hanging with my man (frotto).

This morning, I had a moment with a possum.

Never thought I'd say that sentence, but it's true.

I was on my usual running route, which trails through a little bit of bushland, when out of the corner of my eye I saw it. Movement.

 It was 6-something in the morning, and it could have been anything. It was down in the bushes, so I guessed a cat, or some type of tiny wallaby..

I stopped, clicked pause on my iPod and took the time to look, and there it was; one of the most adorable things I have ever seen before.

A possum, lying on its back in the early morning, having a roll around in the dirt and literally playing with the grass and leaves that hung above its head. I swear, it's little paws were all pouncy and beautiful, and in the split second I got to witness this (before it realized what I was, and began to freak out a little bit), it blessed my little heart.

I stopped dead in my tracks as it righted itself, climbed out of its play hole and stared at me, I crouched and spoke to it lovingly. I may or may not have whispered "you are so beautiful" at one point or another.

Secretly I kind of hope someone else was watching the whole thing go down. Me whispering compliments to a possum, in the early hours of the morning, as we stared into eachothers eyes, and shared our moment.

Point being, I made the consious decision to stop this morning. To bend, to breathe, and quiet myself. To enjoy the fact that possums play, and in some small way, I got to be a part of that. I could either see that as a nothing or a blessing, and I'm doing my best, at the moment, to actively choose option two.

I'm concerned with the fact that my neutral face is angry, and my regular mood is... moody, or mad. I wake up upset with the world (and the hour of the morning...), in hopes that something happy will happen, and cheer me up.

This is terrible, and I do not want to be this person. Not at all.

I want to be a joy to be around. I want to find goodness in all things, outside of circumstance, and somehow take heed of all the ridiculous blessings that God has so lovingly heaped upon my life; and pour that out in who I am, and what I project to the world.

I am so blessed, and I should be so thankful.

Joy outside of circumstance, I want to be a joy!

Too much of the time I feel like a drain on other people, with my drama, and my attitude, and my unwillingness to talk things through, or let things go.

And so, in prayer and in persistence, I'm giving these things up. I'm doing my best, as a moment by moment thing, to seek joy alone, in the one alone who can provide it. That being He; author and perfecter of my soul.

It's less about trying, and more about surrendering. 

And hence this morning, I had a moment with a possum. And it was wonderful, and made me smile, and run a little faster.

I am blessed.

*note. Due to the international spread of my readers (hi!), I feel I should explain. In my country, possums do not look like this:

But more like this:

We don't shoot them, eat them, hate them or kill them.

When we come across them late at night, in mystical parks afilled with possum-dwelling trees, we exclaim "oh look a possum!", and grab for our cameras, not "oh look a possum!" as we rifle for our guns.

So here's to beauty in possums. Yes I have time. Happy Sunday.

{oh, the title of this post? this afternoon I had the pleasure of hanging out with one of my favourite men. My manfrotto.

He's a tripod, he's heavy, and he's awesome. In the spirit of ceasing the day, and embracing this sweaty Summer, I spent the afternoon photographing some wonderful friends. They are not engaged (despite the rumours). They are just lovely and gracious enough to let me practice on them! And I am thankful. Here's some of my favourites:}

I feel I need to caption and explain this one...
In my head I had this genius idea. That beneath the sheets these two would look
mystical, in love, indie; and so much more.
Turns out it was in fact ridiculous, and they quickly looked like sheet ghosts.
But props to them for being awesome, and letting me try my thing!

Are you engaged? A couple? Having an anniversary? Particularly close with a sibling and or other relative? Then you should really let me practice on you too! Completely free, all photos are yours, and I will be eternally grateful. 

love love love.

The end.