thoughts for July

July is racing past, half way through the year and things are happening in the future which is exciting but also very daunting and means I wake up most mornings for that dreaded fears at 4am! I am enjoying quite a few things at the moment and thought I would share them with you.

Running into the sea after a run

I always get so hot after my runs and I find it easy to race into the sea to cool down. I'm not sure I could do it if I wasn't so hot, its winter here and the water is 18 degrees or so, it's heart stopping, I can feel my heart miss a tiny beat but the feeling after that is so exhilarating and I feel so good afterwards. I am determined to go in the water once a week for the next 6 weeks. 

Reading, reading, reading 

I have a continual book list in notes on my phone, I love reading and always have a book on the go. I am currently reading The covenant of water  which is set in India, it's a massive tome but very readable and I feel I am learning as well which I do love. I have just finished Enter Ghost which was so good, set in Israel and deals with Arabs, Israel, Palestine and Shakespeare, hard sometimes but really worth it and again, I learnt a lot. 

Watching 

I am so enjoying hijack on Apple TV, I get annoyed when shows only come once a week but it's worth the wait. I didn't want to watch it as I was worried it would be about a plane crashing etc but it's so much more than that. 

What I'm learning

I did a workshop in Sydney the other day that was so good, we walked around with the photographer Jesse Marlow who took a group of us around parts of the city and set us a task of finding our initials in the abstract. We had to really think and discover and it was such a good exercise. He was also a really nice person. I don't know about you but sometimes I find photographers never want to share their knowledge, they keep their lenses and settings a secret, or don't admit that they have to self publish and make everyone believe they have been given a book deal. Jesse was so happy to help and I had been struggling with my settings and he said to just take it back to the basics, don't over think it,  and those words were all that I needed to hear. I also went to see a truly fantastic exhibition of Steve McCurry's work this week with a friend and we spent so long just enjoying all the wonderful photographs, listening to the commentary, we were so inspired and he talked about waiting, coming back for the right shot, looking for colour. You need these moments to inspire, inspiration is such a powerful tool. 

What I'm listening to

I'm about to turn sixty and I'm worrying about stupid things, will I be invisible? will I disappear? I hear words of wisdom from older people and ones that resonate include - live life in colour, embrace ageing and be unafraid of change. One I read today was - make it a rule in your 60s not to talk about aches and pains unless they are life threatening. My mother calls talking about illness organ recital, people love talking about what is wrong with their bodies but as long as we keep moving, swimming, walking, all will be well don't you think?

What I'm photographing

the winter colours in the water are amazing at the moment. Crystal clear blues and greens.