A friend got me started on the idea of picking a word to focus on each year... and last year my word was potential. I thought it was an innocent word... one that could only highlight the good in life... and it did... but like so much in life... it was very, very much more.

Potential... was me realizing that no matter the situation (good and bad)... that I could survive...perhaps even rise... above whatever was going on.
Potential was... getting acknowledgement of my photography... and my "coming out" as an artist.
Potential was... almost a "letting go" of everything I had learned or experienced... and making way for the new and different.

This year... my word is mindfulness.

According to Wiki... mindfulness is:

*bringing one’s complete attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis
*or involves ... paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally
*or involves... a kind of non-elaborative, nonjudgmental, present-centered awareness in which each thought, feeling, or sensation that arises in the attentional field is acknowledged and accepted as it is
*and always invites... curiosity, openness, and acceptance

And so... with a thought towards mindfulness and being more aware of one's surroundings... the daughter and I headed off to Old Towne late at night... to absorb all that it is. The cold... the crisp air... the cooing of sleeping doves... the sacredness of the San Felipe de Neri church.... the whiteness of the holiday lights glowing in the darkness... the sound of the older man walking his dog in the park... the rush of traffic on Route66 only a block away... the smell of snow in the air...

*photos by Elaine A. Russell