I was at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History recently while visiting my sister and came to a realization as I gazed upon beautiful objects and paintings. As I looked at the beauty around me I acknowledged a desire to allow in my life only those things that have these qualities:

1. Is it functional?
2. Does it add beauty to my life?
3. Does it bring me inspiration?

In considering these things I would like to choose the objects that hold as many of these qualities as possible and I believe there will be no need to invite an object into my world that does not have any of these qualities.

Recently, I went camera shopping and found myself considering this very criteria. My sister DeeDee suggested a particular camera that has served her well and is very functional. I held this camera and recognized that it was of good quality and would do the job for me but, I realized that I did not like the look of it. I am not usually one to be picky about these things and was surprised by my own reaction- I was actually encouraging myself to spend a little more to get what I wanted- something functional as well as beautiful (in my eyes).

A camera is something that will be with me for a long while and I want to look forward to reaching for it. I don't want a lingering feeling that I really desired something else.

By the way, I learned something about cameras- the memory card speed is a big factor regarding lag time between pictures. This has detracted me from fully appreciating digital cameras in the past and I was pleased to find out that it is a relatively simple solution. So, if your camera takes too long between pictures to gear up for the next picture, purchase a different memory card- it just may do the trick!