I use mental visualization a lot – for pain and to adjust my attitude. It is easy to do and a great stress reliever. I take a deep breath and turn a memory into a mental image. I use it when I feel nervous and inadequate by remembering a time when I felt competent, confident, and in control. As I form this image my body makes subtle changes until I am standing like I am competent, confident and in control – and I begin to be just that. The mind, body and emotions are closely tied so it is also possible to get into the body position and have the mind and emotions follow.
This morning I am looking for the energy and gentle peace I feel on those perfect summer mornings – not the grey and drizzle that is currently outside my window. I am pulled to those images I took the morning I got myself out of bed, not early enough for a sunrise, but early enough to experience morning at the Tawas State Park on Lake Huron. Morning at a beach has a quiet peace, very different than the joyful, energetic noise of the afternoon and evening play.
This is why I love photography. Photography has made me more present in each experience as I think about the personality or mood of place. I am more conscious of what I find joyous or intriguing or beautiful about what I am seeing. I love the excitement of trying to capture this in images, the mental challenge of using all that I am learning to form an emotional picture.
I know I have been successful when the photo evokes my memory of the total experience and others tell me it touched their memories. These are the photos I go back to because they help me remember the smells, the sounds, the feel of warm sun, cool air and soft sand.
If I am successful, I have photographs that reinforce the traces of memory that I need for the mental visualizations that bring a peace and gentle quiet long afterwards. 
A New Day: Living Life Almost Gracefully 
Great words as always – sometimes we do have to “fake it until we make it” !!
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Very true. And thank you for your kind words.
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Excellently expressed. I have been aware this week that some of my photos are for memory nudging rather than beauty, but you are right, the best nudge a memory into life and give pleasure to those who do not share that memory.
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And as we age, our memories need more and more nudging. 😀 Thanks for the great comment.
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Presence in the moment is part of why photography is such a meditative experience. I enjoyed your images and loved your thoughts. I do like the way you think!
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Thanks, me too. 😀
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What a great way to use photography, Pat. And I agree with you about being present thanks to a camera.
I love the beach at all times – when the sand is cool in the morning, hot in the midday, or just warm in the evening. I think its temperature predicts the busy-ness of the beach 🙂
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Never thought of it that way – but you are right. I think my favorite is when the surface has started to heat up but the sand underneath is cold. Do we know beaches, Heather?
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I think we’ve got them covered 😉
Now…to finish off this work day and head to the sand!
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Pat, You are one of the most competent women I know! Your life’s work continues to be a blessing to countless people around the world. And now your photography and insights continue the blessings. Thank you! Ahhhhh…the beach!
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Oh, thank you so much. I’m not sure I am worthy of your kind words but I will take them and let them fill me up.
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“Photography makes me more present in each experience”…. I would concur with that, and subtly alter it to say the ‘photographer’s eye’ rather than photography, because even without the camera, I’m sure I see things in a different way. Like the idea of your mental images, I think I do this subconsciously sometimes. 🙂
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I agree totally, Sue. Thanks.
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Great to see we’re on the same wavelength 🙂
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Great post. You summed up well my feelings too about photography!
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Thanks, Sherry. Your photography shows that it is an emotional experience for you.
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