i heart hunting for treasure

i love the new mr price tv ad with sarah the photographer. here are some screen shots of the vid, and you can watch it here i just love how she explains what she does as "a treasure hunter" x

and more blue sweaterness

some more awesome quotes from such a great book:

"from then on, constance became a great storyteller for our new organisation, helping wealthy and poor alike understand the power of giving each individual the tools of credit so {they} would have the potential to change {their own lives}. "we are not handing out gifts," she would say, "but are bringing forth the gifts inside the people themselves"."

and then some lessons learned:

"i learned the importance of giving different kinds of people seats at the table early {in the process of establishing a microfinance organisation} in order to bring ideas to reality."

and then my fave quote:

"i didn't fathom then that most big dreams originate in someone's living room, with a small group of people, regardless of where they come from, or how they are dressed."

not so self portrait pt. 3

this is my good friend carl. his nose was broken playing squash -- not in a bar fight {he's not aggressive} or doing something massively life-threatening. just squash :) i love this pic because it's so raw...driving around at 1am, smoking a cigar, with a bandaged broken face...

{thanks for posing for me. you're a legend x}

defined by mistake

recently someone posted this quote as their status on facebook: “you can't let your mistakes define you” and i’ve really been thinking about it these past few days. i mean, my mistakes do define me. they actually should. because if i learn a lesson from messing up, i get better. i learn more. and i mess up less. i am probably more defined and refined by the things i did wrong than the things i did right. in fact, my mistakes are more often the precursor to my achievements than the other way around.

when i say hurtful things and need to apologise for breaking someone down, i define how to build them up.
when i make the wrong choice about someone romantically, i define who i should be falling in love with in the future.
when i make a bad business decision at work, i define how to build better strategies.
when i do something out of pride and see the destructive consequence, i define how to live by humility.

whenever i bump my head, stumble, screw up, falter, make a bad call, it should make me better.

that’s all.

x

quotable quote

i love this quote...

"how monotonous the sounds of the forest would be if the music came only from the top ten birds."

{dan bennett}

the death of a part of me

so the title of this post may be melodramatic, but my camera died on me yesterday, and it was the worst feeling.

i felt so lost. i was in a mini-hell because i was surrounded by awesome picture-moments with nothing to capture them with. i was not a happy bunny.

it actually made me realise how much i live my life through a lens. and how addicted i am to getting that "great shot". i haven't quite figured out if it's a good or a bad thing.

anyway. sigh. so now i think i may have to finally upgrade to a dslr. gosh. it's not a bad thing. my credit card statement won't be too stoked though.

i am totally open to donations to the caron canon philanthropic fund......

more blue sweater-ness

so i've been reading the blue sweater and i already have emphatically underlined meaningful quotes that challenge or resonate with me:

"i didn't want to become old at 35 and knew instinctively that a combination of service and adventure could lead to a life of passion and constant renewal."

and then later on she writes:

"why would i give up the chance at making it {at a career in banking}? i admitted the title had a nice ring to it and a small part of me feared risking my career and giving up my job title. but the promise of adventure and making a real difference had always been the internal force driving me. and there's no time like the present to start living your dream".

jacqueline is my hero. and i'm only like 20 pages in...good times ahead x

things will be great (they already are)

so today i turned 28. i don't feel 28. when people ask my age i always have to stop myself and think about it, i want to say "23" because i don't feel like time has really passed that quickly. i heard this song in the credits of the drew barrymore/ellen paige film "whip it" and there are elements that are really appropriate (especially the part about last year's clothes not fitting haha) i thought i'd make it my birthday post:

here it comes.
guess for years i have tried to calm
what's inside me but something's wrong.
i don't know what to say
to give me away.

and there's the first mistake
i tried not to make.
next time i'm around that's a habit to break
when i turn 28.
things are gonna be great at 28.

they said that i would get used to the change
but i can't keep my eyes on the page.
shouldn't be writing these songs at my age.
the candle's lit
waiting patient for me to sit,
but none of last year's clothes still fit,
and i keep waiting for you to enter the room.
i made my wish let me give it to you
when i turn 28.
things are gonna be great at 28.

at 28, tell everyone they'll just have to wait
when i turn 29.
things are gonna be fine at 29.

-- Lorene Scafaria


celebrate the fact that you are were born and are alive EVERYDAY.
enjoy the love that others share with you EVERYDAY.
embrace the gifts that people want to give you EVERYDAY.
{from the small to the big, the extravagant to the handmade simple ones}
rejoice EVERYDAY.
x

blue sweater

there are very few people that i have heard speak who have moved me with their charisma and conviction. i saw jacqueline speak on TED and i could not believe that people like her exist in this world. i remember closing my mac and just sat thinking about it all, kind of stunned at the magnitude of knowing we all have a deep power within us to be used in ways that will change the world. the thought kept me captive for hours, days and now weeks. her story started with a blue sweater. so i ordered her book online and it arrived today (yayness!). i am so stoked. it's all part of writing a better story -- reading a great one.

blank pages

so after reading miller's a million miles and deciding i want to write a better story with my life, i bought something to write my story in. i really want to travel, a lot, and i have so many places i want to see, so i bought myself a travel journal.

ja it's kind of nerdy, but there's something about having a very cool-looking travel journal with blank boring pages that makes me want to fill them.
actually purchasing the air ticket will be the next step. promise! x

a touch of something lovely

i've finally started to put up things in my new house that are very personal, and that make me smile. i've had a few little loose things in boxes and bags and found this really special birthday letter from a friend of mine roan, whom i love dearly and who inspires me to live and love better. roan has a way of making simple things beautiful and meaningful, and his birthday message to me in clear black ink on a lovely apple green piece of paper (now stuck on my door to read every day) a year ago was this:

never let fear, doubt or any other obstacle stand in your way. if there's something you want, fight for it with all your heart.

i intend to rolo. i intend to.
x

miller and me

donald miller rocks my world. in fact he sometimes turns it upside down. it's not often you encounter such a great writer, with such great stories. he writes in such a way that you feel like you're having a conversation with him, over coffee, just listening to him for hours. never getting bored. and he speaks with a profound honesty and simplicity. i'm just finishing off a million miles in a thousand years (read it. now. seriously) and i wrote down some quotes that really stabbed at my heart.

"fear is a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life." pg. 108

"there is a force resisting the beautiful things in the world, and too many of us are giving in.
The world needs for us to have courage.
The world needs for us to write something better." pg. 118

he inspires me to want to live a better story with my life.
watch this space.
things are going to be changing in a big way.
very soon.
an inciting incident.
a character arc.
positive and negative turns.

i'm stoked.

basking

we're going into summer in south africa. i love summers here. i love the dark, powerful, thunderous storms that seem to come out of nowhere, rolling cumulonimbus clouds that swell and explode with rain that plunders into the ground, and then disappear within seconds. i love the long, sweltering hot days. and i love to bask in that sunshine.

i love the word "bask". it means to enjoy, take satisfaction in, or to expose yourself to a "pleasant warmth".

after the day i had today, i am basking in the glow of answered prayer. GOD intervened in such a powerful way today. he took a situation i thought was impossible, and made it more than possible, he made it abundant. he did imaginably more than all i could ask or imagine. where i thought i needed to sacrifice and make a tough choice, he gave me everything i needed.

he is so gracious. his will is divine. he is the beginning and the end. everything i will ever need. and he loves me, and proves this over and over and over and over.

not so self portrait pt. 2

i have been sentimentally looking through all my photos, from the last 4 years (around 18,000 of them. oh no, i'm not kidding) and discovered some more portrait pics that i liked. now, if you know jason then you'll get this pic. this was taken at a village in mansa, zambia in july 2007. jay's currently teaching english in south korea, and this photo makes me miss him so much and want to hang out and laugh and talk about life with him.

that's what photographs can do.

not so self portrait pt. 1

ok so i am on a mission to take good photos. photos that capture moments and people and places. so every now and then when i feel like i've done any one of the above, i'll post it. this is my friend tim, who i had to beg to let me photograph him (he's usually behind the lens...check out some of his work) and it took at least 10 photos before i got my shot.

he's pretty amazing in front of the lens too :)

18 month old giggles

there is just something about a child's laughter and joy in little things that fascinates me. this photo was taken today when my cousin david started blowing bubbles at ciaran, my other cousin's 18 month old son. hands down, totally unbiased, this is the cutest kid in the world.

fact.