I know I’m not the only one who has had a difficult month. I have been suffering from a serious eye infection all of October. I have a chronic issue in my left eye – my left eye is bad. The underlying medical issues that cause my left eye to erupt from the inside are brought on by stress, and it came raging for me. My left eye has been out of commission all month; dilated to the point of near blindness. I can only really tell light from dark on the left side. My right eye is pulling all the weight.
We have been very busy at work all fall, culminating in a 4-day Zoom trial in the middle of October. I just haven’t felt well all month, either from the virus that became active within me, or from the strong medication that is thankfully healing me. The week after trial, I walked straight into the corner of a wall trying to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I got the first shiner of my life. Nobody on Zoom notices because Zoom does such a good job of filtering; it looks like eye shadow.
All of this is to say, I have been beat down this month. Beat down. Literally. I have been sick this month from a recurrent chronic illness. I have been scared this month. I have endured the hardest professional days of my career this month. You just don’t think you can make it through.
And yet, here we are. And it’s a beautiful day.
I feel deeply for all of us right now. I get it. We are having to be strong to get through our suffering. And I want to acknowledge that we are getting through it.
Be Bold,
Jodi
FEATURING AUSTIN
I want to introduce you to the animal portraits of Austin-based award-winning commercial and fine art photographer, Randal Ford (www.randalford.com)
I first became aware of Randal Ford from interior designer, Lisa Parker @lisaparkerinterior Randal Ford’s Animal Kingdom photographs were all on exhibit at the Austin Public Library. I went over to the downtown library and took in his gorgeous and intense animal portraits; in person, Randal Ford captured an intimate connection between humanity and the animal that took my breath away. I purchased the snowy owl portrait which hangs in my Dallas apartment. I am in wonder every time I look at it–the detail you can see and feel on the owl’s feathers, imagining what it must have been like to have this creature take flight in front of you and capturing, not only the moment of full wingspan, but the spirit of the animal.
Now, Randal Ford has just published his gorgeous coffee table book, Good Dog, with over 150 dog portraits that are stunning, compelling and make you feel good to look at them. Just scroll through his dog collection thumbnails on your computer screen, and you will instantly feel better, less stressed, and dare I say, happy.
“I certainly didn’t realize the relevance the book has this year because as we’ve been isolated in quarantine and, whatnot, our dogs have been our faithful companions by our side the whole time. And so, I think in that regard, this book kind of highlights that faithful companionship they’ve given us during this challenging year” Ford said.
He hopes his dog book is a “warm welcome” while we navigate the future of COVID-19 in our daily lives.
Follow @randalford on Instagram for your daily dose of Good Dog.
Photo by @randalford from his book entitled Good Dog/©Randal Ford 2020
FEATURED BLOG
THE 4-1-1 OF CO-PARENTING
“Love your kids more than you hate your ex.” Co-parenting is a way of being, not a checklist of things to do.
