I'm so glad you found me! I'm a San Francisco photographer, and this blog charts my journey in the ever-evolving world of photography. One of the things I love about photography is that it's a journey, not a destination. I'm constantly learning and meeting wonderful people. Please peruse the blog to your heart's content, then check out my website and feel free to contact me! (I love hearing from you.)

“Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow." – Imogen Cunningham

“A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it.” – Edward Steichen

February Habits, Goals, Resolutions, and Thoughts

You can always count on me to have a leaf photo waiting to be blogged. :-)

Welcome to February! Man, January seemed both incredibly short and then also at the same time quite long. There were certainly quite a few times where I found myself thinking, "I can't believe January's almost over!" and also, "I can't believe it's still January!" I think it's some kind of side effect of making resolutions and having so many hopes and bright dreams for the new year. I'm not sure January really lived up to my expectations, but then again, I'm not sure exactly what my expectations were. And maybe then, that's the problem.

I made resolutions, as I do every year (and which I always enjoy doing, regardless of my success rate), but most of them weren't January specific. Two were, getting a standing desk (which I did!) and finishing overhauling my website (which I didn't). The rest are kind of nebulous, year-long affairs. Which is fine, but doesn't give an immediate sense of accomplishment.

So for February, I'm considering tracking some habits instead. I've been inspired by a few other bloggers who have been doing this as well, with pretty good success. The habits I want to track are nothing earth-shattering; they focus on exercise, eating well, going to sleep at a good time, cleaning/decluttering, being grateful, and connecting with other people. These are all things I am focusing on already, none of them are terrible problem areas. I'm not trying to completely change my life, but I am trying to make it generally easier, healthier, and smoother. I'd love to have the house in a constantly clean state rather than periodically having to spend half a day whipping it into shape (usually before people come over, I won't lie!).

So I borrowed a resolutions chart from one of my favorite bloggers, Crazy Aunt Purl, and I'm just going to see how I do. Other inspiration came from the ShuBox, Pancakes and French Fries, Zen Habits (also loved this recent post), and of course Gretchen Rubin at the Happiness Project. Please click the links here! All of them go to posts I found really helpful, with the exception of the Happiness Project where there wasn't any particular inspirational post this month.

One of the major reasons I'm choosing to focus on these things this month is that I really want them to become habits. That is, things I do without thinking about them, without tracking them, without stressing or feeling worried or guilty. I want them to be the background of my life, so that I can focus on other things: my business, my life, travel, fun, without worrying that everything else will slide by the wayside. I'll be honest, I was already kind of hoping that this would have happened in January, but it didn't. So for February we'll see if tracking makes any kind of difference, and that will determine what happens in March!

Ok, long post, I know, but I'd still love to hear your thoughts if you managed to make it all the way to the bottom. Have you tried tracking habits? How'd you do?