Lifestyle

Blue Skies on Both Sides of (or Above) the Clouds

As I’ve mentioned before (and you’re probably starting to realize), I’m kind of obsessed with taking nature photos…and especially sky photos. Nature presents so many metaphors and can help you see things in a different perspective. Or maybe I’m just easily distracted because of the ADHD and nature is always there trying to grab my attention, so I fall victim to it. But, honestly…of all the things that distract me, I gotta say nature’s my favorite.

When I saw this sky scene the other afternoon, I had to capture it. The metaphor is so very in-your-face (or at least it was in mine).

Clouds come, but blue skies will come again.

As much as it doesn’t feel like it sometimes, pain is only temporary. If you can hang in there for just a little longer, things will get better and you’ll start to see the beauty in life again. Learn from your storms and you will be stronger for them. You’ll also appreciate the blue skies more for you know what it is like to live without them. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and such. 🙂

Also, aesthetically speaking, I’m just really drawn to the contrast between the central cloud formation and the blue sky on both sides of it…and the way the sun seems to be peeking through the clouds, like it’s about to bust through and completely transform the scene. Sure, there’s more metaphor there, but it all boils down to the same thing…there’s always a reason to hope. Have faith and patience and the sun will eventually break through even your darkest cloud.

Inspirational Coffee

While you can all (likely) expect a future post about the effects of caffeine on the ADHD person (especially one who’s on a fairly high dosage of Adderall), this is not that post.

I’ve cut back significantly on my caffeine intake, but some days I give in to the temptation. Sometimes I just gotta get out of the office, even if I’ve brought my lunch…and some days I just want to partake in the delusional ritual of consuming it to avoid becoming narcoleptic in my cube.

This week, between being sick, having lots of projects and general burnout, I’ve already had two of those days (and it’s only Tuesday).

Albeit potentially panic-attack-inducing and/or blood-pressure-raising, my daily cup of coffee (decorated with words of wisdom from Oprah) has been rather inspirational and, quite frankly, spot on.

Today’s cup carried with it the following inspirational quote:

“No experience is ever wasted. Everything has meaning.” – Oprah Winfrey

And yesterday’s (though I didn’t snap a photo) said:

“Know what sparks the light in you. Then use that light to illuminate the world.” – Oprah Winfrey

Without excessively spilling my guts (as I still have tons to do tonight), I’ll just say this…both of these quotes really spoke to me. So much so, that I thought I’d share them with you guys. You never know what words might change your life…or somebody else’s.

Deficiencies in Concentration and Hyperactive Behavior

I’ve fallen short on my blogging duties the past few days. I haven’t been feeling well, so I’ve barely even had the energy to keep up with the daily grind. I’m also in the middle of some serious soul searching…that I’m not quite ready to discuss on here, at least not at length.

Anyway, we were watching Saving Mr. Banks last night and there were some pretty touching (inspiring) parts. In the spirit of full disclosure, I slept through the first of it, even though I’ve been wanting to see it for a while.

There was a scene that really hit home and I could almost see it unfolding before it even happened. A little history for those that haven’t seen the film, P.L. Travers is the author of the Mary Poppins books and Walt Disney spends most of the film trying to convince her to give him the rights, so he can make a Mary Poppins film. Ralph is Mrs. Travers’ driver while she’s in the U.S. (and Disney is trying to convince her to give him the rights). In one of the very sentimental moments in the film, Ralph opens up to Mrs. Travers about his daughter Jane who is bound to a wheelchair.

Toward the end of the film, Mrs. Travers gives Ralph a piece of paper with a list of names and the dialogue that followed kinda hit me like a ton of bricks:

As Ralph began to rattle off the list, “Albert Einstein, Van Gogh, Roosevelt, Frida Kahlo…” I knew exactly where it was going. Sure, all of these people were amazingly successful, but they did all also have potentially debilitating challenges to overcome…and they did…with flying colors.

I knew, too, that they were going to put Walt Disney out there…they kinda had to. It’s a pretty well known fact that Walt Disney exhibited symptoms of ADHD. Also, in Ralph’s eyes (and many other people’s eyes), Disney was a god. To see all that Disney accomplished and to know that he had his own set of challenges to overcome? Well, that’s pretty powerful.

It was even more powerful to me because of the timing of things in my life and the way that the scene seemed to speak to me directly.

Face your own obstacles head on. Live your dreams in spite of those obstacles…and sometimes because of them. Never stop believing in the life you know you were meant to live. You were given certain passions for a reason. Those obstacles…and those passions…were all give to you because you are meant to do something with them. Figure out what that thing is and do whatever it takes to make it happen.

If my, “Deficiencies in concentration and hyperactive behavior,” make me similar to Walt Disney (and let’s be honest, Einstein), then I feel pretty good about my chances in this life.

Capturing Nature Through Photography

There was supposed to be a meteor shower the other morning, so I Googled and Googled all about how to capture one in photograph. I mean, I researched the heck out of it…and had my camera all setup and ready to go. Even laid out my clothes and shoes, so I could just hop up and get to shooting.

Unfortunately, the meteor shower proved to be uneventful, at least in my neck of the woods. However, all the researching and preparing got me itching to take some photos. Then my dad asked me to take some random photos of our house…not very interesting ones, but it still forced me to bring my camera outside.

I took the photos for my dad and started to walk back up towards the house. Then I started looking around and I realized there were a lot of cool, nature things happening right in my back yard. So, I started shooting. I was playing around with the manual settings more than I have in a long time.

Life has gotten in the way and I haven’t had much time to devote to my photography, but it’s definitely another one of those things that helps calm my ADHD / OCD mind. Zeroing in on the perfect shot brings a kind of focus that my ADHD mind rarely gets to feel. And my OCD nature pushes me to have the patience to get that perfect shot…or at least to keep trying.

Nature photography kind of makes sense for me. It’s the combination of two of my favorite things and I can get lost doing it for hours. Needless to say, I took over 200 photos during my mini-shoot. Part of what’s so awesome about photography is that you get the chance to share your perspective on a moment or, in this case, a scene in nature. When an experience touches your soul in a good way, photography gives you the opportunity to pass it on and touch somebody else’s soul.

Don’t worry, I only pulled five photos from the 200+, so you’re not going to be forced to see the natural world through my eyes for the rest of your night. But, I did want to share a few…just in case you needed something to brighten your evening (meaning the nature itself, not necessarily my creative interpretation via photo).

They’re not perfect, but taking them did make me want to take more. Here’s hopin’ (for my sake) that this was the push I needed to get back into photography. I used to shoot weddings…I used to sell my photos in (small) galleries and in local shops…I used to just take more photos. It’s been years since I really allowed myself to get lost behind the lens. It definitely reminded me how important it is for me to do creative things on a regular basis, though.

That said, my knowledge of flowers is fairly limited, so the file names are pretty boring…and I must have used up all of my creativity, so there are no titles…but you get the idea.

Thanks for taking a peek, guys! Hope you liked ’em!

When My ADHD Messes With My OCD Hand Sanitizer

Germaphobia is real and it’s no surprise us OCDers are prone to it.

This is what happens when my ADHD steps on my OCD’s toes and I lose…or run out of…all of my hand sanitizer at one time. I’m a serious germaphobe, guys.

You can never have enough hand sanitizer.

Now, I’ve started out this batch by strategically placing a few bottles in all the places I frequent (car, bookbag, desk drawer, etc.), but I will likely end up empty handed all at the same time. Not sure how it happens like that. Just does. Maybe it means I’m using them in a balanced way, but I don’t think so. Cause, the thing is, eventually I clean out some cluttered spot in my life and recover several partially-used bottles. That always kinda feels like I’ve found my pot of gold, though, so I’m not really complaining.

Side note: It really pisses me off when all the little hand sanitizer dispensers are out at the mall. They never work and it’s like, why even tease us? Ah well, that’s why it’s important I bring my own (52 million bottles) with me.

…gotta be responsible for my own crazy. 🙂