Erin Covey Creative Blog

What better reason to clean out stuff than when you find a new apartment? As I comb through drawers, closets and nooks… I realize I need to throw things out.  I’m far from a hoarder, in fact it could be argued I should keep a lot more than I do.  But once I form a connection for/with something, I never want to give it up.  These pink and purple sneakers I’ve had forever (clearly).

I remember adventures with my shoes and clothes like most people remember memories with old friends…

The purple sneakers and I ran through the sandy coast along Highway 1 in Monterey Bay.

I also threw out knee high black leather Franco Sarto boots that took me two years through Seattle and one year through Connecticut, walking to work every single day.  I remember the day I bought them…a rainy day at the Macy’s in downtown Seattle.  I excitedly put them on outside on the street and never took them off.

I decided with shoes should come clothes — including an awesome three piece gray suit that I like, but am always reminded of the job I didn’t get, so away it went.  So did the Banana Republic wool coat.  So did the pale blue linen shirt that I would wear every summer.

Here’s to fresh new memories in a fresh new place come January 1!

…to kill time when they’re looking to unwind.  I don’t.  I don’t even own a tv.  Or a stereo.  Or any sort of entertainment system.  I don’t even know how to pronounce Tivo… is it TIE-voh, or TEE-voh? I just sit.  Alone.  And think.

I think about ideas for pictures, paintings, or collages … I think about how to figure things out and how something was made.  I am my own entertainment! Last night I was having one of these moments.  After staring blankly and thinking for a good hour, I went out last night.  On my list? Glitter, glitter flakes (YES they’re different!), laser lights and colored cellophane.  I have a shoot this weekend that will allow me to do whatever I want and I want to make it stand apart from what I normally do. (Enter all of these random items.)

I’ll let you know how my ideas turned out after the shoot, but for now…fun with my new laser lights!

I was at mile 19.  Her face I can’t recall but this stranger’s kind eyes will stay with me for life.

Mile 19.  It’s a tough place to be.  I was more than halfway through running the Philadelphia marathon but still 7 miles away from the finish line.  That’s still well over an hour of running after I had already done 4 hours.  As I rounded the curve toward a water station, this woman grabbed my forearm, her face leaned in close to mine, and she said with conviction:

“Don’t give up.”

She must have seen the look of despair in my eyes.  At this point the toes on my right foot were swollen twice their size and I was just waiting to see a maroon color seep through the top of my white sneakers.  Blood — a sure sign the feet were giving up.  But the mind wasn’t ready for that option.

As I cursed myself and my lack of training (I gave myself two months to train and then quit 5 weeks into it) I kept thinking, “Just put one foot in front of the other and don’t stop.  Just don’t stop.”

I wasn’t initially going to run a full marathon.  I figured I’d stop at the half.  I simply didn’t have enough training and my schedule prevented me from dedicating to a legitimate running plan.  But when I arrived at the fork in the road and looked over at my running partner, I knew it wasn’t over.

“Get over in the left lane,” he deadpanned.  Left side meant the full marathon, right side — the half marathon finish line.  “How did I know you were going to say that?” I replied, in an equally serious tone.  I knew there was no stopping.  I thought to myself, “Now is as good a time as ever.”  To be completely truthful I couldn’t bear another few months of training for a marathon anyway.

That message from a kind stranger helped me keep going, it was a step apart from the blanket cheers emanating from the sidelines and my eyes couldn’t help but well up with tears.  Walk or run, my friend and I were going to finish this thing.

To my friend Michael, who was in much better shape than I and had to listen to quite a few grunts, murmurs and f-bombs from my side of our little running team…I can not thank you enough.

To the strangers who volunteer and cheer from the sidelines, I would shake your hand and thank you all individually if I could.  My words can’t describe the overwhelming support I felt or how much it helped.

To the woman who stared into my eyes and gave me reason to keep putting one foot in front of the other:

I didn’t give up.

Changes are on the horizon! I’m launching a little something I’ve been quietly working on for the past few months.  I call it my “33 by 33″ … Establishing 33 goals in writing and completing them by the time I’m 33.  (Today I turned 32.)  Some are lofty, some are silly…but they are all things I would like to do by this time next year…soooo, in an effort to change things up today, I’ve posted them via video!

33 by 33 video

I left a few spots open, just in case… anyone else doing something like this? I’ve heard of friends doing a “101 things to complete by 2010″ list.  Are you making a list and checking it twice?

It’s here.  Winter.  It’s not even freezing…and I’m already freezing! This will be a long season.  Not only does it get dark at 4p, but it’s cold.

All.  The.  Time.

Even today, it was in the 50’s I think.  I still wore a winter hat all day (yes even inside at work).  I even wore a winter hat to bed.  I can never get warm!

I feel like I woke up one day and ALL of the fall foliage was gone!

Sometimes you just need candy.  OK fine…sometimes *I* just need candy! This situation happens to me probably 50 percent of the time that I am craving said candy. The vending machine at work seriously plays with my emotions.  Can’t someone out there invent a better candy dispensary than this?! I don’t understand! How hard could it be! If I wasn’t so tied up with other things going on, I swear I would draw something up myself!

Those M and M’s….just dangling from the coil…

This week and last was pretty much over the top insane with activity.  That’s why I haven’t blog posted in a week.  I have been taking a ton of photos though.  I’ve had an influx of corporate client shoots each morning before my “real” day photography newspaper job.  My best friend got married and I was the Best Man.  It’s election season so I’ve been getting a lot of work from candidates running for office.  I’m planning trips all over the place for some traveling photo shoots (yep, have camera, will travel), plus I’m editing weddings and senior shoots and lots of stuff in between! Whew! My “to do” list is kind of nuts right now…

I run…

…Because I can.

…Because I am so incredibly grateful to be healthy and strong and I don’t want to waste it sitting on a couch watching other people do things.

…Because with each step I get stronger, even if it seems like during the run the opposite is true.

…Because that hour or two is often the only time in my day that is truly my own.

…Because I enjoy beautiful scenery every time I get out there.

I run…

…Because I can.

…Because even though it hurts and I don’t love it most of the time, it allows me to do the things I DO love with more passion and energy.

…Because I enjoy food tremendously, and I’d rather run all day than diet for one minute.

I ran 16 miles today…

…Because there is nothing like the feeling of a tired, hungry, and stinging body to make you feel alive and in the moment.

…Because I wanted to see if I could do it.

I can.

It started off innocently enough.  I wanted to change up my packaging materials so people get a better feel for who I am… someone who cares enough about the little details.  I call them “cov loves” (oh yeah, I really do).  They are small touches on a product before they are sent out to a client.  Usually they have a logo on it or are wrapped in cardstock, in a color I think the client will love.  The thing is, when I send out cds and dvds I dont like the little jewel case I put the disc in.  Because, (wait for it….) it says “Memorex” on the plastic cover.  And.  It.  Drives.  Me.  Nuts.

It really does.

Moving oooooon, when I was in New Orleans, I found a fleur-de-lis wax seal and triumphantly decided (and verbally declared) that this would be my new signature.  GOODBYE MEMOREX jewel cases! I would take scrapbook paper sheets and fold them into an envelope to put the disc inside…like so:

This was a meticulous decision.  No, REALLY…I spent hours sealing cardstock and then opening the seal to make SURE this was the right decision (this coming from the girl who stands in line at Michael’s Crafts silently cringing if the cashier folds the scrapbooking paper before she puts it in the bag.  Like, HELLO?! You’re KILLING me!! Leave it flat!!)

After analyzing my new packaging, I was a little concerned that the wax would somehow soak though the paper and contaminate the disc inside…soooo, back to the plastic Memorex jewel cases.  Sigh… but at least now they’re covered up.  I can hear the Memorex cases laughing at me.  They’ve won this battle.

To me, life is the aggregate of memories on which you focus…the delight or the disruption.  I prefer the delight: connecting with a client, helping them see their beauty that is so clear to others, seeking out interesting places, the sense that it is all one big adventure so let’s just go for it.

It is truly the journey, not the destination.

If I preferred to focus on the disruption, it would be the client who got into an accident before a big shoot and was worried about facial imperfections, dropping an expensive lens, almost getting arrested on private property, and all the little inconveniences that present themselves during a shoot…

The thing is, focusing on the lows may make me overlook the highs, and I can’t have that! I say let’s laugh at the awkward, uncomfortable, and unpleasing memories.  Focus on the joy in doing a task, not just finishing it.

I came across this spider inches from my head while on a portrait shoot.  It freaked the heck out of me, but instead of worrying about it, I thought I would cherish the opportunity to be so close to it — turn it into a positive by taking a memorable photo.

The journey is sometimes more fun than the destination.