{my attempt to capture 52 photos that represent trust – my word for 2011}.

i trust you'll forgive me if i indulge in one last baby savannah photo, even if it was taken last week.

(if you could see me right now, you'd see me chuckling at how i sneakily snuck the word trust in there.)

{my attempt to capture 52 photos that represent trust – my word for 2011}.

be still my heart.

{my attempt to capture 52 photos that represent trust – my word for 2011}.

trust without words.

{my attempt to capture 52 photos that represent trust – my word for 2011}.

i've always loved ivy. since i started my trust project, i appreciate it even more. i love how the vines wrap themselves around something and climb (up or down or sideways). it seems so very trusting in nature.

{my attempt to capture 52 photos that represent trust – my word for 2011}.

the bouquet from a friend's wedding – a picture perfect reminder of trust.

{my attempt to capture 52 photos that represent trust – my word for 2011}.

i often say that atlas has been my greatest teacher, so i wondered what he might have to say about trust.

here 'tis.

"trust yourself. if you want something, you want it. if you need something, you need it. if you feel something, you feel it. i wish you wouldn't spend so much time questioning and judging and doubting yourself. if you just listened to me, there would be more time for walks. and unless it's pouring or hailing or there is a cat in the house (hint), it is always a good time for a walk."

by the way, if you'd like to receive wisdom from atlas in your mailbox, there's still a bit of time to sign up for his postcards.

{my attempt to capture 52 photos that represent trust – my word for 2011}.

no words. just a quiet whisper.

{my attempt to capture 52 photos that represent trust – my word for 2011}.

there was just something about the raindrops on the delicate tendrils that said trust to me.

{my attempt to capture 52 photos that represent trust – my word for 2011}.

today, in search of a thread to share in my musings on trust, i pull from my journal.

what if i were worthy?

huh. that would be a game-changer. the trouble is that it's hard to just think yourself worthy after years of hearing, learning, thinking, believing that you are not.

if i believed in miracles, i would believe that i could just flip a switch and transform this pattern. except even that is scary because it seems to make all the years of suffering unnecessary.

and yet, maybe everything happens the way it does in order to bring us to this moment.

everything certainly does happen the way it does in order to bring us to this moment. that is the truth of it. (the question is whether there is a plan or a point or a method to the madness. maybe it doesn't really matter – unless it brings me comfort.)

and so, this is where i am – still sitting with the question.

what if i am worthy?

i draw in my breath. the answer, it seems, could change everything.

{my attempt to capture 52 photos that represent trust – my word for 2011}.

trusting in

the light
and the dark,

the up
and the down,

the hard
and the soft.

the lines,
and all the spaces in between.