes call for a lot more activity, which is again all good and exciting.
So what am I doing about it all? Well, I am trying to manage it always with a camera or iPhone in hand because in this crazy busy world of mine, only my camera brings me to the present and allows me to see the bigger picture.
Of course, any ideas on how to manage all the above are more than welcome 
Recently I came across this quote by American photographer, Harry Callahan.
“To be a photographer, one must photograph.
No amount of book learning, no checklist of seminars attended, can substitute for the simple act of making pictures.
Experience is the best teacher of all.
And for that, there are no guarantees that one will become an artist.”
I really get this now. I finally feel like I can validate calling myself a photographer. By simply doing I have come to a place where I feel happy with what I have achieved but also humbled by the vastness of what I have yet to learn.
So I continue to photograph what and who surrounds me…
and continue learning in this incredible journey that is life and photography.
It is so lovely to walk over a bed of cherry blossoms. What a beautiful time of the year Spring is!
Cherry Blossoms are also the theme this week on EastSideWest, a wonderful space which I am sharing and collaborating on with a wonderful fellow Vancouver photographer and friend, Cherish Bryck. We are so excited about this project and hope you will follow us on our journey through the opposite ends of Vancouver 
Imagine Ani’s delight when playing at the park Brooklyn asked her if she wanted a ride in her pink Cadillac. Little girls wanting to be big girls. So much to be said about that, but I am just not going to go there today!
