My_365 Project {January}...

At the beginning of the year I jumped in on the "My_365 Project" on Instagram.  My first thought was "Jenna, what are you thinking?  You know you can't do this.  Should you really take this on?"  

Then I spoke to myself from a new place (I've discovered recently) and thought, "So what if you miss a day, or your pictures just aren't as good as some of the others.  You'll still take more pictures and exercise more creativity than if you resign to the fear of failure."

You see, I'm sick of being afraid to fail.  Over the last year I started pursuing creativity more intently.   My husband has encouraged me to pursue photography more, and I've had a lot of excuses as to why I shouldn't.  Through a few good books and conversations with "creative" friends I came across a few nuggets of wisdom on this subject of creativity and failure.  Here are a few:

 

"There is no innovation and creativity 

without failure.  Period."
 ~Brene Brown

"An essential aspect of creativity is 

not being afraid to fail." 

 ~Edwin Land

I've realized over the years my soul responds when I find ways to be creative.  Madeleine L'Engle puts it best...

“The discipline of creation, be it to paint, compose, write, is an effort towards wholeness.” 

The opposite is also true, as Brene Brown points out...

 "Unused creativity is not benign. It clumps inside us, turning into judgment, grief, anger and shame."  (and I would add depression)

This is why I began this blog 7 years ago.  Documenting my days began as a way to see the sacred in the everyday as I was adjusting to motherhood with three young kids.  I cannot believe the way God continues to use this discipline to change my heart and soul.

So lets encourage one another to pursue our creative outlets without a fear of failure and begin to believe that our lives will be richer because we did.

   For those that don't follow along on Instagram here are my daily pictures from January.  All photos taken with iPhone 4S.

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

~Pablo Picasso

Snippets of January...

in video...press play...

Music:  Signature of Divine (Yahweh) by NEED TO BREATHE

Good Morning...

So thankful to have caught this glimpse of the glory of God this morning...I didn't notice the deer until I was in the midst of taking the picture...

29|365..."let the goal of this day be to bring everything captive to Me. Whenever your mind wanders, lasso those thoughts and bring them into My Presence... I will guard you and keep you in constant peace, as you focus your mind on Me." ~ #JesusCalling, #lochviewtree

A photo posted by Jenna Mace (@jbmace) on Jan 29, 2015 at 4:21am PST

Snowday...

Even though the forecast was pretty much a bust we made the most of the snow today...click play:)

Week 3:52 {Light}...

"Truth will ultimately prevail 

where there is pains to bring it to light."

~George Washington

The Washington Monument in Washington, DC on a cloudy, grey day.


...Click here to view previous posts of Project52...

Cup Stacking...

Eli came home from school the other day excited to tell me what they had learned in P.E...he doesn't offer up details about his day very often so I gave him my full attention.  I was a little surprised when he shared with me that he learned to stack cups.  He spent the next few minutes showing me the 3-6-3 stack trying rapidly to decrease his time with each stack.  

So today I purchased a bulk supply of Solo cups and this is how the boys spent some of the afternoon (in between some fighting).

 Then they decided it had to come down.  After trying one of Eli's smaller nerf guns they decided to pull out the big gun.

Week 2:52 {Storytelling}...

Eight years ago, when our oldest boy was turning 4...I remember my mother-in-law, Cerenna saying to me "four is a magical age."  Now the youngest of our four boys has less than 3 months left in his fourth year and her words ring true more than ever.  She was right there is something magical about this age...
the way he notices every little detail...
the way he compliments me when I do something kind for him...
the way he holds my cheeks and tells me he loves me...
the way he snuggles up to me to read him a book...
the way he grabs my face and turns my head to capture my attention...
the way he is learning to write his name, count everything and ask me constantly what does "....." start with...
the way he still needs help, but is excited about gaining independence...
the way he comes down the attic steps in the morning with "dranky" in hand ready to snuggle...
the way he says "I'm going to stay 4 forever!"...

These are just a few magical things about him being 4...

 We spent the other day on a train adventure; his favorite kind of adventure.  I took my tripod hoping to grab a picture of the two of us to "remember" this season.  I had a little difficulty setting up the scene (we were watching the train run along the tracks above the tunnel) but this photo definitely tells a story, and it's one I will cherish...

...Click here to view previous posts of Project52...

An Afternoon Adventure...

with my buddy and train enthusiast...he was so excited to find an "ice wonderland" to play in while we waited for trains to move along the tracks...

eventually we climbed the hill so that we were above the tracks and found a CSX train with hopper cars filled with coal on the tracks...

we waited to leave until the train took off...Will wanted to count the hopper cars filled with coal...we lost count after we hit 100...

Enjoying the First Snow of 2015...

My mantra is...

 "If it's going to be cold it should snow."  

 I love the way the sunlight glistens off of the snow and brings light to the sometimes dreary days of winter.  I also love that our boys will spend hours outside playing in the snow.  This was Bella's first real snow and it was a blast to see her take it all in...

Snippets of December...

In a quest to capture more video this year I will be attempting a video a month...not sure I'll remember (to capture video) but I thought I would practice this month while I had some downtime over break.

Week 1:52 {Fresh}...

...our second family puzzle spread on the dining room table...one reason I love slower days during break...

...Click here to view 2014 Project52 posts...