The Slump

Every 2-3 months, I go to Los Angeles for a self-imposed art retreat. In the small apartment I rent from a friend I set aside time to write, create collages, maybe both, but making photographs is de rigueur. There was a pall hovering over me this time around, and none of that was happening.

For me to not want to grab a camera and head out even for a few minutes is rare. I took time to “cry it out", sometimes with my pillow and sometimes on the phone with my best friend/husband. There didn’t seem to be one thing that put me in this slump, but rather a cluster of circumstances. It felt as though I was unable to resolve any part of it, certainly not the aging element.

One day I headed to Glendale for an appointment to see my hair guy, Ray. It was time to refresh the red and get a trim. Perhaps that would cheer me up? Before I went in, I gave myself a photo assignment. In the immediate vicinity of his salon, which is on a nondescript littered street, I’d take a photo that would illustrate my frame of mind. Then I’d take a photo to describe how I wish I felt. Both photos are shown below. The photos, although not remarkable, did cheer me up, moreso than the color & cut.

I ended up spending quality time with friends later that day and the next. Those interactions were certainly uplifting. Now that I’m back home in Santa Fe, JuJuBe and Josie are prescribing fur and purrs and my husband has an ample supply of hugs.

Photography as a healing tool, how about that!