One of the things that I'm intentional about is learning. "What do my clients need from me?" is a question that I ask myself in all of my professional realms. If I don't know the answer to that question, I endeavour to elevate my evidence-based knowledge and skills.
With my photography, now that I've been doing this professionally for nearly 20 years (2023), there aren't a lot of situations that I have not experienced, problem-solved, worked-through, and/or conquered. I will never say I know everything, but there is a sense of accomplishment that comes with spending well over the ten-thousand hours they say it takes to develop an expertise.
People usually go to great lengths to keep their central nervous system (CNS) calm, soothed and regulated. Stress, frustration, anger, grief, trauma, abuse, or lack of control are some things that can upset a regulated nervous system. Some people use intoxication, some people use self-care to try to achieve what feels like regulation. In an era of extreme stress it is important to be attuned to one's own strategies for CNS regulation. Everyone dysregulates sometimes, but a quick return to baseline is the goal (which also depends on the severity of the situation). No doubt, people are struggling out there.
At the time of this writing, I'm in the final stages of my last assignment to complete a graduate degree. I can tell I'm very stressed. My concentration is low and I'm more inside my head, and I'm spending WAY too much time on my computer. (Even writing this post is a welcome intermission to the amount of concentration my assignment is taking.) My mind is 24/7 on wrapping up this degree.
This morning, I needed to do some self-soothing/self-care to help regulate my nervous system from the anxiety associated with this assignment. So what did I instinctively do? I grabbed my camera and took pictures of some of the flowers in my garden. One of the things that I'm reading a lot about is expressive arts therapy. "Phototherapy" is a form of expressive arts therapy. A picture can tell a story, it can open a mind, it can show what is inside a soul, like a pressure-release valve. Now that cameras are ubiquitous and in the hands of nearly everyone, photography is its own expressive language that is finding itself as an effective evidence-based mental wellness strategy. Taking pictures can be therapeutic and expressive. Even the physical slowing down and holding hands still enough to take a picture helps with anxiety. Being in the moment and seeing the world around you is therapeutic. The ecotherapy of being outside helps. Deep breaths and intentional activity also help anxiety.
The pictures of these two flowers were some of the results from my own self-soothing activities to bring down my own anxiety this morning. I know I will talk a lot more about expressive arts therapy and photography in future posts.
It's ok to take some time to breathe.
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