It always seems to come in unexpected ways and at just the right time. Life expands and contracts and our circles do the same in this ever changing landscape of our mobile life. Giving birth to a life is like that. Labor and rest. Confidence and doubt. Peaks and valleys. Very often it is those dips into the valley that spark the most progress.

This week was frustrating without my camera or software. My card is full and the computer must go to the shop. I don’t dare clear my card til I can back up the images. But I don’t sit on my hands well making nothing. I ended up trying two things. Instagram and film.

I pulled out my old film camera which I only used in automatic mode all those years ago. It was a good camera, however, with a couple nice lenses which I knew nothing about when I won that auction on eBay 8 years ago. My phone yielded a PDF manual to bring me up to speed and locate all the functions. I very happily dropped off a roll of film with a very nice British gentleman the other night.

When I told my husband I had nearly convinced myself to switch back he listened quietly. Then said he still wanted also push forward with the new computer and software and equipment we have been planning for. A both/and solution to the either/or scenario in my head. : ) You can do this and more he said. And more. And we are going to make it happen.

Then came a long overdue phone call on a slightly crackly line to an old friend who can be counted on to always say oh yes you can! You can can apples. You can read more Jane Austen. You can tend a cutting garden. You CAN.

This morning I listened to that yes you can and pushed myself out into chilly morning air to jog (jog-walk-jog-walk) with Toby Mac. I came back thinking how beautiful the clouds were over my chimney and how much I love the kitchen door. And geraniums. And being brave. And saying yes.

I checked mail and found a sweet comment from the wildly creative Jennifer and clicked back to catch up with her doings. Turns out it was the National Day of encouragement this week. I missed it. Officially anyway. But certainly enjoyed all the perks in practice. I paid it forward by taking a couple extra minutes to tell her what I often think when I read her notes – thank you.

She got me thinking about how the Internet rather encourages a bit of consumerism. We click in and out. We glean. We use ideas and off we go. Those people don’t often know how much they have blessed us or just how amazing they really are. I am trying not to forget that as I visit and learn.

If you haven’t visited here before you are in for a treat:

http://studiojru.com/2012/09/12/national-day-of-encouragement/#comment-15591