When a couple reaches their fifth wedding anniversary it is said that they no longer are considered “newlyweds.”  I suppose now that Chasing Dreams has reached its 5th anniversary it is time for some personal  acknowledgements.

Firstly, thanks to all of  you who have been reading my posts and offering comments.  I hope you have not only enjoyed my stories and photographs but have also come away with a bit more understanding of what intrigues me to do this blog and in that sense, what parts of me this represents.

I have pondered these questions.  I had never before put a title to what I do, but let me try now. One Hindu mantra says it best:

So’ham:  “I am that.”

I am a photographer, more specifically I am a naturalist – my means of studying nature  is to attempt to capture its wonder in photographs. I have discovered that I most  enjoy the challenge of  animal portraits and sweeping landscapes.  Sometimes I fail spectacularly but once in a while magic happens.:

ANIMAL PORTRAITS

 

LANDSCAPES

 

 

I am also a birder, or as a recent fellow traveler in India coined me “bird girl.”  It is quite a challenge to capture these perpetual motion machines in mid-action, but with patience, there are rewards:

I am a storyteller. It is not enough to just  ”rotely” list my travels experiences.  I never want to be guilty  of this:

• the use of memory usually with little intelligence learn by rote
• mechanical or unthinking routine or repetition a joyless sense of order

Instead I try to transfer some of my wonder and awe in what I have seen and done during my journeys to my readers.  I am always changed by my experiences – intellectually, physically and spiritually –  I want to share those journeys as well.  And to provide humor – life is often so complicated and intense and we all need to laugh, even at ourselves.

I hope you will continue to read Chasing Dreams, joining me as I take new journeys in the coming year.

It is fitting that I end this post with one more  Hindu Mantra:

Lokah Samastah Sukhino :  

“May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.”

Happy New Year!

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