Photographing for Mental Health

This photo is called Circle of Life. I photographed this last spring while laying on my back in the middle of a majestic forest in BC. I was out with a group of other photographers getting eaten by mosquitos and taking photos of the area. It was very enjoyable, (well not the mosquito biting part) and of course that is therapeutic being with and enjoying other people.

What I really wanted to share with you tonight is an awesome website that I stumbled across. In an article called "7 Ways to Improve Your Mental Health" by Danielle Hark on the Beliefnet website, I read the suggestion to "try art" and even take pictures with your cell phone. "The key" Hark states, "is not what you create, it is how you create it. Its about being in the present moment and enjoying the process of creating." Of course this caught my interest because I have also been encouraging this. Hark provided a link to her website Broken Light Collective. I'd encourage anyone who has or is struggling with mental illness or working in that area, to check out www.brokenlightcollective.wordpress.com. It's an amazing site with photos submitted by many people whose lives are impacted by mental illness.

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