This month Lisa Notes writes:
“Do you have a phone? Or a camera? Then you are equipped for this month’s One Word challenge!
Be a One Word photo sleuth.
Look all around you for hints of your word. Find them in objects, people, or places. Snap a photo of these things. Include yourself in at least one of the photos!
The more you look for your word, the more you’ll find it.”
This month’s exercise was another fun one. I journeyed through my house, trying to find examples of my word Balance hanging on my walls. What I discovered is that there weren’t many examples. Most of my pictures and wall hangings do not show balance. Perhaps though, I was concentrating on the wrong things. If I had decided to look at objects such as vases, for example, my experience would have been different. As well, I could have looked in my yard instead. A change in perception does really affect your life.
Here are three pictures that I took:
My German aunt gave me this angel mobile for Christmas one year, and it actually responds to music! It also responds to wind, which is why it is not completely balanced in the picture.
One year my family took a workshop in which we built straw stars. I love the ones my mom made for our Christmas trees many years ago, and I was trying to replicate them. These ones turned out to be much bigger and hard to hang on our Christmas tree, but I still enjoyed the experience. We tried to balance them when we were creating them.
I love this picture of the window in our front door.
No, I didn’t take a picture of myself.
Other updates:
-I am finding more balance in my health. My doctor is pleased that I have lost 10 pounds since September through a healthier diet and an increase in exercise. Best of all, I feel better than I have in years.
-I am doing art and/or poetry daily, and that has given me great joy! I can feel the tension melt away, especially when I am doing art. I never thought that I would write that, but this is not the art of elementary school. I just finished making a dual art and writing journal with creativity coach Consie Sindet from Atop Serenity Hill during one of her free offerings! What a blast! Check out Sindet’s YouTube channel.
-I feel that this week I have done more social activities than I have most of the winter. I can’t walk on the street without bumping into someone I know, and it’s been fantastic catching up!
What about you? How are things going with your word?
Shoe’s Seeds and Stories
@Copyright 2024 Linda Schueler
Shoe's Seeds & Stories 
Your artwork is lovely. What treasures to see daily. You’re doing a wonderful job of finding greater balance in your life.
Thank you!
Very interesting topic! When I considered what you were looking for in your house, versus that balance you’ve found in your life, I wonder if when looking at your vases for example, you were looking for symmetry instead of balance. I think it is or was perhaps an interior decor ideal that displays of anything should be in odd numbers as somehow it is supposed to be more visually pleasing. However, and I’m just using this as an example because I have no idea what your house looks like, I’m picturing a row of vases on a mantle over a fire place in a living room with a couch and chairs around a coffee table in a conversation area. That row of vases could overpower the intent of the space, which is for people to sit and chat. The vases could be large and colourful and be a focus for conversation or they could be distracting. So from one perspective that row of vases could perfectly balance the room or throw it into imbalance. The purpose might be to have decor that does both, in which case, finding the right vases could be challenging. In some cases, symmetry is balance, but also so is asymmetry.
Now for me, my word was authenticity. If I were to take a picture of something in my house, I could take a picture of my main floor. It is comfortable and lived-in. No one is going to mistake it for an interior design magazine. But it is me being authentic to myself. I used to feel bad about my house looking untidy and there are times when I need to get on top of tidying up, but it looks like a house where a visitor could come and sit and make themselves at home without feeling like they are going to make a mess or break something. I feel like in a lot of ways I’ve been living my authentic life, but feeling anxious because I wanted to live a different life. I wanted that interior design house, or I thought I did, but ultimately that’s not me. Trying to find the real me to be my authentic self has been an amazing journey.
Actually I was thinking about the actual objects and not the placement of the objects in the room. But your point about symmetry is interesting. Perhaps I should revisit Ingrid Fetell Lee’s “Joyful”, as she has a chapter on “Harmony” in it.
Glad to hear that your journey to becoming authentic has been amazing!
I love the objects that you chose to show balance!
Thank you!
Oh, I SO love these three photos you’ve shared here about Balance! Such a beautiful perspective of balance in each view. I’m glad you’re also finding balance in your health, creativity, and social life. Wow–quite the inspiration here, Linda! Thanks for linking up with us.
Thank you!