Your Life As Art Photography by Pam

Thoughtful Thursday Photo + Words | #10 Introspection

When I allow myself to follow my souls intuition, I am amazed at how life unfolds. Even in times of friction, yes that is the best use of word, as things unfold can be eye opening in a variety of ways. As I began typing this post, Introspection is the word that came forward. I had a vaugue understanding of the word, with intro in it, knowing I am feeling the desire to pull within, away from the friction of the outside world, that at times can feel heavy.

In an online search, Introspection is;

Introspection is the conscious, inward examination of one’s own thoughts, feelings, and mental states. As a core tool for self-awareness and personal growth, it allows individuals to analyze their inner world—such as memories, emotions, and cognitive processes—to foster better understanding of their behaviors, purpose, and identity.

<3 Beautiful alignment.

Honestly, there are many other things I should be doing right now, however, that would just feed the friction, and I am not here for that. As soon as I realized, became conscious of things unfolding, I knew I needed to re-centre.

Mother nature has been reminding us that we humans are not in control and we must be willing to go with the flow of life.

As I am typing this, its March 12, tomorrow Friday March 13th, if you recall back in 2020… our lives drastically changed after this weekend. Why does it feel like a friction energy building up – bubbling up to clear… how incredible would that be!

Not even 2 weeks ago, my husband and I were out on the snowmobile trails, Feb 28th with a great final ride. The temperatures were rising, we still had an awesome base but it was warm riding, I was over heating myself! Spring was showing she was arriving…

Last weekend intense fog, a full day of living and driving as if you were in a marshmallow ;) Interesting to say the least, thankfully we didn’t go far. Now not even a week later, the snow is back, packing snow with at least a couple inches in the driveway.

On Monday evening, my husband invited me to go for a drive with him, he was going to begin pulling road crossing stakes and suggested I go for photos.

On our way back, we stopped by the bridge near the little schoolhouse down the road. I really enjoy the little bridge here, its a no winter maintenance road and tends to be so peaceful.

The river was raging, kind of like the friction that seems to be within the world. I was triggered, if I am being honest. Why? Because when we were leaving I grabbed my “point and shoot” set up, my Canon RP and my 24-240mm lens. Its such a great combo. As we pulled up on this image above, I looked down at my camera and saw red… hahaha I just LOL as I typed this, because red is also the energy of anger, so it seems fitting for friction.

I absolutely love this image. I knew my battery was going to die too. As I grabbed my RP, I heard myself say, you really should grab the R6MII… another reminder to listen to the intuition – so key! I did however, have my phone. The speed that this river was going, I was meant to experience with my phone so I could also capture a video. I do not edit videos so I rarely use my cameras to do this.

Although there may be friction in the outside world, I personally dealt with a couple experiences today, one as early as 225am. There is always something to learn, and today I am embracing that. Feeling exhausted, but also in tune with my heart, body and soul. We can bring forth the world that we blossom so beautifully in – especially within our own home.

Shifts that can feel significant in life, as well as being aligned with our human, whether its human design, numerology, astrology. All of which explain our own individual coding of ourselves and when we allow our intuition to lead, trusting in how we are meant to be living to our core, we thrive.

After the major thaw this week, snow arrived in the night, by this evening we have a couple inches in the driveway. Mother nature continues to teach us life can be unpredictable at times, its how we choose to react to that. Change can be so beautiful and scary!

Can you find that calm within? Sometimes we are haulted to be present of the beauty within our life, and that friction, the resistance, fades.

There are big shifts happening, that have my energy body exhausted, as well as energized.

Lens-Artists Challenge #388 | Your Journey

This week Ann-Christine is encouraging us to share 5-10 images from “your journey”.

September 2024 my husband and I traveled to Halifax, Nova Scotia to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary.

One of our first views of the boardwalk near our hotel. Sunshine and water! We were blown away at this city, so many people yet also so much space. We specifically chose a hotel that was not far from the board walk to be there for the experience. A beautiful night life experience and yet also calm and subdued. It was wonderful. The hotel even had a balcony with a great view of the boardwalk and harbour. We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott Halifax Downtown, and would highly recommend!

We bought tickets to ride on the Bluenose in Lunenburg – a huge beautiful sailboat that is pretty incredible to look at the workings of the sails. Water brings me such peace. As cool as it was to be on the boat, would we do it again, no, for anyone with balance or mobility issues, being on a sailboat can be tricky, I would have honestly love to get a photo of the boat from shore as it was sailing away. Live and learn, we were so excited to plan things. We learned so much from this trip, to travel more authentically to us!

I love all the colours in the buildings out east, very cool view heading back to the dock.

Peggys Cove – such an incredible view!

We took a boat tour around the lighthouse and a family of seals graced our presence. It was pretty cool!

The view of the lighthouse from the water. So incredible.

Halls Harbour with the Lobster Pound restaurant, we arrived as the tide was going out – very cool to see!

The other side of the Lobster Pound at Halls Harbour – the view … absolutely incredible!

Harbour views from on the water in Halifax.

The docks are very cool with the height and large wooden posts.

This was a fun getaway for us, this was the first time we had flown since 2019 and it was such a fantastic trip. We both aren’t city people, but this city is so super chill it was incredible. When you stand on the side of the road wanting to cross, vehicles just stop and wait. There is not shouting, no one giving the finger, it was a cool experience! We both hadn’t traveled much in Canada and this trip ignited our desire to see more of the beautiful country! So we actually went back in the fall of 2025 as well and traveled the Cabot Trail. Thats another post ;)

I hadn’t blogged this trip, I am grateful for this weeks theme to share some of my favourite experiences of our Halifax Journey!

John had an awesome ‘Shadow’ theme for us last week, pull us out of the shadows of winter into the brightness of Spring… irony I just typed that, as that is what essentially happened for us, with large amounts of rain our snow is quickly melting. Which resulted in thick fog yesterday!

Next week, Ann-Christine shared with us that Anne will be the host. I am excited to read her inspiration!

Thoughtful Thursday Photos & Words | #9 Is Scheduling Authentic

2026 has been interesting, it certainly didn’t arrive with pure peace, however what has been coming through quite strong is authenticity!

With work, having a family and wanting to enjoy my photography, many of my weekly posts have been scheduled, when I sit down on the weekend and have my creative time and get my blog posts scheduled. I enjoy that time.

However, as much as I am present when doing that, and although I enjoy seeing the posts, its not pulling forth my own authenticity – which alot of times is posting in the moment or at least within 24 hours. Not to be seen as something I “have” to do, and yet pull forth my authenticity of why I love photography, people and nature!

Truthfully as well, when we have busy weekends with hockey, this also can add to my invisible “to-do” list, which is not how I want my photography to feel.

Its wild how quickly childhood goes. In March I officially have 2 adult children. My lord. They will always be my babies, but legally, they both will be adults. Mind bending for me.

This image is from a couple weekends ago, when I went out with my husband to check trails. Its a true meditative experience for me. An opportunity I was truly grateful for. Winter can be hard on the mental health, and getting out to photograph while immersed within the forest and in quiet… such a healing opportunity. A wonderful winter reset, before Spring graces us with her presence.

There is no race in life, no step by step we are all to take, the more we lean into what feels right for us, the more I truly feel I am living in alignment!

Choosing authenticity is choosing you, your soul and what feels important to you. It may not make sense to anyone else and thats ok. The world is a beautiful place when we all have a connection to nature somehow in our lifetime.

I may post a few times in a row, perhaps daily, or once a week. I aim to post more authentically. Truthfully, its a mental thing, to remove that mental “to-do” that is a true thief of time, sharing my photography and any words, is a gift to be able to do that. I have grown through life through blogs and especially photography. A life connection!

Lens-Artists Challenge #387 | Shadows

John introduces this weeks theme, Shadows. He provides some great examples within his post. “Shadows evoke mystery, wonder, nostalgia, and even a touch of fright. This week, consider how shadows shape your photos. Look for the places where light steps back. You can take a literal approach and photograph an actual shadow, or lean into contrast and mood—shapes, silhouettes, or scenes where darkness adds depth and character to your subject. You can keep your image in color or shift to black‑and‑white—each choice shapes how the shadows influence the mood.”

This challenge pulled up memories from years ago, specifically some of my most memorable images of my pets.

Our fur baby Paisley, she truly was my baby during a very challenging time in my life. She was a favourite subject of mine as I great through photography. This image came to mind, from back in 2010, the sunlight from the window shining through onto her with the shadows in behind.

Laying in the shadows of his new back yard.
This beautiful old man was my first dog, Elwood, we always had a family dog, and when I was 18 I felt pulled to this boy. This photo is my 2nd favourite photo of him, its also one of the last. This was the day after we moved to our current home, back in 2011. Two days later, our sweet old man crossed the rainbow bridge. We knew his health wasn’t the greatest, but he was still doing ok. I strongly feel that he needed to ensure his family would be ok, and when he knew we were, it was his time. I am truly grateful he moved here with us, his chain collar still rings in the wind in our back yard. His passing led us to our Becker.

This image below, was an impromptu shot. Much like many of mine are, taken in the moment. I saw our senior boy Becker laying out on the front porch and even when I opened the door he was quite content on a warm winter morning February 2024. I love the various textures within this image and the sun and shadows. The sun is shining so brightly, yet filtered through the trees where he is laying in the shadows.

Our current dark yellow lab, Gunner processed as a monochrome which pulls out all his tones in his coat.

I am enjoying the memories of our pets, our current kitty Missy, came into our life after our Paisley crossed the rainbow bridge. The irony honestly, my mom suggested we check out the local cat rescue. This sweet little kitten came across the screen, her name, Missy. A beautiful calico kitten. Here’s the irony… when I grew up, a little bit younger than my daughters age, I had a cat named Misty, a calico cat, with more muted colours than our Missy. I knew in my heart, Missy was meant for us. Being a rescue, we are unsure of her life before us, she is the sweetest girl, however…

This, in the shadows is where we normally find her. There is a fear deep within that she lives with.

Last summer we decided to get our Missy a friend, to help pull her out of the shadows. It was the best decision, she still lives downstairs 98% of the time, however she has her Wookie now as a companion.

I love this recent image below, looking over the stairs, they are also so curious of each other, however more comfort in the shadows of living for some – the cats.

The beautiful markings of our kitten, when we got her last summer. The shadows of her markings and snuggled up in the blanket. They are all so unique.

Since Ive shared our furry animals, I will also share our 30 year old parrot, Buckwheat. Another unique soul with beautiful markings. The shadows of her feathers in contrast to some new ones coming in.

I love the colours and shadows within our animal’s markings, they are so unique!

For my non-family pets photography, I am loving this shot from 2022, I love the moody feeling in the shadows of the ice on the trees.

A snowmobile trail from 2023. I love love love riding through the bush in and out of the shadows of the tree canopy. Its so beautifully peaceful.

The shadows of a Canadian winter Sunset

And flip side, the shadows of a beautiful winter sunrise from back in January 2022.

I am going to end the post with one of my favourite places that brings me so much peace, the point at our family cottage where the rocks give the illusion of shadows over them some from varying water level marks.

I hope you enjoyed my personal twist on Shadows with my animals and some of my favourite views. If you are curious about joining in on the Lens-Artists Challenge I welcome you to check out more info HERE!

The next theme will be announced Saturday at noon EST by one of the Lens-Artists members!