Inspiration | December 19

Inspiration December 19 >> Life In Limbo

Currently going through Chris Guillebeau’s annual review + goal-setting process to set goals for 2015.

I love these 33 thoughts on reading and am embracing all of them wholeheartedly.

There were some awesome recommendations on this list of 25 apps to make your life easier via TED staff.

I loved these 100 ideas of things to do every day in 2015. I’ll definitely be buying the PDF download of the tracking calendar when it comes out on the 22nd.

I finally watched Boyhood this week and it was absolutely amazing. Worth every single bit of praise it’s gotten.

It’s that time of year again! Pop Danthology’s mashup of the year in pop music came out this week. I always love these.

Some totally gorgeous photos in this round-up.

I got interested in minimalism again this week and this “Start Here” page is dangerously close to increasing my currently open browser tabs by a factor of 3.

Last night I finished reading book 73 of 75 for 2014! Thanks to two children’s books I had to read for my job I’m actually ahead of schedule. I am actually surprised I managed to pull it off, but so thrilled. I’ve also been adding books to my to-read list like crazy lately. I’m so excited for reading in 2015.

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I’ve had a wicked cold this whole week, so I think the weekend is going to be pretty relaxed for me. Christmas totally crept up on me and it’s starting to feel strange that I’m not home for the holidays. I think the 24th and 25th will be hard, especially being in a different time zone from my loved ones, but on the 27th I fly out for my vacation so that will make things a little easier! I hope you have a wonderful weekend with your family and friends. xo.

The Life In Limbo Shop!

Life In Limbo Print Shop

I’m so excited to share the news that I’ve opened a photography shop online! It’s brand new, and I’m sure I’ll be working out the kinks for a long time to come, but the important thing is that it’s up and running. Opening a shop has been something I’ve been daydreaming about for a while, and so I’m very thrilled to finally be able to share it with you.

So far my Etsy shop, named Life In Limbo, is selling travel photography from my time in Europe. I chose my favourite photos from France and Italy, the most colourful and travel-inspiring ones I could find. You can see all the available photos here. Currently, they’re available as digital downloads for you to print at home. I chose the digital download route because of the logistics of living in another country and needing to print and ship. Happily, printing photos these days is very cheap (I got an 11 x 15 printed today for $3.00 and an 8 x 10 for $1.50) and straightforward (especially if you live in a country where you speak the language, ha!).

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I tried to choose photos that I truly thought you would like and that might inspire wanderlust in you or in someone you love. I didn’t choose any that I myself wouldn’t purchase to hang on my own walls, but of course as the photographer I’m biased! I’m so excited and curious to see what you think, and I would love to hear any and all suggestions you have.

Thank you, as always, for your support and for reading. You can find my photography shop right here!

Ps. You can see more of my travel photography in my city guides here and you can download free wallpapers featuring some of my photography here.

Photo Walk: Pattern

Photo Walk Pattern

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Looking back on the post, it feels like forever ago that I did my first pattern photo walk. But while I was walking around with my eyes peeled for patterns, the process felt very familiar, like I’d done it only last week – in fact, I often notice beautiful patterns on my walks, whether or not I photograph them. There’s something very soothing about having a small, easy task to mindlessly complete. It gives my hands something to do while I listen to a podcast and try and get out of my head for a few minutes. And after the news I got on Monday, my walk today was especially helpful.

Whenever I do photo walks or photo projects (like Steph Loves Today or Project 365, for example) I tend to be hard on myself and get discouraged about each individual photo. It’s only when I see the photos all grouped together that I can fully appreciate them and am reminded that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This is a good reminder for life too, I think: individual days might feel underwhelming or stagnant, but when you look at them strung together, it’s easier to see the beauty of all the ordinary moments. Or the days might feel overwhelming and the problems they hold insurmountable, but a few months later they’ll blur together and make more sense. I’m trying to remember that this week.

These photos were taken on an hour-long walk from my apartment to Haeundae beach and back, at around 11AM on a cloudy day. I used my 35mm f1.8 lens and shot in manual mode.

Inspiration | May 9

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You’ve probably already seen this video about paying attention and losing the technology, but I thought it was really powerful and well done.

I adored these beautiful photos by Olivia Rae James. I just love her style, and all the flower crowns made the photos that much better. She makes me want to take better pictures.

I listened to an old episode of the TED Radio Hour this week about predicting the future. It was sort of scary and inspiring and exciting all mixed into one.

Joy the Baker’s guide to New Orleans made me want to go and visit immediately.

“Own your desires. Make joy a priority.” Danielle LaPorte wrote a pretty in-depth piece this week about our constant striving to be good in order to be spiritual. I’m still processing it, but there are parts I really liked, like this one:

I wanted to create an ecology for my life that included the rapture of meditation and guilt-free guilty pleasures, a way to live from pure intention without forsaking my primal preferences for, say, telling someone off, sleeping in, the occasional smoke after dinner, and staying up too late to watch stupid movies. I wanted a sophisticated devotion to life without sublimating my human wants — I wanted to lighten up.

Elise’s advice on blogging was absolutely great.

“Make things that help solve people’s problems. Operate like the world is already listening.”

I did my first barre method-inspired workout today and it was hard. I’ve been inspired lately to try new ways of working out – ones that are fun and effective. I’m not sure I’ll stick with barre, but it was fun to give it a try. (Related: I’m back to wanting a Fitbit, badly!)

Things I want to make soon: cast-iron skillet pizza | no-bake French silk pie | raw chocolate brownies.

Two Instagram accounts I’ve been loving lately: @xantheb (bright, colourful photos) and @dabito (so much ice cream and California living!).

Some oldies-but-goodies: thoughts on rejection (3 years ago!), how to make a hanging planter.

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This week I’ve felt a little off-balance, so I’m glad it’s the weekend again. I want to spend it re-centering with some beach yoga, relaxing with my friends, and preparing myself to start off next week on the right foot. As always, you can see my daily adventures by following me on Instagram @lifeinlimboblog. I hope you have a lovely weekend!