{101 things}

just after the new year, i began compiling a list of 101 things i would like to accomplish in the next 3-5 years. it was a really interesting exercise, and a lot harder than i thought it would be. but the end result was a little insight into what is important to me. what are the things i want to achieve in the next few years? from the giant toybox, that is our universe, what do i want to play with? what do i instinctively reach for. to touch. feel. see. do?

and it gives me focus. a reminder of my dreams. so if i ever falter, and lose my way, i can come here and find a signpost to lead me on track again...

1. start and complete an art journal
2. make calendars with my photographs for christmas presents
3. go away on a girls weekend
4. set up a mobile photography studio
5. learn to sew
6. have a feather down farm holiday
7. have a space date with cam
8. make all cards and gifts for one year
9. bake a birthday cake
10. make and fill a recipe book of my favourites (with pictures)
11. go to a photo exhibition in london
12. bake cookies
13. sew a pair of curtains
14. complete a 12 week yoga course
15. complete our australia scrapbook
16. take a photo every day for 365 days
17. take part in the 29 day giving challenge
18. take pictures at a british seaside
19. do a sponsored run
20. have a family photo session
21. revisit paris
22. go on a spa retreat
23. go to prague
24. drive to switzerland
25. be published
26. have a midnight picnic in a boat in the middle of a lake
27. read the tarot
28. go to athens
29. visit ronnie in belgium
30. renew our wedding vows on the beach
31. start and complete a gratitude journal
32. write love letters to 10 friends
33. read women who run with the wolves
34. make a set of postcards from my pictures
35. paint our portrait and hang it up
36. dress up in 50s style and have a photo shoot
37. do a burlesque class
38. learn to belly dance
39. get my nose pierced
40. go on a womens creative retreat
41. sleep under the stars
42. see the northern lights
43. have a belfast sink
44. own a claw foot bath
45. be able to do the sun salutation without thinking
46. journal everyday for a month
47. play with a vintage camera
48. complete street dogs project
49. see the grand canyon
50. find a mentor/coach
51. drive across america
52. learn to salsa
53. salsa dance in cuba
54. join a book group and go
55. have dinner at gees
56. read ten new authors
57. go on a dog days out
58. stand up for what i believe in and go on a protest
59. learn french
60. buy a type 2 camper automatic
61. write a book
62. run a creative workshop
63. exhibit my pictures
64. explore western australia
65. photograph 101 dogs
66. rebrand dogtales and dreams
67. launch mcKinley-rodgers photography
68. become a certified life coach
69. open an etsy shop
70. run an online workshop
71. organise my wardrobe
72. learn spanish
73. photograph 50 weddings
74. moonwalk
75. complete a photography workshop
76. enter a photography competition
77. find a wingback chair
78. visit the lake district
79. camper van around Scotland
80. revist Mary Coulter Hotel and our tree
81. pick wildflowers for the table
82. grow my own herbs
83. whale watching
84. buy/build a eco-home
85. organise my photographs (and back up!)
86. read the paper every day for a week
87. go one week without the internet
88. stay in a water cottage at the misool eco resort
89. scrapbook our wedding
90. learn sign language
91. swim with a beluga whale
92. walk the inca trail
93. dance in the rain
94. watch the sun rise with cam
95. meditate for 10 minutes every day for a week
96. revisit soul coaching
97. qualify as a counsellor
98. write a page a day for one month
99. wear plaits in my hair
100. go on a canal boat holiday
101. visit mrs lee's daffodil garden

{honouring my inspirations}

this week we were asked to consider our creative rituals and inspirations.
it made me realise that, although i have an overflowing well of inspiration, there is little order to it. i find myself drawn from one thing to another indiscriminately. one day i am all about old english vintage, and the next i am wishing i was a little more dita von teese. one moment i am all about standing up to the man, and in the next frame, i am ordering a caramel macchiato at starbucks. on sunday i want to paint, by wednesday i am a writer... and so it goes on.

but you know what? that's okay.
i am going to stop being suspicious, critical or judgmental and submit to whatever calls to me, because ultimately treasures and wisdoms will be found there. i am going to stop fighting or defining who i am creatively, and just accept it, allowing my muse to guide me. trust her intuition. trust myself.

i realise now, there is no right or wrong way to be creative. there is no pattern, no template, you have to follow. creativity is an organic process, growing in a way unique only to you. as such you can never be wrong. you can never be smaller, bigger, worse, better than anyone but yourself. and so it's okay. there is no competition. no comparison. no standard you can fall against.

today i was a photographer. tonight i will devour some interior decorating magazines and fantasise about being a homemaker. tomorrow morning i will be a probation officer harbouring quiet intentions about creating a workshop for women offenders, and by the evening i will be a scrapbooker. who knows which hat i will put on tuesday... but it doesn't matter, because they all belong to me. and i honour all of them.

{web magic}

web magic pretty much sums up how i feel right now. with the book blogging group, the artist's way and the goddess circle, i feel like i am swimming in a sea of creativity and inspiration! no, make that floating. yes, i am floating, supported in the ebb and flow, seeing where it takes me... and it is magical.

and so that is what i wish for my creativity ~ for it to find it's own rhythm, it's own place amongst the beauty i am surrounded by. to inspire as i am inspired. to comfort as i am comforted and to be enjoyed as i so enjoy my daily explorations in this world wide web of magic.

to make more wishes come true, go here...

{dreamboarding}

i've heard the term vision boards, dream boards, banded about for some time now, and i keep meaning to create one for myself. i love the intention behind them, and the active message you are sending to the universe.

orginally coined by sacred suzie and now hosted by jamie, who once again creates a space for people to come together and pool their collective power, tonight we honour the full moon and release our wishes into the new year.

this is my first attempt at the dreamboard and, although i had originally wished to create a collage (maybe next time), i was instead called to pull it together digitally. as such, i need to credit the wonderful work of the photographers whose pictures i have used to illustrate the dreams i wish to draw in and manifest in my own life. so, in order, from left to right: the ethereal boho girl, the gentle yet powerfully talented and creative kelly rae, a superhero, an original shutter sister, the inspirational jesh de rox and little ol' me!

for more dreamboards, check it out here! and in the meantime, may all your wishes come true...

{inner muse}

today marked the beginning of a new book blogging group hosted, yet again, by the fabulous jamie. it is a real treat, because not only do we get to share and encourage each other amidst a community of kindred spirits, but jamie has also organised an interview with a creative blogger each week to truly fill our inspirational wells!

this weeks interview was with jennifer lee. i had not come across jennifer's work previously, but her words really spoke to me, particularly her concept about the inner muse. it made me think about my own inner muse. am i expressing who she is? am i sharing what she wants to say? how aware am i of the outward projections i make of myself and my inner desires to be who i am?

these questions were aptly timed with this weeks secret, the first of twelve we will explore through the book: acknowledging your creative self.

this has been an ongoing and difficult process for me but in recent days, i've been feeling closer to the truth, and jennifer's words have helped guide me further. i am a fledgling creative soul, but slowly finding my feet; as a photographer, writer and artist. however, i know to fully embody these aspects of myself, i need to actively embrace them.

i had a dream last year to start my own photography business. in the spring, dogtales and dreams was born. but the business (and i) didn't grow as i had hoped and for a number of reasons (circumstance, fear, lack of funds... excuses!) i have allowed those dreams to lie stagnant. jennifer's words awakened my inner muse and she's ready to take the reigns. she wants to be empowered. she wants a voice.

i realise now, she has always been there. waiting for me to notice here. recognise her. include her. i think i am ready too. and so welcome to to my (our) journey.

{wishcasting wednesday}

the wonderfully generous jamie has relaunched her magical haven of wishcasting recently, and what a lovely way to set your intention for 2009!

i particularly love this, which i stole from the original blog site:

"be a maker of magic and a tender of wishes. it’s easy. in the comment section, support a wish by saying “as (insert name)wishes for her/himself, so i wish for him/her also.” it’s that simple. there is great power in wishing together."

how wondrously special is that? be a maker of magic and tender of wishes.
it just sounds divine!

and so thank you jamie, i am excited to use this platform to declare my wish(es) for 2009. and for me, what i wish for most in 2009 is simply to {be}. to be present. to be authentic. to be (the best of) me.

{be the change}

picture by the fabulous stacy, necklace from bellawish

happy new year.

following in the footsteps of a superhero, i am doing away with resolutions this year. in fact subsconsciously i was already rewriting my intentions for the new year, and they were not about things i wished to change about myself; but rather, they were all about things i wished to manifest for myself.

because now, as i stand before a landscape of new beginnings, i feel stronger. more certain about who i am and what i want for myself. last year i was unable to complete a mondo beyondo list because i was too scared. too timid to stand and declare my wildest dreams. too afraid of failure. embarassment.
i still am afraid of these things, but i've learnt this year not to let fear hold me back.

2008 has been a transformative year for me. it forced me to step outside my comfort zone and reach for the things important to me. it's still an ongoing journey, but at least i've laid the foundations. i gently opened my heart and, in doing so, i've experienced the sweet nectar of possibility. it's been a tough year too, but i've survived the bitter disappointment and failure. i stared my fears in the face and stepped right into them. and i found strength in my achievements.

2008 challenged my relationships too. it forced me to ask difficult questions of myself and of those around me. as a result, i've found new kindred spirits but i've also had to learn how to let go of old friendships. still, my marriage continues to inspire me. anchor me. and remind me of all that is good in the world. cam's new job, my mother's third stroke and our ivf journey, challenged us greatly and put our love and commitment for each other under scrutiny and strain. but we've come through stronger, and more in love. i am forever grateful for the most amazing gift i have in this man.

ultimately 2008 has allowed to me to heal some old wounds. it has allowed me to exorcise some old ghosts. it has allowed me to finally grow. blossom, and be who i've always wanted to be.

and so my word for 2009 is simply {be}. and i received the necklace above from my husband as a gift to remind me of my intention ~ i am enough, and so long as i be who i am, i will be the change.