At some point in the process of packing up my apartment last night I reached a breaking point where I just really wanted to throw it all away. Where did all the cheap accessories, endless stationery and insane amounts of candles come from? Tragically: the number of never used shoes and purses that I packed up almost outnumbered the embarrassing hot pink glitter tchotchkes that filled my drawers.

Luckily, I have an amazing best friend who sat with me while I sorted through the endless clutter and tried to figure out exactly what was important to me – what had value.

While I truly am all about the little things – a hot pink glitter filled bouncy ball, the hot sauce packets at Taco Bell that make me giggle, twinkle lights outside of the holiday season and zebra printed votive candles – I’m recognizing that sometimes it’s all the little stuff that piles up and keeps us from seeing the things that have value. There needs to be a balance between the little and the big – between the urgent and the important. Balance – not the easiest thing to achieve – I know I’m working on it.

I disposed of about 12 trash bags full of stuff last night – passing the goods along to friends, neighbors and the real junk went in the trash. And when I stepped back into my apartment after the last run to the trash chute, I looked around and saw so many things that I was blessed to have – so many things that I hadn’t picked up or touched or used in a long time – but they were the things that I love the most.

As I stacked box after box against my wall trying to get it ready to be u-hauled (verb?) this weekend, I came across an old leather case that my grandparents gave me almost a year ago. At the time they gave it to me, I was rushing out the door and didn’t think twice about it. I brought it home and it got lost in the shuffle of junk.

I opened it last night and was in awe of what I found. Gorgeous, classy old leather lens cases, a tiny leather cylinder with a zipper that holds a roll of film, lenses and filters, cameras and cleaning cloths. All carefully cleaned, stored and protected by my Great Grandpa. My boyfriend Jon was over and he immediately helped me put film in the cameras and we shot a few frames of my dismantled apartment.

Jon reached into the bag to switch lenses and called me over to look. He pulled a ratty old camera strap out of the bag and handed it over to me. I stared at the worn leather and said, “well, it’s cool that it’s kinda old… but it’s not like I’m going to use it or anything. I should pack it away…” and Jon said, “Flip it over.” I turned the camera strap over in the hands and as it switched from the worn leather lining to the outer canvas shell, what I read brought tears to my eyes.

Something about seeing his name embroidered into the strap made it finally hit me that these were my Great Grandpa’s cameras – which he loved and which have been given to me. 3 Generations ago there was a photographer in our family. I’m not much for being sweetly sentimental, but I’ll just say it was a bit of a magic moment for me.

I’m going to try to stay uncluttered and unjunked – in the “stuff” I keep, my relationships, my workflow, everything. Hopefully by not focusing so much on the little things, the big picture will be clearer – and I’ll find remarkable things of value.

I hope you all have an absolutely fabulous weekend! Shoot hard, play harder. ;-D  And be excited for next week! Awesome new product announcement coming your way from Fotoworks Pro!

All the best,

Katie Johnson