Radiate Week I : Pieces of Me.

Last week the Radiate class started, my fourth online photography class this year and my third one with Beryl Young.  Radiate is all about rediscovering your inner glow behind the camera lens.  Each week has a self care portion combined with editing techniques.  This week’s theme is Pieces of Me.

Whenever you start a new class, job etc Day one usually involves making some sort of introduction of yourself.  For me my introduction usually goes something like this:  Hi my name is Colette.  I am a Registered Nurse, wife, mother to Rachael, age two and mother to two fur kids : Leo and Chloe.  This brief introduction doesn’t really tell anyone who I am. 

It has been fun this week really learning about me.  I think for way too long my identity was truly tied into my job.  It was very refreshing to me during my year long maternity leave to not be seen as "Colette the ET Nurse" but just as "Colette."  I made new friends that year and really learned about myself. 

When you have a full time job inside and outside of the home, “ME” time is usually low on the priority list.  Photography has always interested me but this past year I have really been focusing on developing my skills.  I thank my husband for truly supporting me in this.

So what are those pieces of ME.  To help us discover this, Beryl provided us with some journal prompts.  I chose two…I am only choosing to share one of the prompts here.  I chose to focus on the five things that I LOVE.

1) Ok let’s start with the obvious one.  I LOVE my family.  Dennis and Rachael are my world.  Rachael always puts a smile on my face and warms my heart.  I love watching her learn and grow, and I love trying to see myself and Dennis in her.  I love that she is truly a piece of me (and of course her daddy)….my living legacy and I am extremely honored to have been given the opportunity to raise a child here on earth.

I played around with some editing techniques but decided that I preferred the SOOC version the best.

I love my Husband.  I met Dennis at a time in my life when I truly thought that marriage would never be in the cards for me but I can’t imagine my life without him.  Dennis is truly my best friend and my Rock.  I love that I am totally myself with him…He sees a side of my personality that very few people get to see.  We have had more that our share of $hit in six years of marriage but we are still standing strong.

2) I love to listen to music.  I love that I can hear a song on the radio and it will remind me of a certain time or experience.  I love to sing….I always game to do Karaoke but have not done that in a very long time.  I truly believe that Rachael gets her love of singing and music from me.  I have quite the CD collection but tend to just download music now.  My Iphone these days is used most of the time to play Rachael’s playlists but in those rare “ME” time moments I love to put my Iphone in the BOSE dock and just crank up the music.  I especially love it now that I don’t have an attached neighbor.

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3) I love to pamper myself. I love to treat myself or be treated to a Hot stone massage or pedicure.  It took my husband a while to realize that a gift card to my favorite spa is an awesome gift.  His thoughts were that this would only be a gift that I could enjoy for a day…..Fine by me. 

Of course going to the Spa is expensive so when I can I do opt to pamper myself at home.  I have a hot stone massage kit….which sadly has only been using once or twice.  I do have a foot soak bath which I used a lot in the past. 

Sometimes pampering looks like a hot bubble bath with my favorite bath stuff (judging by the amount of bath products I packed up….I don’t treat myself to this often enough).  I love lavender products…as they instantly put me in the frame of mind to relax.

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4) I LOVE to organize.   Weird I know but in the midst of chaos one of my coping mechanisms to organize.  When I was on stress leave after losing Ethan and Noah, I spend a lot of time organizing our house, anything from the pantry to my daughter’s bedroom.

Well we just recently moved, so things are a bit chaos.  In my old house, everything had a place I had a system for everything.  While priority #1 is to organize this house.  During the week I was off, I made many shopping trips to pick up things to organize the house.  So far I can cross off the pantry, ensuite and spice cabinet from my list.

Years ago when I used to buy a LOT of Tupperware, I bought myself a spice organizer carousel.  Well one morning post night shift, I set out to organize my spices.  Well I have more spices than can fit on the carousel.  In the old house, I just had them in a basket.  On one shopping trip to Canadian Tire, I stumbled across one of those plastic step things…Genius.  A bought a similar one to the pantry.  So now instead of hunting for a certain spice, I can see them easier.  Mission accomplished.  Next up: Rachael’s playroom stay tuned.

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5)  I LOVE my camera.  Even in the initial days of losing Ethan and Noah, I was taking pictures.  In time I felt less guilty about picking up my camera.  I truly credit photography for giving me peace this year.  Kids grow up so quickly so I have taken it upon myself to document Rachael’s life and therefore ours as well, through pictures.  A lot of the pictures that I have taken over the past two years are truly my favorites.

I get my love of photography from my father.  He was always taking pictures of myself and my sister during our childhoods….Our early years are well documented through pictures and I will always be grateful for that….I hope that Rachael feels the same in years to come.

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Thanks for taking the time to read this post.  I'm always looking for feedback so in the comments please let me know which version of my pictures you preferred: SOOC or edited. 

If you would like more information about Radiate click HERE