Who is ready for spring? I am! Spring to me means new energy, new growth, and fresh starts. Spring = Inspiration! (Former economist Martha needs to throw in equations from time to time.)
Two important areas of my life have been pretty stunted the past couple of seasons—my photography and my garden. My poor garden was thrown under the bus when our plant-eating puppy Apollo entered our lives last April. I was so busy with book production that I just let it happen. And because the bulk of my photography is based in my own garden, my photography habits suffered as well.
But I’m determined to turn it all around this spring. And I need some accountability to keep me on track!
Yesterday I put the call out on my Facebook page (Martha Brettschneider – Writer & Photographer), asking if anybody wanted to join me in a 30 Day Photo Challenge starting March 1.
“Yes! I’ll take the challenge!” came from my new friend Eden Cook. Eden is the host of the radio show “Out of the Box with Eden Cook” on AM 1060 WMEL in Florida. She emailed me the day I announced the release of Blooming into Mindfulness asking if she could interview me on her show. (Thank you Facebook Post Boost!)
When she’s not hosting radio programs, Eden teaches yoga and mindfulness to kids. The fact that my little Facebook notification found its way to her confirms everything I believe about the universe helping us out when we’re brave enough to put ourselves on the line in pursuit of purposeful goals.
We prerecorded the interview a few days ago. Apollo, at my feet in the office for my very first radio gig, started throwing up about halfway into the session. I left him to it and quietly moved to another room. From there on out my answers were kind of rambly. Lessons learned if I ever do another phone interview—no dogs allowed, keep answers short, have a clock nearby. I’ll share the link when the program airs on Thursday, March 3. We can all compare notes on whether we heard Apollo gacking in the background.
BUT, even more important than the interview, Eden will be joining me and a few other friends who said “YES” to my March photo challenge.
Here’s How the Challenge Will Roll
1) I will post a photo on my Facebook page in the morning (my morning, which is U.S. Eastern Standard Time). I will have taken my photo the day before, since my personal challenge this year is learning to work a little bit ahead of schedule. I’ll also post the photo on G+, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. And I guess I could get my act together and use this as an opportunity to figure out Pinterest. No promises on that one yet. Will keep you posted.
2) YOU can join the challenge by posting your photo either in the thread under my photo or in an individual post on my page. If you’re on another social media site and prefer to post there, just make sure to tag me. Let’s use hashtag #MarthasMarchPhotoChallenge. (I just made that up—I feel powerful.)
3) The only rule is to keep it fun. “I’m a loser since I missed a day” is NOT allowed. Some of us will be trying for a new photo every day of the month, but you can set your own goals. Try it for a week. Or three days. Or one day. If you’re somebody who needs a “real” rule, then let’s say that the photo simply must be taken in March.
4) NO EXPERIENCE IS NECESSARY. And you don’t need a fancy camera. I will be taking most of my shots with my macro lens, since that’s my thing. I use a tripod and a remote shutter release for my shots. You don’t have to! I love seeing the amazing images people are producing with their phone cameras. This is NOT a competition of any kind. (And remember, I’ve only been doing this since my 365project.org photo-a-day challenge in 2014. Before then I had never used anything other than automatic settings on my camera—daily practice is transformative!)
5) The key is to commit to taking a few minutes each day (or most days) of March to stop and notice something beautiful or interesting in your midst, take a picture of it, and share it with us. Photography will be our mindfulness practice this month.
And if you miss the start date on March 1, don’t hesitate to still jump in whenever you’d like! I hope you’ll join us!
BOOK NEWS
Since I’m not supposed to let any book marketing opportunity slip by, Blooming into Mindfulness: How the Universe Used a Garden, Cancer, and Carpools to Teach Me That Calm Is the New Happy is now available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble online, Kindle, Nook, and iBooks. The Amazon reviews make my heart sing! (If you’ve read the book and enjoyed it, I’d be SO grateful if you contributed an Amazon review of your own. Thanks in advance!)
If you’re local, I have two public book signings coming up soon:
Sunday, March 6, 5-7 p.m.: PUBLIC BOOK SIGNING AT CABOOSE BREWING COMPANY, 520 Mill Street, NE, Vienna, VA 22180
Tuesday, March 8, 7-8 p.m.: PUBLIC BOOK SIGNING AT ONE MORE PAGE BOOKS, 2200 N. Westmoreland St., Ste. 101, Arlington, VA, 22213 (March 8 is also International Women’s Day. Come support a sister to celebrate!)
Please please come! I went to a book signing once where I was the only person to show up. An author’s worst nightmare!! After that I made my mother promise to come to all of my events. So you’ll get to see her too! :-)
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