I suppose that this might be a good time to explain why I enjoy photography as a way to help with my mental health, and why I use it to help encourage others.

We deal with a lot of junk in our lives. Spending two decades in the fire service, I have seen my fair share of crap. And unfortunately, dealing with, and seeing, as much as we do can leave a person with a different perspective on life. Photography allows us to turn our minds, and our eyes, from everything that we deal with, and causes us to focus on the beauty of the world around us. We are able to look at life from a different perspective.

This photo is from our lupine plant that sits at the base of our front steps. Anyone coming or going passes by it, and often we don’t give it a second thought. We have several flowers in bloom, and I took my youngest daughter outside to get some photos of them. Since I’ve been dealing with my back injury, this was a painful task and wasn’t easy. But I was able to get this amazing photo.

When you are dealing with all of the crap that life throws at you, please remember to stop and smell the flowers. And maybe try and look at the world around you as it is, and not the way that life has altered it to be.