Yesterday, I woke up struggling against myself. Mondays being Mondays, it saw a chance to kick me while I’m down. Or, is that just how I excuse myself from my mood? Logging in for work just escalated things in ways that would swallow my self-appointed word limit whole, spit it out, and regurgitate it again. Maybe it is Monday and not me after all? I kick in the emergency protocols to try and derail the bad mood. The serendipity kicked in and I rediscovered the way Autumn smiles.
New Beginnings
While clearly a summer month by any other measure, August will always be Fall to me. Kids start school in the Fall and Fall is just another word for Autumn. If you find my logic faulty, talk to the school systems that reference the first term of the year as “Fall Semester”. I believe you’ll find that the kids in classrooms would agree that summer has ended. Regardless, it is a time of new beginnings and, this particular morning, a restart is greatly needed. The laptop already got one. Why not me?
Autumn Smiles Uplift
I have a variety of tools I use to try and turn a bad morning around. No, I don’t always use them. I do find some joy in being grouchy at times. That’s on me. This morning, though, I couldn’t stand myself. A bit of contemplation followed by remembering I need a new blog post spurred my decision. Time to delve into my back catalog and find some images that remind me how to smile. And there I found the Autumn smiles I didn’t know I was needing this morning.
Looking Back Helps Look Ahead
The magic of photography is I can remember details of that day not captured in the image themselves. Thus the oft-used phrase, “capturing memories” among photographers. It was a one-off shoot with a model who happened to be in town. Looking through the negatives, I see mistakes, lost treasures, and more than a few hints at themes I see across my portfolio today. Most of all, I see a model who, despite the unwritten rule so many seem intent on following, was not afraid to show joy on her face. Autumn smiles. She smiles a lot. And it works.
Note of interest: After selecting the attached image, I looked at the metadata. Taken on August 15, 2012. I had not even thought about finding an image to share on the anniversary it was taken. The coincidence helped with the whole smile issue.
