regret nothing

how many times have you heard people say this? how many times have you said it yourself? i know for myself, i always say that i want to live a life with no regrets. "regret nothing, just take things that don't work out as a life lesson." when i look back on the last year or two of my life, i am filled with what i can only describe as regret. i spent too much time in a situation that was never going to work out, no matter how hard i tried and pushed. i distanced myself from people. i closed myself off to so many things. my mother worried about me (it's ok, it's her job...), i lost friends, i almost lost myself. i don't know if i can say exactly what it was that turned me around, and i don't honestly think i am all the way there. but thank god i can look back and say i'm not that person any longer.

i can't carry anger towards the person i had become. whatever it was that i went through am going through is shaping my future self. i have to let go of the thoughts that keep me trapped inside myself and of the anger i have towards things that are in the past. without doing that, i have no room to love those around me, or as corny as it sounds, to love myself.

i'm not sure what sparked this reflective friday morning post, but it feels good to be writing again.

So, I went on a road trip...

 Asheville, I do love you!

Gorgeous Pisgah National Forest.

 

An overlook in Tennessee.

 Bristol, you rocked my face off.

 Two states, one state of mind. 

Shenandoah was breathtaking.

And never wanted to come home...

excitement!

i love having friends with similar interests. i love photography but kind of put it down for a myriad of reasons, one being motivation. my fab friend, becca, loves photography. she got together some other friends, some i know, most that i don't, for an online photo group of sorts.
we will be shooting through the alphabet, posting once a week a photo that is our interpretation of that week's letter.
i'm so excited to be doing this, and to get to know more photography enthusiasts!
we will be posting to a blog, which i will hopefully link back to here soon! EDIT: here's the link!  i really like the shot i got this week, but here is one that i liked that didn't quite make the cut...

A is for... alcohol.

i heart faces- self portrait

it's been a while since i have entered a photo into the i heart faces challenge, but i love this one too much to not participate! here is my self portrait from august of this year... this was the first time i had used my new wireless remote. such a fun accessory!

head on over to iheartfaces to check out some other great self-portraits!