Blog how you want to live.

by sesame on October 23, 2011

The sun came out in Melbourne today and brought warmth with it. I decided to head out with the family for some fun despite the fact that the case of hives I had was not actually a case of hives, but SHINGLES.

Yep, SHINGLES. It has to be typed in all caps as it deserves respect…one little stripe of blisters with pain that can bring me to my knees is bad ass. I feel like I have been hit in the left side with a baseball bat made of tiny knives coated in the venom of 100 jelly fish. Oh and did I mention that the bat was on fire as well?

And yes, this is all on top of my back that went out.

Thank goodness for over-the-counter pain relief with codeine.

This is my post to remind you all (and myself) that one only sees what someone wants to show you of their life on the internet. For example, you will not be seeing any photos of my SHINGLES on this blog. (I heard that collective “Thank Goodness!”) Don’t ever let the shiny happy lives on blogs make you feel anything less about your own life. I choose (for the most part) to share the good in my life. Just be assured like the rest of the world, there is an red, itchy and raw side here too. It is the good times that I want to remember in detail since I don’t seem to have a hard time recalling the painful events. I have been reading The Happiness Project and one of the things that really rang true for me is to “act like you want to feel.” It is helping me with my constant drive to never take anything personally because I remind myself that I don’t know what is really going on with anyone. I would not know if they just spent the hour before I met them sitting, wincing, waiting for those over-the-counter pain meds to kick in just like you would never know it about me from the photos on my blog.

To that end, I blog how I want to live.

Photo Info :: All shot with the manual focus 35mm f/2 lens that I picked up used in DC. I am in love with this lens. I dare say, that I kind of love manual focus as well. It is not practical for everything, but I am happy to slow down and literally FOCUS when I am shooting.

I made sure to adjust my white balance while I was shooting as well. In the end, all I had to do to these images before posting was very little. I ran a quick action that I gave to my workshop attendees in the Camera Therapy set.

{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }

melbo October 23, 2011 at 2:35 am

It’s true – nobody knows what is really going on out there. But I’m sure if you did photograph SHINGLES it would come out looking like a million dollars.

Brenda October 23, 2011 at 2:38 am

Eek. I can sympathise with you. I had shingles a few years ago. Wouldn’t wish it on anyone!

cate October 23, 2011 at 4:17 am

You have my sympathy forthe shingles. That sounds really horrible- get well soon. And I also wanted to say that I read blogs that remind me how I wan to live. I know bloggers have their ‘raw’ sides, and admit to being curious about that, but really do feel inspireed by the good in peoples lives. The stunning photography helps too!

hailey October 23, 2011 at 5:42 am

Ahhh Brilliant post! So true! Really hope your feeling heaps better super super soon…. Not funny at all… but how cool are you going out and shooting so many amazing photos while feeling so awful!!

Christie-Childhood 101 October 23, 2011 at 5:59 am

Oh my, how I wish you a speedy recovery x And I totally understand your position of wanting to focus on the good things on your blog, I am exactly the same

Tiffany Jonah October 23, 2011 at 7:01 am

I had shingles when I was under a lot of stress at 25! It is painful. My doc here in the states px Valtrex… Don’t know but it might help you too…and, no, I don’t have the reg Herpes, not type one nor type two…

Hope you feel better soon and take it easy …

DawnK October 23, 2011 at 7:30 am

Ugh! Shingles is no fun at all. It’s so painful! In Australia you can get codeine over-the-counter? You are lucky! Cute pictures. I can tell it is warmer by you, than it is in WI! LOL!

Julie October 23, 2011 at 8:01 am

Thank you for this wonderful reminder. Be. Well.

Megan October 23, 2011 at 11:52 am

I had shingles a few months ago. ON MY FACE!! it was HORRIBLE. I am in shock that you went out to the park wih that kind of pain. I was in bed for a week- WITH narcotic pain relief. Feel better!!!

Kim October 23, 2011 at 12:54 pm

Oh I’m SO sorry to hear you have shingles. I hope you feel better soon! I love the photos in this post and thank you for the reminder that we all have the “shingles” side we don’t show everyone. It’s easy to forget that and think we are the only ones. I hope you feel better soon and that the pain doesn’t stick around long after the blisters go away.

Aimee October 23, 2011 at 5:43 pm

I love your last line. I do that too. Once some one who read my blog for a long time and then who met in person at the tea house asked me how I lived such a happy life? I was perplexed because the questions was so strange. She then said on your blog you only write about good things and never anything bad. I had a long conversation with her about it but I wish I I had just said that last line you wrote.

Hope you feel better fast! These photos are great. We are just heading into winter here in Paris and seeing the rosy cheeks and the water fountain photos makes wish for summer!

victoria67 October 23, 2011 at 7:31 pm

yikes, i can’t even imagine having shingles get better soon!

i LOVE those water fountain photos-amazing as always

tara pollard pakosta October 24, 2011 at 12:44 pm

I love that book!
get better soon!
great pix!
tara

nfoto October 24, 2011 at 2:13 pm

Hi Rachel, I have followed your flickr photos for a while, as I am so inspired by your photograpy and, now that you have twins, that’s another connection. I’m a twin (girl/boy set). I’m probably between your generation and your parents’. I also have a friend who has twin grandchildren, and I’m sometimes interested in suggesting how to photograph them.
Hope that the shingles go away ASAP. Get well soon.
So, sometimes, I’d like to right click to save a photo of yours to remind myself of your style, which I love. I’m a visual learner, and having photo reminders of photographers I love, gives me ideas on how to approach a subject

How would I go about getting your permission?
Best Wishes,
Nan

sesame October 24, 2011 at 3:02 pm: The best thing to do is pin any images you like to a Pinterest board. You can create a Pinterest account and create boards for all sorts of inspiration!

Reply

julie October 24, 2011 at 7:35 pm

awww i love this post and i miss my aussies!

liveformemories October 26, 2011 at 2:29 am

I don’t know if you read the blog Dooce, by a woman in Utah by the name of Heather Armstrong.

A couple years ago she came down with Shingles, and wrote this post (including video: http://dooce.com/2009/09/22/one-foot-front-other)

A pseudo-related-but-different-shingles post: http://dooce.com/2011/09/22/good-kind

The videos, on both posts, are the best part. Hopefully yours decide to vamoos pretty quickly!

Robert October 31, 2011 at 9:04 am

Hello Rachel,

My wife recently started up a new venture, and part of her strategy is to blog in order to keep the website fresh. She was feeling down today, so I shared this post with her and it helped her get perspective back. Thanks.

(P.S. I use the Opera internet browser, and in its default setting I was not able to write stuff in your comment boxes. I had to ask Opera to report itself to your site as IE in order to write this. Judging by the odd behaviour of the mouse pointer and cursor, I expect it has something to do with your content protection doo-dad. It might be worth checking that it does not interfere with any other browsers in the same way)