​A few years ago we had a dying tree in our front yard. As I stared out my window at this tree every day for months I felt as though the tree was trying to speak to me; not in a way where I heard voices but in feelings, thoughts, and ideas.

This tree inspired me and I felt the need to create art in a different way than I ever had before. It was daunting. It felt ill-timed and inconvenient. It wasn't clear what the outcome would be.

​Spring is here. It's common to think about growth during this time as many plants seem to awaken after their long winter nap. I eagerly look forward to starting my gardening and outdoor projects. I plant seeds, often without thinking much about the miracle it is for something so small to grow and produce something much greater than the simple seed it started as.

But over the years, seeds and growth and change seem to be on my mind much more than other things. It might be because I have small children and I'm watching a different kind of miracle grow. It might be because I'm intentionally living a slower-paced life where I can cultivate seeds on my small piece of land.

One thing I've noticed is that we are very similar to seeds that grow, and time is a key element in this process. Are there seeds inside of us waiting to be discovered? planted? or brought back to life again? What if there are and all we need is time to grow?

​Why would listening be a gift? There could be so many answers to this question!

I decided to focus on listening as a Gift of Time for this month because we often live in such a loud world that I thought I would share with you my insights on living a more 'quiet' lifestyle.

You may think that being quiet is the opposite of listening but the reality is, it is just a different way to listen.

​Have you ever considered the idea of taking time to listen as being a gift?

If I could give you one gift this month it would be 'Time to Listen'. To your family. Your friends. The things around you. Nature. God. Yourself.

As I have been thinking about 'Time to Listen', the theme I have chosen for this month's 'Gift of Time', several experiences have come to mind.

​About 6 months ago I was really struggling as a parent. I felt like every day was unbearably hard and I couldn’t quite figure out why. Yes, I have two young kids but I know plenty of people with more kids than me that seemed to be handling things just fine.

As I was going through this time I also kept asking myself why do I keep doing this art stuff? What am I trying to accomplish with it? Am I helping anyone? Does it matter?

If I could give you a gift for February it would be 'Time to Spend With Loved Ones'.

​I've never really cared much for Valentine's Day so this month's theme might seem a little hypocritical. However, this has been on my mind over the past few months for two reasons.

Following the theme of 'Time to Rest' I have something for you that will help you find rest and help you in your art practice for this month.

​Art Books!

It's a gift to be able to relax. To pause, to listen to quiet, and to be still.

This year every month I will be sharing 'Gifts of Time'. To introduce a new year and the month of January I thought this gift of time was the most appropriate.

'Time to Rest'

​What is the best gift you could ever give or receive?

Recently, I introduced an idea on social media that I want to follow up with. I was thinking about Giving Tuesday and what I could do to contribute to this 'holiday'. As I thought about what I could do I had some ideas that I thought would be fun to try but I also realized that I didn't have the energy or time to do them. Life gets so busy so quickly!

Then I thought, how could I give people more time?

​This is a story from about 10 years ago.

I was on a photo shoot, wrapping up a two-day project with my team. We were in Elko, NV, photographing for a company that specialized in medical transportation via planes and helicopters. As we were packing up our gear and talking with the EMT's, we mentioned that we were going to head over to the Ruby mountain range for a bit just for fun on our way home. Then one of the pilots said, 'Well, do you want to fly over there?' Yes! Who would say no to that?