Getting Past Fears – Excitement – Upcoming Interview with Jerry Downs – Treasure Your Life Now – v8-33

I am in one of those states of query and mixed emotions. I would expect that you also experience such states at one time or another.

On the one hand I am thrilled and excited. On Tuesday evening, September 11th I will be doing an open phone interview with Jerry Downs, professional photographer, writer and much more. Many of you, I know, already appreciate his awesome photos, his humor, poignant messages and views of the world. I feel privileged on behalf of us all that he accepted my request for an interview. (See BELOW the Queries and Tips for a link to register for the free call AND for the download gift of his book THE PRESENT.)

In our extended planning discussion the other day, Jerry concluded with, “The way we see the world is the way we see everything else.” This is a perfect expression, I realized, of what my underlying theme in Picture to Ponder and Treasure Your Life Now has been. And it is one of the underpinnings of my Through and From The Lens course.

Jerry went further, earlier in that same conversation, stating that he thinks photography is actually an important element in transforming the world. From his professional vantage point of years of experience, he also affirmed my belief that looking at something in a “bunch of different ways” develops the muscle that applies this to other areas in our lives.

The thing is: Does all of this resonate with you and are you up for learning and experiencing more? Or, am I pushing an “uphill battle”, in terms of my business, one possibility as suggested by my coach. Feel free to respond simply by replying to this email or on the blog.

Today’s Photo –

Flowering Kale in water for rinsing, with faint, horizontal reflections of the kitchen blinds (upper right) providing even more contrast.

A lot of mind chatter went into searching for a photo for today. A bit of it is referenced in the queries. Suffice it to say the color and movement seem to fit making it the selection for today’s issue of Treasure Your Life Now.

Self-Reflecting Queries and Relationship Tips –
There are a lot of things with which I resonate in the work of Jerry Downs. Foremost, it’s the way he sees.

I went beyond my comfort zone to connect with him and invite him to the phone interview referenced above. We’ve since had a couple of great conversations. Now I’m noticing that as my admiration for him grows, my judgments of my own work, particularly of my photographs, becomes harsher and more diminishing.

This is despite my knowing that it’s all in the stories we tell ourselves. I weakly smile as I share the fact that I almost hesitate to include any of my photographs in my own ezine, in the same space where I talk about Jerry’s photography.

As he reads this, I suspect he is probably smiling,

photo ©Jerry Downs

There was a lot of laughter during our conversation and I’m sure there will be during our live call. Jerry will be sharing some how-to’s in terms of seeing and picture taking, what photography has taught him about himself and life in general.

His road trips will come into our conversation on September 11th. If you are one who might feel alone in the world, I think you’ll definitely appreciate what Jerry has to say about traveling alone and not being lonely. I started to use the following of his photos on the opt-in page as an illustration of this.

 Photos ©Jerry Downs

Relationship Tip –
I invite you to look at an area where you may be stopping yourself in relation to yourself or another. Is there an action you can be taking that will further your own growth and/or deepen the connection between you and yourself and/or another person?

Is there a request you might want to make? Or, perhaps there is a gift you wish to give? Make note of what fears might be there and then take action anyway AND beyond what you thought was possible.

As always, have fun with this and please share your experiences of the photos and/or queries and tips in the COMMENTS below.

Upcoming Interview with Jerry Downs and his Book –

Details and Registration information for the interview I’ve been discussing throughout today’s issue can be found on INTERVIEW INVITE.

If you can’t make the call live, on Tuesday evening, September 11th, sign up anyway. You’ll receive a recorded MP3 download of it within 24 hours after the end of the call.

Also Jerry is graciously gifting people a free download of his current book, THE PRESENT: Finding Myself in the Middle of NowHere. I love the way, in addition to photo/seeing, Jerry plays with words. Nowhere = NOW HERE! Simply click on DOWNLOAD and the PDF eBook is yours. You’ll discover word play throughout the book, along with beauty, other humor and poignant stories.

The book is rich in both the photography and the words. Go through it before our call and bring your questions with you. Better yet, email them to me in advance – Subject line: Questions for Jerry – and we’ll get to as many as we can on the CALL, where you’ll also learn all about Jerry’s new book, in progress.