{shinedown}

Half.  This image is only 1/2 of me.  For those new to this space, my boys are my professional photographers when I need one.  It's no secret, I like fashion.  It's no secret, I love thrifting & the ever-awesome, always glorious rock bottom price.  Proof?  Go here and here. Make a pot of coffee, scroll & see.  And, then go scrounge to find your loose change under the couch cushions and don't forget those shiny coins lodged between then crustilicious 6 month old french fry-to-mouth-fails and seat belt consol.  Me thinks you may want to trade them for a splash of color at your local Goodwill once I'm through with you.  Yes, the boys are my lens when I need them.  They don't fuss.   I don't fuss. I just ask and they snap.  I work with their clicks captured for the sake of 2nd hand fashion and my pursuit to become a better human being.

The quest for images  to use is always a mishmash of surprise and supercalifragilistic decisions.  Which image showcases the outfit best?  That one is blurry.  Crap.  He didn't even tell me he was taking the picture.  He cut off my face.  Ewww.  My eyes look so tired.  Do I really have that many wrinkles?  Oh, I really like this outfit.  I need to remember to wear this one again.

Transparent tends to work for me.  Just being honest and open with the images captured, I find what I need.  And, well, let's just CAP LOCK that entire last sentence with regard to the image above. JUST BEING HONEST AND OPEN WITH THE IMAGES CAPTURED, I FIND WHAT I NEED.

Half.  This image is only 1/2 of me.

And, it leapt off the screen haunting & eerie.  Clingy-like, I stared more intently at my half.  Unplanned. A mistake.  A delete and move-on-to-the-next.  But, I didn't.  I couldn't.  There was such validity and depth to this failed result of whole.  Tucked away, it annoyed me still.  I continued to find my way back to its befuddled existence only to ask the question, "Why is this still in the 'keep' folder?"

Several weeks passed.  Time ensued.  And, the world moved on.  Mine.  The boys.  Our family's.  But the haunting held me hostage.  This half.  Of me.  On film.  I could do nothing but keep.

God is wicked awesome in the coolest cat sense.  An unexpected goof image procured in October was to find its purpose; its intent, as my world our world readied itself for the glitter-swirled-glory season of Christ's birth.

Like dominos falling, this failed capture of whole formed an image clear and powerful.  Awestruck by its visual, I can only hope to be a vessel worthy of  what the half of me can teach.   For in His creative and in His holy, he has shown me sparkle.  Glitter-turned-glory.  Supercalifragilistic decisions filled with surprise and so.much.good.

Shinedown. He does.  SHINEDOWN.  My half is made whole.  #shinedown, I will share.

Glitter-turned-glory,

.mac :)