The cornerstone of my year turned out to be a journal, not photography. In 2020 I wrote thousands of words, but now as I try to write this review, I can't find the right ones to describe a year unlike any other. Yes, 2020 was difficult, but it was pretty darn good too.
My year's negatives were the same as everyone else's with canceled travel, missed family celebrations, Zoom holidays instead of shared meals, and lots of hours at home. There were also plenty of worries, anxiety, and anger too (good stuff to journal about). Even with its challenges, 2020 wasn't all bad for me by any measure.
January 1, 2020
The year started great like it always does. January 1st was my 58th birthday, the start of a promising new year and a new decade. We spent New Year's Eve reflecting and relaxing at a friend's house northeast of Warner Springs. Our friend’s home is not too far from a Meditation Center, strangely situated in a remote community surrounded by ranches and pickup trucks. On our way home, we snapped a few iPhone shots of the center through the fence. I wished I could get in and wander around.
A little further down the road, we stopped for a visit to Eagle Rock, which sits along the Pacific Crest Trail. Seeing this special place for the first time was a great way to kick off the new year.
The day ended with a spectacular sunset in Solana Beach and dinner at Jakes.
I miss traveling. Sadly, trips to Austin for the Creative Pro Week conference in June and a Fall east coast cruise with my sister and mom never happened. I would likely have considered other unplanned travel opportunities in any other year, but not in 2020. Fortunately, the year started with a couple of short trips. First, I spent ten days at the end of January in Carpinteria recording for LinkedIn. Second, Blaise and I went to Sedona at the end of February to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. Also, in September, we ventured to Santa Barbara for Blaise’s 60th birthday.
Carpinteria
Winter sunsets on the Pacific Ocean can be stunning. Carpinteria State Beach served up some beauties while I was there, and I witnessed each of them.
Something about this tree at sunset made me feel present, alive, and full of gratitude.
Sedona
The Sedona trip best represents the year 2020. It was beautiful and rugged with unexpected events shared with Blaise.
Unfortunately, I took a flu bug with me, gave it to Blaise while we were there, and struggled to enjoy our time because of it. I was already sick on the first morning and pretending not to be when we took a pink jeep ride up the side of a rutted mountain road. I admired the scenery, told myself it was beautiful, tried to photograph it, and tried even harder not to be miserable.
By the third day, our actual anniversary, Blaise was sick too and pretending not to be. He suggested a drive to the Grand Canyon to celebrate our day. It snowed as we drove into the park. The canyon looked gorgeous when we arrived, which perked me up just a little. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the same impact on Blaise. I snapped a small handful of photos, and we ate a forgettable lunch before driving back to Sedona, mostly in silence. The long drive home the following day was even more difficult and quiet. We went straight to urgent care for lung x-rays before coming home. Maybe we had THE virus, but we will never know for sure. It took both of us about two weeks for normalcy to return, just in time for stay-at-home orders in California.
Santa Barbara
Blaise turned 60 in September, and by this time of the year, we were both feeling anxious, missing our sons, and needing a change of scenery. We decided a short trip to Santa Barbara could be done safely with negative COVID-19 tests for all before we left. Brendan and Jameson joined us to meet up with Sanford and Victoria. We spent a few days enjoying each other’s company and the scenery. The time in Santa Barbara was the lightest I felt all year. We walked on the beach, ate at outdoor restaurants, and explored the area. I took early morning walks alone with my camera and realized just how much I missed being in that head-space.
I spent most of the year close to home with daily walks in our neighborhood and weekend summer bike rides at the coast. We also kayaked Mission Bay twice.
The Neighborhood
The golf course shut down in March, and many in our community, including myself, took advantage of the open cart paths and fairways. I walked the course numerous times with my camera attempting to capture the surrealness of it all. I saw golfers poaching free rounds, families enjoying the outdoors together, and kids enjoying their freedom.
Truthfully though, I am never comfortable photographing people, especially when they probably wish I would not. So, I mostly tried to capture the beauty I saw around me.
When the golfers returned, I continued daily neighborhood walks off of the course, listening to audiobooks, and occasionally taking a photo or two with my iPhone. Jameson almost always joined me.
Weekends on the Coast
On Sunday summer mornings, Blaise swims at the coast with two friends. This year he convinced me to join him, sort of. I don’t swim, so I biked instead. My coastal exploration took me to places I had never been, including Vacation Village at Paradise Point.
Kayaking
Twice we kayaked Mission Bay. This was my favorite socially distanced activity of the year.
Books
Audible Books kept me company while I walked. This year I increased my consumption by purchasing extra audible credits whenever I ran low. These are the Audible books and stories I listened to.
- Buried Deep by Margot Hunt (Audible original)
- The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates
- City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Break Shot by James Taylor (Audible original)
- Tell Me Lies by Aimee Horne
- Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
- Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Will Damron
- Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown
- The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
- Sapiens by Yuvai Noah Harari (couldn’t finish this one)
- The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
- The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
- How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- Pretty Things by Janelle Brown
- The Choice by Dr. Edith Eva Eger
- The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
- The Path Made Clear by Oprah Winfrey
- The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
- Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
- Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- Road Trip Elegies by Rufus Wainwright (Audible original)
- Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
Journal
At the beginning of the year, I felt something calling me to journal more frequently. I even wrote about it several times in my on-again, off-again journal.
In January, I started a six-week portfolio workshop class that introduced me to an assortment of books, including The Artist Way. The book’s subtitle, A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, grabbed my attention. The daily journaling activity called Morning Pages convinced me to purchase it. I read the entire book before committing to the Morning Pages. On March 9th, I was finally ready to start.
MARCH 9th, 2020
I’ve made a commitment to do the Artist Way workbook for 12 weeks. I’m afraid of this commitment and excited too. I’m pretty sure the fear is simply afraid of not sticking with it and thus the possibility of failure. I hate failure. I don’t commit to things I am not certain about accomplishing. I’ve avoided this for several weeks out of this fear…
There is a part of me that is also afraid of expecting too much from this, like I want there to be some major break, some big change in me as a result of committing to this workbook…
I completed the workbook, writing every morning for an hour. The journal began as a search to find a more consistent creative self, but Coronavirus became a regular topic by day four. I continued creative explorations while also documenting Coronavirus, the election, and corresponding anxiety for the rest of the year.
Music
During this time, I listened to a wide variety of Spotify music, exploring new and different sounds to accompany me while I wrote. The journaling playlist included Yo-yo Ma, Spanish Guitar, Electronic Focus, Jazz, Instrumental Funk, Instrumental Piano, Mandolin Instrumentals, African Beat, Cajun, Reggae, Folk, Native American, and Gregorian Chants.
Grad School
My big change did happen. It came in the final week of the Artist Way workbook when I enrolled in grad school at Cal State University Fullerton. I always wanted a master’s degree but had found a million reasons not to pursue it. Maybe grad school would have happened eventually anyway, but I think journaling helped me find my way there.
I completed the first of five semesters of a Master of Science in Instructional Design and Technology program in mid-December. I wrote a research proposal paper and created my first interactive learning object. I’ve already learned a lot and am looking forward to what lies ahead.
Teaching, Training and Presenting
The pandemic made 2020 a tough year for almost everyone. Businesses closed, and many lost their jobs. While others struggled, social distancing brought new opportunities for me. It’s an uncomfortable place to be in, celebrating my successes while having empathy for others.
My one-on-one online training business saw significant growth, with people stuck home needing something to do. Conferences went online too. I presented two virtual sessions for the Creative Pro Week conference in June and two sessions for Photoshop Summit II in November. I also gave six live online presentations for different groups and judged photography competitions for five more.
In May, I was a guest for the He Shoots He Draws podcast with my friends Dave Clayton and Alan Hess. In October, I taught a six-session Lightroom workshop through Medium Photo. I also continued to teach Photoshop and Illustrator classes for MiraCosta College. It was a busy, productive year sharing my knowledge and teaching others.
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn kept me busy too. I recorded three new courses and updated three others. In January, at the LinkedIn studios in Carpinteria, I recorded Lightroom Social Sharing after finishing updates on older courses.
Over the summer, I recorded two Lightroom Classic courses from home, Lightroom Classic Essential Training, and Learning Lightroom Classic. Both of these are a big deal for me. I was honored by the opportunity and proud of the result.
In 2020 I focused on enjoying the creative process without concern for the outcome. I explored a variety of ideas and thoroughly enjoyed working on all of them, including my journal.
APRIL 27th, 2020 - This journal itself is probably my biggest creation if I choose to look at it like that, and sometimes I do.
Portrait of my mom
In Week 9 of the Artist Way, Cameron writes, Make your deal. The deal is: “Okay, Creative Force, you take care of the quality, I’ll take care of the quantity.” I carried this prayer with me all year, enjoying the process of creating and trusting God to take care of the rest. With this mindset, I spent the summer working on a portrait of my mom. I spent countless hours hand drawing the cards, and I enjoyed every minute of it. In the end, I think it’s the best work of art I have created yet.
Other 2020 creations
Photography
I miss adventures with my camera. I captured far fewer photos in 2020 than in previous years, but my catalog didn’t turn up empty either. Here are a few from 2020 that represent random things I see and photograph. The colorful wall mural was captured with my iPhone in Santa Barbara and featured in one of my Lightroom Classic courses.
I miss family gatherings most of all. Thankfully, we managed a few get-togethers with our sons and my parents, but never with my entire family. Our dogs joined us as often as they could.
San Diego County
Santa Barbara
Mom
In January, I took portraits of my mom for a portfolio project that I never completed. I’m okay with that because her playing card portrait happened instead.
Words can’t adequately sum up the year, so I will just leave it here with a collection of masked selfies.