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about this site EyeJunkie is my adventure in paying attention, snapshots on the journey to experiencing life and culture deliberately. Part mommy blog, part spiritual quest, part cultural record, and part sarcastic word-play--it's whatever overflows from taking a closer look at life within and without. That's what it says right there on the sidebar. But, the story behind the story is a little more. When my first child was born, I made two discoveries. One was that my inclination toward painting and making books and experimenting with paper and scissors and the cluttery display of random art supplies that pursuit entailed would simply not do as a newborn grew into an inquisitive toddler. Second, that time was on a path with no speed limits, and if I so much as blinked I could easily miss all that was really exquisite in life. I made a promise to myself to savor every stage, to embrace every step and to grasp the full wealth of each moment. A pursuit from which I'm all too easily distracted. My how it pays to pay attention – a lesson hard-learned in lives of clutter and a culture of the immediate and the entertained. Enter the thought of blogging. It offered me a ready creative outlet that didn't involve toxic materials as well as the opportunity to pursue more deliberately my life-long love of journaling and writing. And, it offered me the vehicle needed to put some effort into growing the attention span required to really embrace the richness of this life. You see, this life IS rich – rich in joy, in sorrow, in full experiences for the soul. But so often, that richness eludes me, lost in daily-ness or busy-ness or weary-ness. My spirit grows numb as I let the images, words, decisions, and assumptions of popular culture and the world simply wash over me. Drowsy. Disengaged. Asleep. How tragic to look but not see, and miss the blessing. How impoverished to "spend" life on a meager vision. Partaking of life's richness requires an investment. I make a payment of my time, my thoughts, myself. I pay attention, and gain a return--a true view of life's reality in all its glorious and troubling wealth. Once I really see, I don't want to be satisfied with just looking. I don't want to miss the richness. So, I've begun a journaling journey toward thinking with intention, making a statement, forming an opinion, being close to the surface. Paying attention. why eyeJunkie? As I started to flesh out the idea of jumping into the blogNation, I couldn't get away from these snapshots in paying attention... A life spent pursuing faith and melding it with real experience… it's a joyful challenge in peeling back layers of pretense and getting real with ourselves and the God of the universe. The pursuit of creativity through architecture/art school, and in my own disciplines… it offers a unique exposure to ideas and challenges to traditional thinking. Melding the best of those lessons, and eliminating the dross produces a realization that good news and God's work can come from unexpected places – even places others might think impossible. Kids… they grow up so fast. I swore to myself that I would take advantage of every opportunity, lay aside every pseudo-essential to devote my full attention to soaking up every juicy part of the three given to me. Although I'm a self-confirmed "information junkie," I wanted this pursuit to be more than just commentary on the absurdities of culture and whatever topic struck my fancy. I realized that what really matters to me is not the information itself, but how it impacts; what it means to me and my way of living; how I internalize and prioritize it. I want to really see, not just look, not just allow images, experiences, or information to wash over me. And so, "info" junkie and the ever-used "i" junkie became "EyeJunkie." Thank you for reading over my shoulder. Please take a closer look around while you're here. I hope you enjoy the view.
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