Monday, January 30, 2006

On Being BEFOULED

This plaque was adhered to the windowsill of our hotel in Goslar: "Before leaving your room, please place the window in a tipped position as otherwise the pidgeons befoul the room."



Never mind that it was too cold to tip any window open or that there were no pidgeons to be seen our entire weekend!

Today, by the time Donica came home for dinner, I felt like my spirit had been "befouled" by my own damn perfectionism! I had been working on my blasted Goslar photos for a week and had a goal and expectation to not only finish them today but to get my photo album (of approximately 150 photos) published. I wanted to publish my last Goslar post today!

But when I started the album, I saw photo after photo that disappointed me. "I can do better than that!" I grumbled. And all I could think of was, "Oh no! Back to the drawing board!" And just about then Donica came home and all I wanted to do was cry.

The thing is, maybe I CAN'T do better than that...at least not right now. I see all the photos (yes, on your blogs) that seem so perfect to me and I want mine to look like that. Maybe they will some day but, hey, if they don't now, it doesn't help one whit to "befoul" myself with over-expectation. Besides, who could care less, right?!

I'm sure there's not a one of you out there who can relate! So have a good laugh on me for taking photos of plaques that come back to haunt me!

15 comments:

  1. Hey there, that's my mother you're talking about! I'll have none of that "befouling"! Your pictures are wonderfully appreciated, as evidenced by the many comments from those who visit just to see the world through your eyes. Some of us are grateful just to be able to see someone else's pictures of a place they'll never see on their own! Don't be so hard on yourself. Thank you for taking the time to share your world with us!

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  2. I'm not sure I understand all of it, but one thing I can say is that when I go on other blogs, very often it passed my mind that I should stop making photography. So much great pics! So much talent!
    Then I say to myself: "Why do I do that?" Because I LOVE photography, I LOVE blogging and I LOVE to communicate! I'm not doing a blog to prove anything, it's not a contest. It's a pleasure.
    And I come to your blog because it's a pleasure too. That's all I have to say. :O)

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  3. Hey, there's nothing wrong with taking pictures of a plaque like you did. I recently took a picture of a Power Chicken drink cup and also the continental breakfast menu at a hotel I stayed at.

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  4. Amy: You know me too well. I'm the world's #1 "too hard on myself" person, I'm sure. Thanks for confirming that you/people like me just the way I am :)

    Clo: The gist is that I was in a real funk, forgetting all the soulful things (like you said) about why I blog. I do NOT NOT NOT blog to make perfect photos. That's not me. While I'd like to make good photos (because I like being good at anything), that's not the crux of why I blog. It's all of what you said and I guess I kinda stepped off the track there for a minute or so! Thanks for the reminder.

    MP: And you followed suit :) Thanks

    Tim: No, this was NOT about taking the photo of the plaque. The photo of the plaque was what helped me find my soul again! I was very thankful for what at first was very funny ("pidgeons befouling"). It turned into a good smack on the head. But thanks for the comment anyway.

    I couldn't get to sleep last night so I got up and worked till 3a on the photos, doing in a few hours what I couldn't do in a week. I figured out what was messing me up. That was worth the entire funk (I think :)

    Thanks to y'all for standing behind me!

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  5. I think your photos are great - not to mention your blog! Hope you can catch up on the sleep. Oh, and the perfectionism... I know! I'm one of those too.

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  6. As you know, you've been an inspiration to me, especially your photos. I'm glad you figured out what wasn't working. This technology stuff is definitely an evolution of skill, so kudos to you! But as many have said, no one knew but you!

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  7. Lisa: You rock my boat!

    CS: You, too! What would the world be like without our perfectionism, right? Can't live with us; can't live without us :)

    Ruth: YOU are MY inspiration! Which is why I'm glad I got off that photos-have-to-be-perfect track!

    Thanks again, y'all, for supporting me so gently in your own ways. In the total scheme of things, we often have to be reminded of what's important!

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  8. I wanted to tell you a story, but it was so long that I decided to do a post on my blog instead. Hope you will like that one... :O)

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  9. I think your photos are great too! We all want better photos, but I'll let you in on a secret. Most GREAT photos are actually re-touched, fooled around with and manipulated in PhotoShop. So don't feel down at all. Some people also have way expensive cameras and have taken many classes to get there. With that being said, I think most of us just point and shoot and try to at least show what we seen in our travels.

    Keep your head high, your doing great! :)

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  10. I thought your photos were great, too. In fact, I thought they were So good that you stole them from ME. Then I remembered I had never been to Goslar. So then I thought maybe you lifted them from some DVD History Channel Special on Goslar because they look like THAT, too. But I couldn't find any. So tell us. They are postcards, right? Because they are great. Heh heh

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  11. Clo: I went to your blog to read your story and I am speechless! With tears in my Soul. Thank you.

    James: Perfectionist or not, I want to be like you--not giving them a second thought!

    ET: It's the PhotoShopping that I was having problems with! Before I had PS, I didn't have to worry about a thing! Hmmm. There may be a lesson there?

    Jeff: Never one to let an opportunity slip by, are you! I love it :)

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  12. You're a sweetheart, Gustav. You have my full permission to give me hints/tips on any of my photos ever! I solicit your help. In fact, that reminds me that I redid a couple of the photos for my album that I've already posted and will probably swap them out because I like them better.

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  13. Dear Ginnie,

    Here's a shout from a fellow Hannoveranerin.

    I just got your blog address from my landlords, who told me to "go and look at the beautiful Goslar photos", so I did. And not only that, I read almost all your blog. So wonderfully surreal to come across pictures of the street I live in on a site of someone blogging from Atlanta!

    Keep up the good work, and please say hello the next time you are in Kirchrode.

    All the best, Bettina

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  14. What a great surprise to hear from you, Bettina!! Are you the new tenant on the ground floor? Yes, indeed, we definitely will say HI once we go back to Hannover.

    And now I must look at YOUR blog and translate it :) I am not fluent in German as you are in English, sad to say!

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