every day

stool, originally uploaded by Justin Davis Davanzo.

March 2? I don't even really feel like we had that much of a winter here. It is almost 60 today already at 9:20 am and yesterday i was teaching up at the mountain...crazy. The weekend seemed to fly by and i find myself here on Monday morning gearing up for the week. I meet with the owner of the store on Wed in which I will be hanging my photos in April for 3 months and it is fun to think that i get to create a show. Something that is a real unknown for me. I find myself getting more nervous than having to be on stage...more vulnerable. I am trying to let go of all the things i am worried about and just show up and be open to ideas and thoughts about the show. Of course I would love to sell a ton of work there, but primarily I feel that it is important to invite the idea of getting noticed and more work coming from it. I believe in myself, but there is an unknown with things like this...am i really a photographer? Will people look at these photos and just sort of think...well, they are good, but I wouldn't hang them up in my house...you know, basic artist insecurities, but in the very end, it doesn't really matter...because when I look at them, I see my own magic and ability to give a gift of seeing things that others can't don't or won't....i have been charged with that assignment in life and no matter what anyone else says or does, they are mine, and they make me happy. so there....i suppose i share this as a self affirmation for myself, but really, i think this is the part we all share during our every day belief in ourselves and in our creations...be it music, painting, photos, writing, talking, acting, singing, running...does it give us joy?

a quick update for those of you wondering...and to keep myself honest...i am half way officially with the writing of my book...a journey in itself that is constantly challenging what is right...the belief that we are doing it for ourselves first and foremost and if others see it and are spoken too, then great, but remembering that the goal is not to write for others...at least I don't believe so...being true to our own muses and moments and thinking...just like talking to a child..they know when you are not being real...they just sense it.

I again spent the day with a young child on skis yesterday and I have truly grown to love the time i get with them. they take away all of the world we know and infuse us with a world of wonder, and passion, and they believe in the moment of right now...He is 8 and I actually had a 4 hour conversation with him about his passion in life, which happens to be electronics and video games...and opening up a space for him to talk about it was like listening to a genius discuss his new theory of evolution....and I found myself transfixed at how incredibly smart he was and how much he believed in it....his conviction and passion. It gave me the opportunity to be a part of his moment...i was there to simply ski with him while he imagined himself in another world....it made me remember that our passions are the things of a child and by embracing them we will forever expand in the mind of a new and fascinating world that we live in.

Getting older is simply the understanding that we really now alot less than we think and that by listening to those around us we become sponges of wonder and grow into the roots that we were born with....

love and understanding.