Supplies from Great Outdoors: Nature Heals by Kristin Cronin-Barrow
https://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/s...roductid=45786
and A Nature Tale Collection by Kristin Cronin-Barrow
https://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/s...roductid=50737
Bumblebees from Blue Skies Ahead by Kristin Cronin-Barrow
https://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/s...roductid=42328
Template from Garden Party: Page Drafts by The Nifty Pixel
https://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/s...roductid=53096
Background template elements from Color, Stories & Inspiration v3 by The Nifty Pixel
https://www.sweetshoppedesigns.com/s...roductid=46528
Title created with fonts Dress Code and Magiona Display
Journaling font: Masifa Extra Condensed
Journaling reads:
I've never been a fan of things with wings that sting. Maybe it's the fact that as a small child, I took a drink from a can of Mountain Dew in which a Yellowjacket had taken up residence. More likely it's the fact that though I don't get an anaphylaxis-level reaction when I'm stung by anything I have a multi-day intense histamine storm that involves hives and pain and swelling till my skin feels like it will burst.
So why do I count these photographs among my most cherished?
When I shot these images, I was in the midst of my first battle with Major Depressive Disorder. My physician had placed me on short-term medical leave while we played pharmaceutical roulette and tried to figure out what medications would work for me. We were on antidepressant #3 - Effexor, which would wind up being the right one - when Mom & Dad arranged for me to spend several days with them at the Ross Lakehouse. So here I was, at their home, the day before we headed to Kingsland, and I was trying my damndest to follow my psychologist's advice.
He'd recommended not only going for daily walks (outside, in the sunshine) but carrying my DSLR with me. I'd had zero interest in my camera for months - a symptom of that all-consuming, deep, dark depression - and he said the best way to help myself while the medication was starting to do its job was to shoot photos anyway. "Carry your camera on your walks," he said, "and stop to look at the world through that lens. Slow down, and focus on the little things around you in that moment."
So on that sunny San Antonio morning, as my mind and body were fighting so hard to find their way out of that crushing depression, I shot these images. And later, as I downloaded them to my computer and pulled them up in Lightroom, I was stunned by the detail I'd captured. Just look at the light as it passes through their delicate wings, so small I question just how they can hold up that fat body, and the delicate fuzz along their thorax... From a safe distance, I can see the beauty of these creatures I'd always thought both ugly and awful.
And as I'd heal in the coming weeks, I'd learn to find beauty in all sorts of things I once thought both ugly and awful.
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