While I’m not a photographer, the camera on my phone definitely gets a workout. When I’m not pointing it at my kids, I love doing “photo a day” challenges. If you’ve never done a photo challenge, it’s basically a scavenger hunt with your phone. Every day is a new prompt and you hunt for something to photograph that goes with that prompt. These challenges have helped me look at details around me and see the beauty hidden everywhere.

If your brain is locked on the job you hate, the annoying thing your spouse did or your growing to do list, that becomes your reality. That’s all you see. If you start training yourself to look for beauty and feel gratitude, your focus changes. You crave it. You see beauty – see it everywhere. It fills you up and those little annoyances don’t seem as important.

One reason I love these challenges is that they make me look at my everyday life in a new way. Every morning, I walk the dogs. There are 3 different routes that we take, but we usually pick the same path. After a while, I don’t see it. It just becomes another thing to check off my list. However, when I stop to soak in the quiet morning before the neighborhood is awake, it becomes restorative. I breathe in the fresh air, see the mist coming off the grass and the bunnies peeking out to drink the dew. The sun comes up, golden and orange and I am awake. If the prompt is “blue”. I’m looking at the flowers or the color of the sky. When you look for something beautiful, you find it. It’s everywhere.

“This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.” – Maya Angelou

Beauty and Gratitude Photo Challenge

Want to give it a try? Here a list of 15 prompts. Pick one a day and snap a pic. If you want, post it on Instagram and tag it #beauty&gratitude. I check that hash tag and I’d love to see the beauty in your world.