Vacation Eyes

365 Photo Challenge - 30 day Milestone 

Sometimes, when I'm stuck in the rut of my daily routine, I remind myself to use my vacation eyes.  What are vacation eyes?  There's a particular way that I see the world when I'm on vacation.  When I visit a new place, I'm taking in all the sights because I've never seen them before.  There's a sense of wonder and amazement at the uniqueness and beauty around me. I try to use my vacation eyes on my drive to work sometimes.  I pretend I've never been here before and try to see my surroundings like someone visiting for the first time.  It usually transforms my day.  

Thirty days ago, I decided to challenge myself to take a picture every day using my camera phone and post it to Facebook and Instagram.  The challenge was to look for something new and interesting in my every day surroundings, capture it from my own perspective and share it with my friends and family.   This challenge has pushed me to use my vacation eyes every day.  So far, there have been some days when I've been busy and felt a little panic because I haven't posted my shot for the day and the day is almost over.  That's when I start looking around my house at the explosion of clean laundry that hasn't been folded, the dishes piled in the sink from dinner, the general flotsam and jetsam that hasn't been put away or organized.   I feel overwhelmed.  That's when I have to dig deep to look at my own house and find something worth shooting and posting... and it transforms my day.  The "junk" in my house becomes "art".  Now, I'm constantly looking for ideas.  I'll see something on a walk or drive that I know would be interesting if I could just get to it from the right angle and perspective, or when light or weather is right.   I'm using my vacation eyes many times throughout my day, now.  I'm eager and excited to see what the next 335 days brings and hoping anyone who reads this takes a few minutes each day to try on their own vacation eyes.

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