When Kirstin asked me to do the “4 in 24” for Mortal Muses Film Friday I was stunned, and honored, and nervous! I had just loaded my Canon EOS 3 with Kodak Portra 400 and my Minolta SRT 201 with Kodak T-Max and was planning on a Saturday trip to a consignment shop with my friend Susan. So I thought that some pictures from our outing would definitely be my 4 in 24, along with some shots that I had taken at home with my Polaroid SX-70. But I still had some shots left over and had to finish my rolls. But Sunday turned out to be miserably hot and I only took a few Polaroids.

The next day was Monday. I got up and Oona was in the top perch of our kitty condo with one leg sticking out–so I grabbed my camera and took a few shots.

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On the way to work I took a route that takes me past my favourite flower shop, Winston’s, and I shot there for a bit, gasped at the time and flew to work!!

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On my lunch break I wandered around my work neighborhood, Chinatown, and took some more pictures.

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When I got home, Carl and I were looking at the flowers in our garden and he leaned over to sniff the roses and I got him. Beautiful him!

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I dropped them off this morning and just picked them up (I am blessed to have a place called Colortek down the end of the street) and I was very pleased with the results. I truly thought, before seeing them, that I would be using my Saturday pictures because they would be more interesting than my everyday life. But on Monday, starting with Oona, I felt like I was in a bit of a groove. The pictures might not be fantastic but they “felt” good. They looked like what my mind’s eye saw. Everything just flowed, and that’s when it feels the best. When I relax and trust that voice, that muse, that calm that says: “Don’t worry, you can do it, take a breath, close your eyes, now open them, what do you feel? What is speaking to you? Lift up that camera and shoot away!”

I think I would have many more moments like that if I just learned how to relax and go with it. “Bend like a reed” is what I have printed over my computer. I get afraid and I stiffen up and it hurts and holds me back. But when I breathe deep, take a chance, relax and go with what is given me, then that’s when I know what is good in life. So, thank you soo much for asking me to do this. It really was fun and I learned some things about myself!

You can see more of Linda’s work on flickr, her blog and instagram.

If you would like to be considered for a “4 in 24” feature, please e-mail us at mortalmuses9@gmail.com