I have been thinking a lot about what 2017 was like for me....It was....transformative...
If my life were a house, than that house has been demolished in 2017 and the foundation has now been rebuilt. A year in which I lost all contact with my soul and then got in touch with again on a deeper level then ever before. A year of working way too hard and running around in circles and a year in which I found my inner compass again and readjusted. I feel this has been one of my most valuable years ever. Sometimes things need to come crashing down, so you can build up again from a new foundation based on your own values, truths and beliefs. I let go of what other people think I should be doing, of the things experts told me to do, of the ways that things should be done according to the masses and accepted that my life must come only from my core.
It was the year in which my passions deepened to great extents. Also a year filled with gratitude for the things we have been fortunate enough to experience. A year filled with magical mornings, with conquering fears and moments of exhilaration and wonder.
There were two trips to France with lots of enchanted exploration in which my dedication to photography was tested, but in which I persevered and enjoyed every minute of the feeling of belonging I feel when I am there. We hiked very long distances through the mountains and these hikes must have been the best moments of our lives. We enjoyed the best autumn colours ever even though it was a very short lived autumn of less than 2 weeks in these mountains. Within 3 weeks it went from summer to winter. Such great things we experienced, such wonderful things we witnessed. I'll take you with me on this trip down memory lane...
This was a forest in the north of France in the end of May....on our last day we got a tiny patch of fog in the forest and I was able to take this picture
A sunrise on the border with the German Pfalz
A beautiful sunrise very close to home
It was also the year of the most amazing sun rays I have ever been able to photograph
And some of the best misty mornings ever (even if there were very few of them)
And misty mornings on the moors of the Posbank....also amongst the best mornings of my entire life
The most amazing morning hikes in the mountains....every single day whilst we were there...
Sometimes all you get is harsh light and you have to settle for that, because this too has its charm
And then you get the wonderful soft lit fluffy clouds mornings as well
And then autumn arrived in The Netherlands and it was glorious
All in all I am loving the foundation I built in 2017, I am really loving the moments I was fortunate enough to witness and I am loving where my photography has taken me and where I have taken my photography. I am so looking forward to this new year, I am raring to go....I am going already, I can't wait to see where this will all take me and where I will take me. This year though, I will give priority to self-care, to resting more, because no one can run a wonderful life without refuelling...