An introvert at dusk

When I saw Susan Cain's talk on TED  The Power of Introverts I went online, took the Myers Briggs Test and established that I am in fact 75% introvert.

It has explained so much. The longing for quiet time, the overwhelm of too much socialising, the need to create. Luckily I'm an introvert with a performance streak and this has helped me to survive my job and my community's expectations. (Secretly I am no "craic" at all and would prefer to be at home reading a book)

Since then I've written about this discovery, how it has affected my life and why everyone should take the test. Usually I've done the blogging equivalent of ripping up these posts and have left them in draft.  I was never too keen on psychological assessments, preferring some version of soulful anarchy and although everything is telling me to step away, here I am recommending it to you!

Do the test if you want a bit of insight into your personality type. You can take the result with a grain of salt or if like me you are blown away by how accurate it is, enjoy the aha moment. 

Nothing to fear

Sometimes I go down to the lake shore at around dusk, the gloaming, the closing of the day. In that magical twilight time the light changes. As it becomes less intense it softens and warms the reeds, the land, the fresh water.

In that quiet space, there is nothing to fear.

I used to jump at sudden movements or rustling in the long grass. The smallest crawly thing would make me recoil and yelp. But just by being out there and observing on a daily basis, I have begun to feel safer in the world.

We still startle each other out there. Sometimes a heron will fly in to land near where I am sitting and vere off suddenly spotting me at the last moment. An ocasional fish will spookily rise to the surface and eyeball me. A flying beetle will land on my lap.

But startling is one thing and threatening is another. There is a peaceful living side by side underlying it all, it is mainly I who must be extra careful not to create too much of a disturbance.

Humans are drawn to the dusk light

I walk, I snap, I share, I learn.

Then the next day I do it all again! This is the creative cycle.

Last year I set out to create 1,000 new images in my quest to reclaim a personal exploration and creative life. I ended up taking over 20,000 photographs in 10 months, mostly within a 5 minute radius of my backdoor. Who knew there was so much to see, explore and capture just under my nose?

I have noticed however that no matter how many photos I share, the greatest responses I get are from people who just love sunsets. Human attention is always drawn towards the changing dusk light. The uplifting glow of the sinking sun combined with the lengthening shadows and the fading birdsong, make it a magical event each time.

Every evening that I find myself photographing the western skies over County Waterford I wonder how it is possible ponder the same sky over and over again? But every evening it is unique and new! Nature creates change by the minute and I have become acutely aware of this. These photos were taken within the twenty minutes of that special twilight time, from just under a hedgerow.

By the way, you may have noticed that I am finding it harder and harder to keep up with responding to and following up on comments here. While I love and appreciate each and every one, I hope you will understand that I am becoming more focussed on making the images. The more work I do the more I can share and develop!  If you'd like more of a chat I am much better now on Facebook and on Twitter and I upload photos there too almost every day!

I am also with some difficulty trying to learn more about the technical side of photography, such a steep learning curve, so hopefully this year my work will improve. Again a big thank you for your support and encouragement. I continue to learn so much from you all.

December dusk from my window

 




When it is over, I don't want to wonder 
if I have made of my life something particular, and real. 
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened, 
or full of argument. 

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.  -Mary Oliver

Dusk light with the reflections of the still twinkling lights of the Christmas tree..........I am beginning to re-emerge from hibernation.....Thank you all for your true support and kindness....