The Hunt for Stuff, the Hunt for Meaning

Estate Sale Camera and Vintage Hat, or Thrifting Adventure with My Mom

I have been taking pictures daily for the last year and a half. It has been quite the adventure.

Usually the pictures are of my children, although sometimes a landscape, cityscape or self portrait will sneak in there. They serves not only to document my early years taking care of my children, but also helped me develop my photography skills, even with my dinky point and shoot... which I love, by the way. I lost it once and upgraded to a later model, which was cheaper, by going refurbished. Sometimes, new is not more sensible, especially since I treat my camera pretty roughly.

Simple Beliefs, by sfgirlbybay


But I was looking through my googlereader subscriptions and came across this entry by sfgirlbybay. I just found her blog and really love it. Sometimes we find what we need when we need it. Like, for instance, a set of lovely diptych photos documenting things in her life/apartment that represented larger concepts in her life.

I think I'd like to do that more. I would enjoy playing with "stuff" more, especially since I spent the last two years purging, and doing with out. I'd like to build up my collections again, and that means it's time to start getting out in the world more and looking for soulful things on all my journeys.

I love the hunt for the wild repurposed item. Or the challenge of searching for just the right dress in a wilderness of dusty salvation army castoffs.

But aside from finding things to love, I also want to pay attention to the things that I have and the value I find in them... whether or not they actually cost a lot of money.

For instance, the hat and camera above? Well, they represent that hunt for vintage soul, sure they do, but the hat also reminds me of the style I used to have and how much I loved coming up with new looks. And the camera? Well, that reminds me to be adventurous with my art. To take photos that maybe aren't so straight forward, but play with a worn look or change the way I am looking at the ordinary. And it was two dollars!

I think this would be a fun exercise. And I think this is a good place for me to document the small and heartful world that I live in.