1. Dreams

I can't sleep. This is probably how a ton of blogs (and other projects) begin. My mother called me by accident at 2:30 AM and even though I have to work early in the morning I can't make myself go back to sleep. So my mind starting working on problems like it so often does when it is rarely dark and quiet in the house.

My daughter Katie has so many ideas and dreams. They come to her at an exhausting pace and there are no limits. No monetary obstructions, no physical restrictions, no legal liability, no inhibitions. She isn't even bound by nature law. Her dreaming is part 9 year old and part ADHD. There is simple manic component to it. One day she is all obsessive in, the next the project is long forgotten.

As a mother I try to guide her without adding to that critical voice we all have in our heads. I would like her to be able to follow her dreams and complete something. As I look around the living room there is evidence everywhere... an abandoned half knitted scarf, an electric guitar that is rarely touched, a model of the San Francisco Mission half built, plans for a horse stable in our small San Fernando Valley backyard. I constantly preach that in order to build a dream or make a change, one needs to break the project down into small parts and work on it a little bit everyday. The process of basic goal setting. Good idea?

The weird thing is, where her dreams started, mine stalled. I have been so consumed with trying to make a living, raise the kids, and take care of my aging parents that I have forgotten to practice my own advice. I went to school for art to be an artist. But at 40 years old I am doing a fine job advancing my students' (and childrens') goals, but not my own. So here I am starting a blog in the middle of the night.

The dream? To do what I love... make photographs. The goal? To make photographs. The catch? I have to post at least one photograph a day, everyday. (I know, not original...there has even been a few best sellers and a couple of movies - don't care).

In a few hours the beginning of the semester will start and as I hand out a new batch of assignments to my students, I am finally giving myself an assignment too. Wish me luck!

The first photograph published in this blog is one I took of my sister, Sarah... it is inspired by a mother that picked up a camera for the first time late in life. Julia Margaret Cameron was 40 before she ever took a photograph. In the mid 1800's the age of 40 was close to life expectancy.