Full Moon Clarity

August full moon. Corn moon. Moon of the Harvest.
Last night before going to bed, I looked out to see if I could see Mother Moon. She shone through the clouds Strong and Clear.

I don't remember seeing her so Clear before.

Luminous - yes.
Bright and shiny -yes.

Hazy - yes. Partially obscured - yes.

But Clear and Warm? Strange combination.

I tend to think of Clear and Bright as cold. Like the clear, bright Stars you see when you look up into the darkness on a cold, crisp winter's night.

Strange....I went to bed and did not give Her another thought. After all, Her fullness was not due until tonight, Thursday.

Ah.... but the ways of Mother Nature are mysterious.

Out for my morning walk, earlier on, I was mulling though something that happened the day before. The Clear Moon day. I had taken some pics of my grandchildren. There were about 10 of my granddaughter playing in the park and only 1 of my grandson. He had been with his mother (my daughter) while we were at the park, so little Nathan was left out of the pics.

Standing at the front door saying goodby, little Nathan (safe within his mother's arms) gurgled and laughed as only 6 month old babies do. Instantly I whipped out my camera. I had to take this pic.

At home, I uploaded (or down, I can never figure out which) the pics. The one of little Nathan was good, except that there were too many distractions in the pic, taking away from his dear little face. At first I was disappointed.

Hmmm, maybe it's time I learned how to "edit" my pics. The edit feature that comes with Windows is extremely frustrating (at least to me). I don't want to "draw" on my pic. I don't want to "erase" the background. I've tried that and it looks horrible. I just want to crop the baby's face and bring in into focus. The rest of the background can be "out of focus" or soft and blurry.

After a bit of searching, I did find an edit programme. I think it might have been photobucket. And even with that programme, the cropping took me a long time. Either I don't have the proper technique (it kept slipping away from me), or it's just difficult to do (which it should not be).

So, as I was walking, mulling this through, it struck me that my failures are really stepping stones. I've always cringed at the thought of failing. I think most of us were brought up that way. Failing was something embarrassing. Something to cry over. Failed exams, failed casseroles, failed businesses, failed relationships.

But now with the gift of Clarity from Mother Moon last night, I see failures in a different light; as a place to begin. A launch pad. The first step on a path. Instead of meeting Failure with Frustration, I will now look at Failure and ask "o.k., what's the next step?"

I have never been as interested in photography as I have in writing. That old "fear" of not being as good as the professionals. That old, nagging voice saying "you're not artistic, you can't do that", has kept me back. Or the other limiting thought pattern "you have to choose: writing or taking pics, you can't do both."

But now I'm finding out just how much fun creating and editing photos can be. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to measure up to somebody else's standards. I can do it for the sheer joy it brings me.

So thank you August Mother Moon for helping another piece of my Creative Self to sneak out. And for the Clarity to see "failure" for what it is - not an ending, not something to be feared, but a Light, a glow, pointing the way to success or at the very least, change.