My world

The biggest party in the world is on and it's on my doorstep.

The Olympic park is 2miles from my little (mortgaged) bit of London and to say I have embraced Olympic-fest since we won the bid is an understatement. The preparations have paralleled my own life journey over the last few years and to see the final result has been a significant goal.

I maxed out my credit card on tickets and in a bid to capture bank breaking moments I thought I'd turn to a some photographic type device. Taking the advice of my wise and trusted friend acronymphomania I invested in a Canon PowerShot S95. It was a bargin half price, because apparently they have released newer version but I know nothing about these things- focus, lens, shutter speed are a foreign language.

Armed with my new toy I trotted off to watch the rehearsal of the opening ceremony. I was privileged to be there, to see it close up and snapped away as nurses, maypole dancers and signing choirs practiced their moves whilst I fully signed up to the #savethesurprise pledge. Since then I've been hooked on this new clicking button device.

Last night I read acronymphomania newly published article on photography and mental health, A picture in mind*. It resonated through and through. The idea of photography being a type of mindfulness struck a chord. Despite the efforts of some the best staff the NHS can offer I struggle to master the art of mindfulness. And so an idea clicked. Blipping could be my new once-a-day mindful activity.

With a 'ha ha' moment in Sainsburys queue this afternoon I noticed a sea of flags from different. I could explain in depth how the colour, patterns, origin a d use flags make a girl with autistic tendencies very happy but that vergece into vexillogy would be very Sheldonesque**. With the world partying in London this month, they seem even more special - a representation of our diverse world together as one.

I often struggle with understanding the world am baffled by people's existence beyond my skin. I suspect my Blips will be very 'me-me' at times, but it will be a chance to daily capture 'my world' (without the need for words) whatever that world might be on any given day. I'm not sure I'm a 1000 consecutive Blips material, but who knows?

Old fashioned footnotes instead of hyperlinks:
* You can read A picture in mind here - http://www.scottishrecovery.net/Latest-News/a-picture-in-mind.html?dm_i=1DZ%2CWS6S%2C78DDL6%2C2PTGD%2C1

** You can have a chuckle at Dr Sheldon Cooper's premier episode of Fun with flags here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl12Sp1KiEk