Finding the “wow” in the every day

When I was younger my Gran called me her “wow girl”. This was because every other word I uttered was “wow!”, I was fascinated by everything, mainly in nature, but many things elicited an exclamation of wonder in me.

Somewhere along the way I seriously lost my “wow”, I’m not sure when but I think it has been dwindling over the years up until the beginning of this year really.

Around the time I picked up the camera and started capturing the world around me I started to find that spark again. This has also been heightened through having the kids and seeing the world through their eyes, bringing back the amazement with all that mother nature provides and the fascination with colour and shape, texture and form.

I feel like I am seeing the world in a different light now. I see the whole, everything that surrounds me, then I see the details. I see the messy room but then I see a flash of a smile, a small hand in mine, the tatty hair, the sketches Bella has done, the tower that Will has built. It is beautiful.

To be able to capture this “wow” and contemplate all that surrounds me has given me such a sense of gratitude that I had been deeply searching for and had not known where to find. I know that my Bella is very much like me, she appears to have a slightly pessimistic outlook on life and the glass for her is often half empty. She does however also poses that wonder with the world that I had as a child and she can be found marvelling over her latest discovery or shouting for us all to come and look at what she has found.

I want her to be able to retain this marvel and to keep a tight hold on her “wow” so I have let her have my old camera. It is quite a sophisticated thing for a four year old to master but she understands how to half press the button to focus and then fully press to take the photo, which for now is more than enough. We went out on Monday with our cameras and had such a wonderful time.

Here are some of Bellas photos, unedited, she is so happy with them and I am so happy that I can teach my little girl a skill that she will always have and she will always be able to find the “wow” in life, even in the every day!

09 May This entry was published on May 9, 2013 at 10:59 am. It’s filed under Doing, Family and tagged grateful, gratitude, photography, wonderful world, wow. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.