Enjoying Photos
The 100 year old peony garden at the University of Michigan is always photogenic.
As I sit down to write to you this month, Father's Day in the United States is just around the corner. My own father left this earth before I was ready, passing suddenly at age 70 of heart disease. The years in between his passing and my first child being born were sad, especially on Father's Day. Father's Day and Mother's Day can be complicated for some of us for a myriad of reasons.
More than a decade ago, I decided to make a new tradition to celebrate my husband on Father's Day. His own parents had both passed by then and we were focused on our young family. By this time, I had put my 35mm film camera aside and we had scores of digital photos languishing away. This is how I started making a chronological photobook of the year's events for my husband every Father's Day. Until this year. This spring was particularly hectic for me.
Now, in theory, I am spending at least 25 minutes a week on my photobooks. It's a weekly habit line item in my habit tracker. In reality, I can look back at months of habit trackers and see, clearly, that some months I was lucky to spend 25 minutes (if any time) a month on my photobooks. Ever the optimist when it comes to these things, the beginning of May came and went. It dawned on me that Father's Day was coming up and I had better get cracking on that photobook. Certainly, it wouldn't be too bad because I had already started working on it some months ago, maybe around Christmas time when I made a similar book for my mother.
On May 24, 2022 I logged into my Shutterfly account (Shutterfly is just one of many services that can print these types of books) to find out that the only thing I had done was select the book template, nothing else. There I was, less than a month away from Father's Day, and not one photo in a book. These books can take me a lot of time. Hours. Many hours. I looked at our bookcase full of these books from every year for well over a decade and felt horrible that there might be a gap. I also knew my husband would be expecting another book to peruse. He seems to really enjoy the little narrative about what was happening in our lives in each monthly spread.
Over the years of writing this blog, also for well over a decade with gaps, I have shared multiple times that I am a recovering perfectionist. On May 24th, I realized that if was not going to let down my husband, and myself, I would have to drop some of my perfectionist tendencies when it comes to the Father's Day book. So, I got to work. In 30 minutes I created a two page spread for June 2021. It's not clear to me now how long I worked and at the end of that day, I estimated that I had a little over five hours of work left in two and a half weeks, allowing a week for shipping. That would be completely doable, if I used my time wisely and perhaps let some other things slide. I had let this photobook slide for almost a year.
That last week of May I worked on the photobook a minimum of 25 minutes every day. I have my habit tracker to prove it. I reminded myself not to get mired in perfectionism and just have fun with it. When my eyes started to hurt, or I wasn't feeling the creative spark anymore, I stopped. Do you know what happened? Exactly one week later on May 31, 2022, I finished and ordered the book. It arrived in the mail last week, well in time for Father's Day. It's hidden in my office still in the mailing box. Maybe I can pawn off the wrapping to one of my kids.
I am willing to guess that I am not the only person who gets in their own way and makes projects bigger than they need to be. Many of you might be in similar situations with projects that are important, but not urgent (at least not urgent yet). To help us all and build community, I would like to offer Open Office Hours free to anyone who is interested in coming together for 25 minutes a week on Zoom. This will be a time to ask questions or just have accountability. If you are interested, please send me an email. I will reach out later in the summer or fall to set up our first meeting.
All my best,
Carolyn
P.S. Thank you to those of you who have supported my work on Ko-fi! I love providing valuable, ad free content, at no charge to you. If you feel compelled to contribute, please consider providing me with a one time or monthly tip on Ko-fi. I don't drink coffee, but am fueled by tea and dark chocolate. I so appreciate your support in any way. It helps keep my message complimentary and ad free.
