Our next Do What You Love e-course is starting in June, and over the next few weeks we’ll be offering you a taste of what’s to come. During the course, you’ll be asked to go out with your camera and take pictures of things that put a smile on your face or a spring in your step, before turning those pictures into a mosaic or collage for safekeeping. Since this is one of Vickie’s favourite exercises from the course, we asked her to share her experience of it with you.
“I love to go exploring with my camera (these days it’s with my phone) and I have become a fan of Instagram over the past couple of years. You just can’t take a bad picture with Instagram. Editing the picture and adding those filters and effects are all part of the fun; they are a great way to capture the mood of that specific moment even better.
This exercise reminded me of how much I love taking pictures, and whatever I do in the future I want photography to be a part of it somehow.
Taking pictures is much more than just gathering memories, and the process is as important to me as the final picture.
- It allows you to be more observant of what’s around you as you look for the perfect shot
- It makes you think about light and contrast, colour and movement and you might find that you’re more creative than you thought
- It allows you to live in the moment, be focused on what is happening here and now
- It gives you an excuse to wander off the beaten track and explore places you wouldn’t go if you were just walking around. You’re not a random wanderer, you are a photographer on a mission!
- It surprises you when you look back at your pictures that you have developed a style of your own – it makes you feel proud
- It makes you think about what you are drawn to, what you like and which moments are important to you
Small moments, big wonders
My mosaic is about freedom, wonderment, sharing and playfulness. From top left and clockwise:
1/ Spring has arrived in Brighton and I love to feel the heat as I walk along the street. Feeling the sun on my face makes me smile and want to spend more time exploring outdoors. It makes me feel braver, as if I don’t need any protection anymore, I am free with my movements and choices.
2/ I am lucky enough to live by the sea, one of my favourite environments. My office is close to the seafront and I can pop out whenever I need a break. The sea is always there but it never looks the same. It makes me feel refreshed and full of new possibilities. When I go back to the office, it’s always with a new idea or solution in my head.
3/ Sharing afternoon tea with a friend I hadn’t seen for a long time. A lot of my friends live abroad and people sometimes ask me if I miss them. I don’t. I love the idea that there are people scattered around the world with whom I have a special connection. Just knowing that they are there is often enough. Meeting up after several months, years sometimes, and getting along as if we only last saw each other the other day – those are always magical moments.
4/ I got these vintage roller skates second hand and just looking at them makes me smile. This is something I used to love doing as a kid and hadn’t done since then. I recently had to go to a specific location for work and decided to skate there to make the ride more interesting. Well I wasn’t disappointed! Although I did have muscle cramps the next day (and a bruise on my left thigh), it was totally worth it!
5/ Every year during the winter hundreds of thousands of starlings gather around Brighton pier in the evenings to roost. It’s completely mesmerizing to watch them dance around the pier in the sunset. It is one of those wonders of nature that you watch in awe without completely understanding what’s going on.
6/ The month of May in Brighton is festival time. Streets and venues fill up with artists, musicians, comedians and it’s not rare to bump into tightrope walkers or even cowboys on a street corner! This was a man making giant soap bubbles. Soap and water. That’s all it took for kids and adults alike to let go ooohs and aaaahs as the bubbles danced into the wind and popped silently over our heads.”
Victoria (@vickieinwonderland)
The Do What You Love e-course will encourage you to explore in so many ways. We believe that knowing ourselves and our environment is key to having the confidence to achieve big things.
“I was and continue to be floored by this course – it was so valuable. I felt like it helped me focus on me, my interests, my desires, and what was holding me back from those things. I was more painfully honest with myself than I have been in years, but I also allowed myself to play more than ever. Since joining the course, I’ve blossomed into a new person. I feel like the course will continue working its magic for ages. It has a killer curriculum covering all the bases. I’m so absolutely pleased I chose this as a way to start turning my life around.” Course participant
Join us this June for the adventure of a lifetime.
