This is the week of Thanksgiving. I have always loved the Fall. I love the cooler temperatures. I love the Fall colors. I just love this time of the year. I always have.
It’s a time of year for many to get together with family or friends. It’s a time of family traditions.
I have to admit, I particularly miss my mom and dad in this time of year. They have both been gone for quite a while. I would love to get together with them over a Thanksgiving dinner. I would absolutely love to go back in time, but I can’t.
Life is all about seasons. As we see the leaves fall from the trees, we are reminded that life is about continual change. We say goodbye to what was, and welcome the new. Leaves fall. Winter arrives. Spring brings new life.
As you enter this week of Thanksgiving, I encourage you to practice “thanks giving.” Remember all of the blessings in your life, and be grateful for the memories of the past, and for the memories you are making right now.
Since this is a photography blog, let me mention something about photography. Here’s an idea you can put into practice this week: Reflect on all the things you are grateful for in your life. Photograph those things this week. Notice that many of the things you are grateful for are not even “things.” They are people. They are experiences.
Photography is not really about cameras and shutter speeds and f/stops. Photography is about seeing. How we see the world affects the photographs we create, and photographs shape how we remember the world.
The more we see the world through the eyes of “gratitude”, the more we photograph what really matters to us. Actually the more we focus on what we are grateful for RIGHT NOW, we stay more focused on the blessings we have in our lives right now rather than clinging only to the memories of the past.
Sometimes it is hard to feel grateful. Life can overwhelm us. Stresses demand our attention. Conflict breaks our hearts. Illness makes life hard.
Especially if you do not feel grateful right now, THIS is the time for you to be intentional, and start a list. Make a “gratitude list.” Write down all the things you are grateful for. Over time keep adding to the list. Include the big things and the small things. This turns our focus from what we don’t have to what we DO have in life. This turns our focus to what really matters.
No matter your situation, there are things to be grateful for. Embrace gratitude. Live a life of gratitude.
It’s time for thanks giving.
God bless you all. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Kevin Gourley
