Stand in the place where you live

Look around at your town, city or hamlet.

Geer St. Beer Garden.

For years, I just wanted to get out of mine. To live in some other place that I thought would make me happier, like Seattle or NYC or Paris. I wasted so much time wanting to be somewhere else.

Golden Belt. Bulls beyond repair.

But then I lifted my head from my own despair and looked around me. I blinked in the light. My eyes watered.

Nomadic Trading Company. 

I found Durham, North Carolina, where I've lived for the entire 21st Century, around me. I started really seeing it for the first time, in all of its gritty beauty.

Remnant from Durham's dark, smoky past.  Main St.

Dolly's Vintage, Main St.

This is where I am. This is my town. Since I've opened my eyes and heart to it, I have found it hardscrabble and wondrous. (To quote Andy.)

Luchadoras, Durham Armory.

These are just quick photos taken with my iPhone. But they are part of my creative life. Part of my embrace of this moment in time. This place. Myself where I am right now.

Cocoa Cinnamon, Geer St.

Durham Freeway sunset.

Living in the moment gets a bad rap. As if it means you don't care about others or the whole picture... as if you don't respect your past or plan for your future, including the people in it. I disagree. I couldn't love people in my life more than I do.

Ceci n'est pas une fenêtre. Parrish St.

This moment is beautiful and it leads to the next and the next.