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Intentional:

1. done with intention or on purpose; intended

2. of or relating to intention or purpose

Synonyms: designed, planned. See deliberate.

This is just the way my life is sometimes, okay, most of the time.   Life is happening, life is messy.   The kids take over,  they make messes, they are underfoot, or on the counters, helping, laughing, crying, and it’s hard for me to take pictures of real life.  Real life means things aren’t always perfect.  Real life means there are real messes, and real problems,  and real life means I’m not perfect and neither are my children.  On the other hand, real life can also be beautiful, because it is real.  It isn’t a fake put-on show for other people.  To me, real life is the nitty, gritty of everyday that we are submerged in, and it’s beautiful because it has purpose and meaning.   I’m trying to be more intentional with my photography about capturing my real, everyday, life because I want my children to know that I thought my whole life was beautiful, not just the picture perfect days.   The day I took this picture, this boy was my helper.  He thought it was so funny to shake the nutmeg in my pot over, and over again.   Every time I told him no, he would laugh and put the nutmeg back in the cupboard, but as soon as I turned my head he had it out again, shaking it into the pot.   It was a great moment, one I want to cherish forever, and it would be a pity for me not to take a picture of it because my kitchen wasn’t perfectly clean.