feets, I-zone
I used to be hopelessly addicted to my I-zone camera. I carried it with me wherever I went, immediately pasting photos into my journal as I traveled and wrote. If you worked at a cafe in Oaxaca and you were kind to me, I would ask if I could take your picture and in you would go into my book. If you were a fancy pink cocktail umbrella, I would break your tiny toothpick body and paste you down flat, in all your pink glory onto the page. If you were a candy wrapper or a fortune from a cookie, you would not escape my glue stick.
I love keeping this online journal, but I sometimes miss the immediate experience of words on a page or how a drip of coffee or wine can turn into a painting.
I can’t cry onto this screen and have the ink bleed, or show you how the pages stick together from too much glitter glue. You will not get red smudges of oil pastel on your fingers from clicking through the pages here or imagine you smell the ocean air. There are no messes and accidents here in this tidy world.
But I love it just the same. It’s good here with you, all of us connecting in this strange virtual way, through pictures of our families and our neighborhoods, through the stories we tell about our lives. I am always moved and amazed by our desire to be connected to each other, to be in community.
It’s good here.
And I’m glad you guys are out there, telling me your stories too.
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It is good here!…You and your blog provide a place to vent, to laugh & learn, to connect and feel “safe” and share the spirit of community wherever we all may be in this big, fast moving world of ours….Thank you for creating this wonderful,loving stop on life’s journey. You are a blessing! 🙂 P.S. I think I-zones are awesome too! I totally get what you mean about the instant gratification of a tangible picture that you can touch and feel as well as see.
amen mama!!
I love the i-zone too! Your shot is great. And I’m glad you’re around and keeping this journal for us all to share – your site is a very good place to be!
I love visiting here, Andrea. I always come away uplifted and inspired.
I keep a written journal for serious/personal topics … things I’m pondering and working through. I need to have that daily pen-to-paper time with my morning coffee. I love to use my magical I-Zone for capturing one unique moment and storing it with my entry for the day.
What a great picture! I used to take pictures with my I-zone and stick them in unexpected places around the house. When I got my digital camera, I started printing out little signs for the kids. The other day, I took a dividing container out of our ‘junk drawer’ to clean it. It the middle of the empty space underneath was a tiny picture of my husband smiling. I didn’t remember sticking it there, so it was a nice surprise. 🙂
I *heart* my i-zone. Once I gave my mom a stack of little i-zone photos that I’d taken over the Thanksgiving weekend of kids with turkey drumsticks, and my sister skipping the veggies in favor of pie, right on her dinner plate. She gave them all back to me and semi-heartlessly said, “I can’t do anything with these goofy little pictures.”
I guess she doesn’t get it.
I get it. And it’s wonderful to see that you get it, too.
In other news I bought an i-zone for my little brother, and my mother hasn’t been able to get rid of those goofy little pictures, since 😉
Oooh, which cafe in Oaxaca? Did you ever try the nut pie? Delicioso! Now I miss Mexico. 🙂
Oaxaca – how I’ve dreamed of Oaxaca for so many years. And Andrea, oh how you write out my soul from your soul every time I visit. Today I got over feeling creeped out about writing a comment on a public blog. That somehow that doesn’t constitute community and earnest friendship. Hard cover and soft cover and sketch book journals are acts of momentary beauty that transcend because serve as the saviour of memory. An internet blog, does indeed, carry a different voice because it is thrust out there not scribbled down in verse. I’m a journaller myself – I have torn and weathered books from Russia, Poland, Spain, Mexico, rural Ontario, NYC that bleed my heart. But reading your journal daily is like connecting my words with something bigger. It’s a great larger than life feeling. Thank you! I love hearing you press out the words sometimes in a sputter about your journey with such eloquence. I love hearing about your heartfelt wishes and desires as a smart, thoughtful, sensitive, creative, nurturing, kick-ass woman artist on this planet. I lost a baby this fall at 32 years old because I was in a 6-week old relationship with a married (separated) man who couldn’t offer emotional support. I love hearing your desire for family. My loss was tremendous and devastating and it thrust me towards a brink I hope I never encounter again in this lifetime. Yet, your hopes and your commitment and your honesty about starting your own family somehow grounded me that I may find that for myself too. Words are words. Yes. But they are powerful and they seep wisdom. And we’re all on the same planet just the same.
Not only are there no physical messes but what of emotional,spiritual, and human messes? Where are the pain,lies, and grit ? What about not editing or sanitizing but just letting go? Are we connecting or are we avoiding human communication and human contact not because we don’t crave it but because we’ve forgotten how? Or never even learned how? The “reality show” is now everywhere and yes the camera is running and we know it and its affecting our behavior in horribly detrimental ways!
So beautifully written, Andrea! I hear ya on missing the gratification of pen and paper sometimes. But it is so neat to learn from so many other people that we would otherwise not know.
Must…dig…out…izone…now!!! I love my too and haven’t used it in a while. Love the feet. Thanks for the inspiration.
When my hubby and i were falling in love we took tons of izone pics of each other doing things like napping, shaving, etc. We were constantly surprising each other. I took them all and put them in a frame and they are really cool to look at. I need to dig that out, its migrated to the closet….
would love to see scans of some of your journal pages sometime if you feel like sharing 🙂
cheers,
Anu
I keep a paper journal which holds thoughts and drawings I just don’t want to share with people sometimes. It is also instant gratification to be able to grab my book and write or draw something that inspires me. Plus, I love paper. I could never give it up.
andrea,
i too am so glad you are out there. you’ve been such an inspiration to me. you remind us to slow down, to notice things, to laugh at ourselves and to remember we are not alone. thank you for that.
jenn
i once used my izone to take pix of my favorite things in my room, and i sent all the photos to my best friend, jo. what a great lil cam… it’s been sleeping for too long now. time to wake it up! i used to write in a journal. i had 1 book from 1996 til 2003. stained in tears and doodles and ramblings and emotions. i haven’t written in a journal in so long. all my poems are online, nice and neat, as you say. but i like them that way too. that’s why i write long letters to jo, because paper & ink are always #1.
thanks for posting this… i love how we all connect too. 🙂
jack
Ditto everybody here!!! Inspriring blog. (Can I admit I’m” jealous” that you get all these comments? and when I post I’m thrilled if I get one!) Ah well!
;~) S.
I know I’m late, but I have to say that I am so glad you keep this online journal, too. Thank you.
At the risk of sounding superficial when everyone else has been so darn eloquent…whose feet are those, and where did they get those FABULOUS sandals???