Was that an accident or on purpose?

“Did you do that on purpose?”

“Was it an accident, or on purpose?”

“Did you purposely do that?”

Maybe it is being trapped inside from extreme heat or maybe it is the fact I have 4 rowdy kids, but these days, I am asking those questions a lot. A favorite glass is randomly found broken. When spooning sugar into my coffee, I find a lego man in the canister. A certain little boy emerges from his room with a big scratch. A certain little girl’s pull up is found in the toilet.

Most of the time the answer I hope to get is that the action was not intended, it was an accident. It was not on purpose.

Then it makes me think about stuff I do. I think about photography. I would say 90% of the time, my pictures are a result of purpose. I think about the desired end result and adjust my camera accordingly. In the picture, below I knew I wanted her little eye peeking over the table. As a result, I very purposely choose to overexpose the background so her face wouldn’t be so dark. (ISO 160, 1/200, f/2.8)

In this picture, I purposely blurred the container of crayons and kept my little guy sharp. (ISO 400, 1/125, f/2.8)

I purposely choose to turn this black & white…just because I liked it that way. (ISO 400, 1/125, f/2.8)

The cropping is all weird & wrong, but I did it on purpose just to capture a real life normal moment. (ISO 400, 1/125, f/2.8)

It is natural for me to be very purposeful with my camera. I can instantly know if the end result is what I want or not. Instant gratification makes being intentional so much easier.

Sometimes it is easy to get into a routine at home with kids and forget that even the smallest parts of my day should be lived on purpose…not just passed through. It is a lot harder to “see” the end result when all I see is the mess. I don’t do a lot of “HUGE” things each day. I do a lot of cleaning. I do a lot of helping. I do an insane amount of laundry. I do a lot of watercolor painting and paper sword making at the kitchen table. I do a lot of just plain ole’ normal stuff….but I want to do all that plain ole’ normal stuff on purpose – knowing my purpose revolves around 4 (can’t wait to say 5) amazing little people.

I saw this print on Pinterest. It is by Sarah Jane Studios (love her work!). You can download it for free from her blog.

I’ve got a super fun diy tutorial in the works with it….to be shared upon completion (who knows when!)