freedom...

this is the 32nd holiday season i have worked at this job.
none of them have been easy but some have been harder than others. first, it's retail and that, in itself, brings a pile of issues as anyone who's ever worked retail during peak season knows. second, it's also portrait photography, and with that comes another pile of emotional stuff brought on by parents who want images of children at their best, at the cheapest price ever.   third, it's people management.  managing people who are dealing with the first and second issues already mentioned.  nothing about it is easy.

and thanksgiving comes right in the middle of all this.  i think, of all the holidays, it's the one that means the most to me. i live every day striving to 'appreciate the moment'. it's my lifetime goal and defines a huge part of every thing i do.  and yet, i'm wishing my life away, longing for january, or retirement, or a day off, or at least night time when stores are closed and i am F R E E . .

this thanksgiving, i got sick.  i felt it coming on tuesday and fought it but on it came. today, six days later, i am still fighting it. but the one good thing that came from it all is that i took sunday off.  i decided that nothing was going to pull at me for one whole day. 

i started stuff and stopped when i felt like it. unfinished. 
i wandered thru the internet, visiting blogs and websites that i like.
i browsed facebook whenever i felt like it, i played solitaire without guilt.
i ate snacks, many snacks.

and i took a picture ride.
my favorite lens is in the shop, my other lenses are acting up, the bags of bread for the geese are piling up and i was having picture-ride withdrawal.  so i went for a ride.  

and there is where i found what i was looking for.
its where i ALWAYS find what i am looking for.

i found F R E E D O M...

so, the hell with january, or sleeping. 
i am going back to going on a picture-ride every day.  not just snapping a shot on the way to work. or running out to shoot something because i need to post for last week's photo hunt. 
but an honest picture ride just for me. 
a time set aside to appreciate the day and the moment. 
a few minutes of F R E E D O M...