The hardest part...

So I'm sitting here typing this post and looking through about a zillion pictures Mac Daddy and I took over the weekend. I'm one of those people who rarely leaves the house without the camera because I feel there's just so much to see no matter where I'm going or what we're doing.

Some people take pictures of vacations, famous places and things, and rare occurrences. I do, too, but really my favorite pictures are the ones of all the things that surround me everyday. Little snippets in time of the things that make ordinary life worth the effort it takes to live it. Small pieces saved of a day that flies by way too fast.

We don't have many professionally set-up family pictures. The kids (obviously) don't get school pictures every year and I haven't taken the whole crew to one of those places with a coupon for a sitting fee in years. Our family pictures are mostly candid shots taken by me and Mac Daddy and enlarged at the local photo printing joint.

I've never really understood the whole family photo set up deal. The kids moan about having to wear stiff clothes and they squirm the whole time. The juggling act needed to keep the little ones still and semi-smiling just isn't worth the end result... a picture of kids that look like mine but with don't seem quite the same.

So I take pictures of the people around me being who they really are and I sit back and I am thankful to have that little snippet saved so I can go back and remind myself that the real things are the most beautiful things. That life is busy and hard and dirty and painful, but that the rewards are there if only we take the time to not just look at them but really see them.

The face she makes when she reads (which she does a lot)...

The quick glimpses of an inner character...

A truly relaxing day when he's doing something he really loves...

What happenes when they realize the camera is pointed at them...

So if you're into a philosophical Monday morning, and a rainy one here to top it off, think on this...

Why is it that one of the hardest things there is to do in life is just be... real?

I guess this is all stemming from my worries over some of the things I need to do and places I need to go over the next few weeks. I worry so much about first impressions (and second and third ones, too). And I really don't want to wear my stiff clothes and a semi-smile just to get through. I have a really hard time selling myself with this whole designing thing so hopefully the knitting is good enough to sell itself.

See, we can't all be witty all the time and we can't all be beautiful. But we can all be real, even if its the hardest of all to do.

Comments

[Monica]

I don't ususally comment, but I have to tell you--you make and excellent impression-always. Your writing is smart, funny and honest, your patterns are adorable and perfectly executed, and you are a natural beauty with a kick-a** figure! Yous don't need stiff clothes, and neither so your great kids.

[clarabelle]

I'm with you, Marie-Grace! I was thinking the other day about how few photos I have of my now grown-up kids where they're NOT gurning or giving me the bird, but then that's how they really are!

The photos of your kids are great - hope whatever is coming up goes smoothly for you (and your knits ARE good enough to sell themselves!).

[Cindy]

Wonderful photos! And so much better than the stiffly lined up studio shot.

[bezzie]

Great post. And so true!

[Miss Scarlett]

What you've written is so true!
I enjoy non-posed family pics too - they capture time/events better. But I still do like those whole-family-together portraits too. Why is that I wonder?

I love the picture of you and the goat nose to nose. That goat is too adorable!

Just be as relaxed and 'you' as you can. Your knitting can more than stand on its own!

[Amy]

GREAT post! I couldn't agree more, and we are also a "non - posed" family. I like it better that way. And btw - that little precious goat is so cute I could eat him right up!