One of the best things I recently started was implementing a daily practice of a morning routine.  I first heard about the idea of a morning routine from The Art of Simple Tsh Oxenreider’s book One Bite at a Time.  I came across the idea again from Courtney Carver, and I downloaded her microcourse which is what I was able to use to actually start implementing my routine.

Before I implemented a morning routine, I was always rushing, rushing, rushing.  Hurry up and get out of bed, get ready, eat quickly, run out the door!  You’re late…GO FASTER!  This was a horrible way to start the day and I didn’t even realize it at the time. Once I gave myself time to get up slowly, mindfully start my day with a warm cup of tea, a little bit of reading, and some ambient radio from Pandora, I realized my days were much more enjoyable.  I was more centered at the beginning of the day which carried throughout the day.  Of course, I’d have bad days like everyone else, but at the root, my threshold for handling complex topics at work or challenges in general in life was much higher.

I highly recommend giving yourself some time in the morning, even if it’s just a few minutes, to start your day mindfully.  Take some time for your self, relax, and then get started.  It is truly a great way to start your day!

I first starting following Tammy’s blog when I began exploring simplicity and living a simpler life.  When I came across her photography practice of her morning view, I was inspired by how she captured the world around her.  I think the coolest part of observing her practice was how she used photography to practice gratitude, something I was trying to do as well given the challenges of every day life.

I questioned whether I really wanted to pursue a photography practice, or if this is something new that I was excited about for a short while.  Tammy’s Everyday Magic course was a really reasonably priced, effective way for me to explore an interest in photography, and I’m happy to say it was a great introduction to the basics of photography and has helped me cultivate my own photography practice.

The three best parts of the course for me were:

1. the way that Tammy broke down the course material, presented the information clearly, and added some cute stories and pictures to go along with the discussion
2. the community of classmates who were very encouraging and helpful.  We’re still in contact via the Facebook group and I think that was the major catalyst for me to enjoy the process of taking pictures – because I had people to share photos with and discuss our learning process.
3. how the photography practice I started in this class has forced me to slow down and notice the world around me, and started nurturing not only a gratitude practice, but also a focus on mindfulness or presence.

I highly recommend taking Tammy’s course if you’re new to photography or even a seasoned photographer.  I took 100% of my photos with my iPhone and was super excited to learn that you don’t need a fancy camera to take great photos.  Tammy’s class gives you the tools to get started with your own practice.

If you want to learn more about Tammy’s journey, feel free to check out her blog, or her photography book.

Oh, and one last thing…if you want to follow my photography practice, you can find me on Instagram.  Link is at the bottom of the page! 🙂

I’m experimenting with this activity of staying logged out from Facebook for 99 days.  If you want to try out the experiment, check out the site, 99 Days of Freedom.

In the first day, I already accomplished some things I wasn’t expecting with the free time!

• Adding a reading list to my blog
• Updated my Pomodoro blog post with my actual experience

I might catalog some other things here that I’ve accomplished with the free time.

When you undertake this experiment, I think it’s important to give yourself a day to get alternate contact information to your FB friends.  I found that people didn’t have my phone number or email address to contact me outside of FB.  I even had one request for my mailing address which I was super excited about because I love getting and sending real mail.  I don’t mail letters as much as I’d like to but perhaps that’s something else I can accomplish with my Facebook-free time. 🙂