Qingxian Guo

“If you’re paying attention and making your own life as beautiful and rich and fun as it can be, you might just attract someone who’s doing the same thing, you can give up on tracking someone down with your butterfly net.” Words by Anne Lamott, who married this week at Deer Park Villa, in Fairfax, California. She met her husband through a dating site, called OurTime, a matchmaking site for the over 50’s. She had been single for a long period and felt absolutely no wanton feelings to change that. When asked, by the New York Times writer, Lois Smith Brady, 26th April 2019, why she stayed single so long, she replied that she was shy and introverted and hated leaving the house, particularly for parties.“If I go to a party, I become a Roz Chast character with my arms hanging at my sides and I feel like I’m developing a tic,”. Lamott has has published 18 memoirs and novels, many about being a recovering alcoholic, single mother, perpetual worrier and late-in-life churchgoer. I’ve read many of her books, you knew that was coming, right? I read incessantly, there’s only one thing that frustrates me about reading and that is that I can’t write and view images at the same time. I’m good at multi-tasking but not at that. Perhaps, it’s a learning difficulty, yesterday morning I spent many hours supporting one of my children as they undertook an updated private disability assessment with an acclaimed consultant, to enable them to successfully progress onto the next stage of their life. Feeling emotionally, mentally and physically drained post test, we both later collapsed at home, for a while. Disability diagnoses, if necessary, are crucially important when navigating this world. So many obstacles appear very quickly insurmountable without the correct support and often are but with it, you can fly.

What I love about Lamott, is she is a fighter, as I am, as my family are, we are a strong and very healthy, positive, loving unit, that’s not to say, life is easy because it is not but we try to focus on the things that really matter, whilst simultaneously fighting to keep the wolves from the door. Smith Brady, closed her article in the New York Times describing Lamott  as ,’A natural cheerleader, especially for underdogs’. Lamott later posted on her Facebook page, “never give up, no matter how things look or how long they take. Don’t quit before the miracle.” And so, I say to all of you incredibly talented mobile photographers and artists out there, I can reveal, very candidly that there is a miracle opening here and I am going to ensure you’re all cordially invited to be part of it, it is coming and I am very excited. Stand by me, there is ecstasy in paying attention. 

Thank you to all the talented artists for submitting your works to our showcase this week. If you would like your work to be considered for entry in to our weekly Mobile Photography and Art Flickr Group, please submit it to our dedicated group, here. You can also submit images to our Instagram tag for this section #mobilephotographyandimagery.

Paul Yan, Hanna Martins, Anastasia Potekhina, Jun Yamaguchi, Cathrine Halsor, borisbschulz2009, Debara Splendorio, Tricia Dewey, Sherrianne100, Laila, qingxian guo, Eduardo Llerandi, Michael Brunsfeld, Fiona Keyes, Scott Simpson, Kat McClelland, Erika Brothers, F4810P, Susan Detroy, Enio Godoy, Rita Colantonio, Lorenka Campos, Emma Dauvin, Lawrence Lazare, Peter Wilkin, Nick Kenrick, Kathy Clay, Milly M, Tomaso Belloni, Arko Rayhan, Anthony Madigan, jillian2 – Jill Lian, Gianluca Ricoveri, Tuba, Kate Zari Roberts, p.a.hamel, lifequest22, Ioannis Sidirpoulos.