Photo selections
Yesterday I finished designing the family Christmas card for my parents. During the process I had to decide on a photo for each family member. This posed a great challenge as I had to some searching through my files in order to find a photo of each person. While I had countless photos of certain individuals I had maybe one or two of others. The lesson here? Take more photos of everyone. Even family members who drive me crazy or hide whenever a camera appears.
For my nephew I used this photo:
My nephew can handle critical phone calls and iPod listening at the same time. He is no stranger to technology. Also, I love his expression in this photo. It seems to say, "Please leave me alone. Can't you see I'm in the middle of important business?" I found out later he was listening to Eragon on his iPod. Children don't have time for opening up real books these days. Oh no! Audio books seem to be all the rage. Don't worry, I'm still giving him real books this Christmas. Last year I gave him this fine work of English literature (soon to be considered for the canon) and this year I am giving him this book with the hope he will take up potions.
For my niece I used this photo:
First of all, I never take action shots. I never take sports-related shots. I rarely go to sporting events and if I do I'm usually completely oblivious as to what is going on. However, in 2007 I happened to attend one sporting event and it was my niece's soccer game. I was actually quite thrilled by it all because first of all, my niece is a fantastic soccer player and second, she plays with heart. She is the tallest player on her team and she has no trouble racing up and down the field with passion.
During halftime (Is it called halftime in soccer?) I saw she was giving pointers to another player on her team. She wasn't being bossy. Rather, she was offering suggestions, such as, "You might want to try this..." Instead of being a player who is only interested in their own performance or glory, she was taking the time to help someone on her team. Where did she learn this from? Could it be Disney? Or ESPN, perhaps?
I should also mention many of the other players on the field did not display this same amount of enthusiasm. Many of the girls appeared bored or indifferent. One little girl kept running off the field in the middle of the game(!) in order to whine to her Mom who was sitting on the sidelines. This little girl had no interest in being there for her team or in kicking a soccer ball. Instead she resorted to tears and begged her Mom to take her for ice cream. The mother gave up after a certain point and they left which was probably for the best because this girl was obviously not too keen on soccer.
My niece's team didn't win the soccer game that day and after the game ended I was worried she might be feeling a little disappointed. She had fought so hard, she had pushed herself to the limits and somehow it didn't seem right that her team hadn't won the game. In my mind I silently blamed the other players on her team. After all, even Beckham can't do it alone. I was expecting disappointment from my niece but instead she smiled and told me with all honesty, "I had fun and that is the only thing that matters. If you have fun then it doesn't matter if you win or lose a game." I was moved by this statement at the time and in remembering it now I still feel a sense of amazement.
You see, it's so easy to fall into the trap of being competitive or constantly moving forward toward the win (whatever the win may be). But to abandon these notions and simply focus on fun? This is something I need to work on for 2008. My niece seems to have mastered this concept at the age of nine, maybe I can master it at the age of 24.
For my nephew I used this photo:
My nephew can handle critical phone calls and iPod listening at the same time. He is no stranger to technology. Also, I love his expression in this photo. It seems to say, "Please leave me alone. Can't you see I'm in the middle of important business?" I found out later he was listening to Eragon on his iPod. Children don't have time for opening up real books these days. Oh no! Audio books seem to be all the rage. Don't worry, I'm still giving him real books this Christmas. Last year I gave him this fine work of English literature (soon to be considered for the canon) and this year I am giving him this book with the hope he will take up potions.
For my niece I used this photo:
First of all, I never take action shots. I never take sports-related shots. I rarely go to sporting events and if I do I'm usually completely oblivious as to what is going on. However, in 2007 I happened to attend one sporting event and it was my niece's soccer game. I was actually quite thrilled by it all because first of all, my niece is a fantastic soccer player and second, she plays with heart. She is the tallest player on her team and she has no trouble racing up and down the field with passion.
During halftime (Is it called halftime in soccer?) I saw she was giving pointers to another player on her team. She wasn't being bossy. Rather, she was offering suggestions, such as, "You might want to try this..." Instead of being a player who is only interested in their own performance or glory, she was taking the time to help someone on her team. Where did she learn this from? Could it be Disney? Or ESPN, perhaps?
I should also mention many of the other players on the field did not display this same amount of enthusiasm. Many of the girls appeared bored or indifferent. One little girl kept running off the field in the middle of the game(!) in order to whine to her Mom who was sitting on the sidelines. This little girl had no interest in being there for her team or in kicking a soccer ball. Instead she resorted to tears and begged her Mom to take her for ice cream. The mother gave up after a certain point and they left which was probably for the best because this girl was obviously not too keen on soccer.
My niece's team didn't win the soccer game that day and after the game ended I was worried she might be feeling a little disappointed. She had fought so hard, she had pushed herself to the limits and somehow it didn't seem right that her team hadn't won the game. In my mind I silently blamed the other players on her team. After all, even Beckham can't do it alone. I was expecting disappointment from my niece but instead she smiled and told me with all honesty, "I had fun and that is the only thing that matters. If you have fun then it doesn't matter if you win or lose a game." I was moved by this statement at the time and in remembering it now I still feel a sense of amazement.
You see, it's so easy to fall into the trap of being competitive or constantly moving forward toward the win (whatever the win may be). But to abandon these notions and simply focus on fun? This is something I need to work on for 2008. My niece seems to have mastered this concept at the age of nine, maybe I can master it at the age of 24.
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