california and staying inspired.

i should probably be asking myself why i'm not sleeping since it's 1:52AM and i know my little blonde bundle of energy will be up in less hours than i can count on one hand. hi mama, wanna EAT! but instead i decided that after many, many hours of editing today, i'm going to do something for me. i'll be honest - i love middle of the night silence. deep dark skies and stillness. knowing that my family is peacefully sleeping and just taking some time to relax and evaluate. this month is the busiest month of my (business) life thus far. i am so excited for all the new clients i am meeting, the returning ones that i'm getting to know even better, and the invigorating feeling that comes along with non-stop productivity. i'm also really nervous because in all honestly, it's a little (probably a lot) too much. but these things need to happen. i need to test my limits so that i can make them. i need to push my own boundaries so i can draw the lines. this month is helping me do that in so many ways, and for that i'm grateful. i will get through it AND i will do my best. i will learn, grow, appreciate, love, and not forget to breathe.

i recently took an impromptu trip to california. my whole life i've always felt like i belonged there, but i've never even been. it was kind of silly really, my whole california fantasy. but.... then i went. and i fell in love. i wanted to bottle up the energy in that place. there's this palpable vibrance everywhere and the whole time i was trying to figure out what it was and where it was coming from. why the people are so refreshing and why the food is so delicious and why "marijuana" isn't the end of the flipping world. there seems to be this unified consciousness and in all of my voyeuristic glory i figured out one thing that contributes to this energy that i love. confession: i eavesdrop constantly. it's bad. but in doing so, my epiphany, everyone was talking about IDEAS. not people, not things, not football... IDEAS. there is a lot of power in that. one of my favorite quotes: great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. so true.

i'm sure californians talk about celebrity gossip and football and dirty socks like the rest of us, but i'm telling you, the ratio of ideas to petty nonsense was refreshing to say the least. while i was there i carried my camera and took it out randomly, when i felt moved to. i didn't make myself take pictures. it was really nice to just be able to photograph something that inspired me in that moment. and it reminded me that i need to do that more often. to stay inspired and fresh and and passionate - i have to take a break from the normal and seek out something that makes me say ahhh. here are some of my random california moments.

goodnight. :)