One of the biggest challenges of transitioning from stay-at-home mom to full-time-working-mom has been carving out time for errands, time for exercise, and the element I yearn for most: time for creativity. Which, for me, means quiet time. Alone.
I decided to experiment this week by scheduling a work day on Saturday and taking a flex day today. I had a hair appointment at 9 AM – grooming! a first step in starting to figure out this work-life balance thing – and made a long list of errands I’m rarely able to get to anymore during the week: bank, post office, library, kids’ school.
When I saw that the day’s photography challenge was Solitude, I grabbed my camera and added “photos” to my list.
I was inspired by my photo-genius coworker, Jen Hooks, who blogs at lightcandy: she is not pulling photos from her archives for the Photography 101 course many of us are taking. She is aiming to get behind her lens every day and shoot new work. And with a day off, I wanted to do the same.
The first thing I thought of on this cold, misty November day, when I had the day all to myself, was the cemetery. Is that weird? It called to me with its emptiness, and its silence. Though my days have no noise, my mind feels loud. I feel like I’m rushing all the time – rushing to get the kids’ lunch boxes packed, rushing to throw the dishes in the dishwasher, rushing to get the kids to sports, rushing to take my shower, rushing to “get to work” (down in my basement office).
There’s no rush at the cemetery. It is quiet. It is peaceful. It is slow-paced.
It was exactly the stillness, and the solitude, I needed.
I shot these photos for Photography 101: Solitude, and for Jen Hooks’ Minimalist challenge.
Butterfly Mind 
I often go to the cemetery to write. I’ve always liked it there. So quiet. Your photos are great!
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The third shot is a particularly nice one for this prompt. Lovely.
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If I weren’t having such an awfully busy month with school, I wouldn’t pull from my archives and instead would shoot every day, although I have been enjoying revisiting old work and seeing how much I’ve improved in the last few years I’ve been taking photos.
Also, I love the second photo! My favorite by far, although the DoF is nice in all of them.
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Lovely photos, Andrea. So glad you got a day to yourself! I’d tell you it gets easier, this work/mom/creator balance thing, but easy isn’t the right word. You’ll settle into the shape you now occupy, that would be a better way to say it. The feeling of challenge may never go away, but one day, without realizing it, you’ll find you feel like you. Different you, but you nonetheless. Cheers – jennifer
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With the contrast between focused and non focused objects i am reminded of ‘presence’ and ‘mindfulness’. The pause to fully come back to this present moment while gently holding everything that surrounds it.
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Oh, Andrea – I remember so well the years when I was working as well as being a mum – and how I just never seemed to stop running everywhere! And yet even though my lovely girl is now 21, I still feel that my work demands and life’s general demands prevent me from getting quiet enough to be creative as often as I would like, but I must thank you today, because remembering the dizzy-making, all-encompassing busy-ness of earlier years has made me appreciate that I DO actually have more time now! (So hang in there – it does come back in the end, and the bit of life you are doing now will rush by so appreciate every moment. O my Gawd – I sound like the old sage on the mountain now!). Love your photos – especially number two – the contrasting colours if the leaves on the grass is intense and gorgeous!!
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I love your photos and your sentiments. It’s tough — I was there not too long ago, in the transition to work, and now, the transition to the empty nest. The noise in our heads gets very loud. I’m glad you found a peaceful afternoon. Julia Cameron calls it an Artist’s Date. 🙂
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I also like to roam around in cemetaries – there are usually interesting pictures to be taken. So are you another Virginia blogger? I noticed your pics were taken in Blacksburg, about 2.5 hrs from where I live!
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Beautiful images.
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I love taking photos at the cemetery. Nothing at all weird about it. Your photos turned out beautiful.
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I would never have thought of going to a cemetery but this is something I will now keep in the back of my mind for the future. My fav pic would be the very first shot which shows a tombstone in the background. That one to me best represents both solitude and minimalist. All in all, great job (5 stars)!
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