Dream Catcher

Lara — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:46:48 +0000

Setting: A bedroom in the suburbs. A 20 something year old woman lies beside her partner, a 30 something, in their bed. It is dark. It is the middle of the night. The two are snoring peacefully.

Son Enters.

Crying.

Big, ugly tears.

Son: I’ve had a bad dream.

The son shakes and cries. He is unable to voice what the dream was about. He snuggles into his father’s arms.

He spends the next half hour crying out that he cannot sleep, that his dream was terrifying.

The shaking continues.

He is held, he is comforted.

He goes to sleep.

He doesn’t talk about the stress of the night before until just going to bed the following night. He is found typing into Dr. Google “How to stop nightmares”.

Emergency response: Dream catchers.

The family sits down to make dream catchers at bed time, telling stories of where each individual piece has come from. This one holds a unicorn necklace (the mother’s totem animal, for sure), a feather from the family bird, a feather from a trip to the beach and another from a family picnic. The beads have been sourced from community stores, friends and trips to the bead store.

Stories are woven into the dream catcher. Times of good, times of laughter, times to replace the nightmares.

This one holds an Easter story, working with clay together, a heart to represent the love in the family and blue and green beads to symbolise the calmness of the sea.

It worked. No bad dreams and a sleepy boy.

{Sweet dreams, beautiful boy}

Something I haven’t done in yonks…

Lara — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 04:58:49 +0000

I played with a puppy!!!!!

He was warm, snuggly, active, bitey, chewy, mischevious, naughty and all the things that a boy puppy should be! I loved having puppy time!

And inquisitive!

Muchly fun!

Summer

Lara — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 01:49:49 +0000

Long days

Balmy nights

Love

Travel

Trying to make the most of the season

Tallebudgera Creek

Underwater. Chasing Fish.

Big Fish. Little Fish. A whole new world under water.

Taken with the Olympus Tough TG-310

Truth (as variable as that is)

Lara — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 07:09:03 +0000

I love the work of a lot of photographers.

I’m not going to name names, but there are lots of them.

I found myself meandering through Downtown West End today and thinking that I could take a photo of something from a certain angle and then it would be remarkably similar to one of those photographer’s works.

I didn’t.

Somehow my style has morphed into what is in trend, but clunkier. I haven’t been shooting that long, I don’t put the hours in that would make me jump in skill level… but the thing is that I don’t want people to look at my work and say “oh, that’s like so + so’s” (although I kinda secretly wish they would. Oh, recognition!). I want to look at what I produce and say that it is a true reflection of how I saw the world at that moment in time.

How I see, not someone else, not someone else’s vision, but my own.

Another person isn’t there, in the same state that I am or anything like that.

It is me, therefore I am attempting to find my voice and perspective through the lens, not anyone else’s.

So, anyway… after that rant,

Morning tea, West End style with two of my favourite people:

Orange Valencia cake in my tummy

Damn bike riding hipster cliche.

The brew. I’m still not back on dairy 100%. Cheese, yes, milk no.

See this lady? She’s awesome. She’s one of the boy’s God mamas and one of the friends that has stayed in my life for over 20 years. I know. OMG. Patient soul.

The windows are open.

I think Summer may (finally) be here.

Lara — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:36:47 +0000

One of my favourite lines from Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton’s) is “you seem to have lost much of your muchness.” There is so much in that one simple line that I have come to relate to.

In chatting to my beloved grand daughter (don’t ask) this week, she was saying that she was over waiting for something amazing to happen to her… that the wait was over — she’s chasing the amazing.

I mean, seriously. Who isn’t waiting for something?

So in honor of the thoughts that are racing through my head at the moment, I’m going to put some thoughts out there about how 2012 can kiss my beautiful speckled rump:

- I am establishing my very own etsy store. Oooooooooooh! It shall be open once I’ve picked a colour scheme (harder than it sounds!).

- I am going to continue the fitness journey and hit the running harder. I love running and my partner surprised me with the gift of headphones over Christmas so that I could run to high paced music, rather than the horrible morning shows that are on at the gym in the morning.

- It is an austerity year – so we’ll be looking at cutting a lot of unnecessary spending. After emptying my son’s room prior to Christmas, I have realised the amount of stuff that is accumulating in our lives that serves limited purpose is extraordinarily large and making no significant contribution to the happiness in our home. Not only is it disturbing from a spending perspective, but an environmental and emotional, too.

- And I want to go back to reading more. I’ve been dipping my little toes in of late and I feel much better. In fact, a book club could be fun…

It feels nice to be closer to being on track to something, rather than optimistically waiting for something good to happen.

I mean, something good IS going to happen.

It’s going to happen because I am going to make it happen.

And in honor of our boy *finally* having his hair cut.

Cutie Patootie!

Happy New Year, all, let’s make it something fantastic!

In honor of that one, you know, that land mark.

Lara — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 00:11:54 +0000

It started in a dodgy pub.

This thing that has grown and changed.

Neither of us thought that we’d survive, well maybe he did, but I didn’t. I couldn’t understand why it was me, didn’t think that I was right for him, was going to travel…

Sometimes, I’m wrong.

So, here we are.

An eight year old son, strange living conditions, a dog, a cat, a bird, a mortgage, a car – all the trappings of grown-up hood, but somehow it still feels as if I’m 19 and he’s 21 and we’re discovering all the world has to offer.

Love you, lover.

Thank-you for all these years.

A version of family at GoMA

Lara — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 07:43:50 +0000

I love the gallery of Modern art.

Art, to me, is about feeling, exploring, analysing, thinking, enjoying, touching, creating…. all those verbs and more. The fact that they are verbs imply that art is an activity requiring participation – it isn’t passive. When I’m meandering through the gallery, I am interacting with my space, what fills it and how it affects me.

Upon walking into this room we all squealed and went “ooooh!”

I once went to the MCA in Sydney and they had a whole floor of inflatables. That was fun.

This is the 2nd time that this activity has been in the gallery… this time it is a much larger scale.

We don’t spend the whole day at the gallery or arts precinct… we just chill for a little while and then move along. It seems to work well for us! Can’t wait to explore the Matisse exhibition!

Mother and House Spouse of the year

Lara — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:05:51 +0000

(Not)

I have no intention of claiming this title this year. Maybe next year.
No, I did not serve it to him.
I made another one.
A fresh start.

I like this one

Lara — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 10:37:12 +0000

The dimple gets me, every time.

Taken in Natural Light @ Paddington using the 7000D

The week (so far)

Lara — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:07:48 +0000

We are North o’ the river again… looking after two fair ladies.

Swimming.

Munching on cupcakes.

Watching DVD’s.

Doing the holiday thing.

And I think the boy likes it.

Really!