Hi, I’m Pam a recent retiree (September 1, 2022 - not that I’m keeping track).
If you’re like me and going through a major life transition (marriage, parenthood, relocation, or retirement) this may be a good place to come with a cup of your favourite beverage and a few minutes to just unwind, relax and enjoy some musings and images.
I’m the youngest of 4 children and my family emigrated to Canada from the UK in the early 1960’s and that early loss of connection with my extended family resulted in me spending most of my life looking to build a strong community around me.
I have adopted numerous “families” over the years and I have a strong belief that you have two families - the one you are born into and the one that you build over your lifetime - both are so important to the connection we all need to thrive and grow.
Creativity and physical activity has always had an important role in my life. I can get very stuck in my head and I have realized the importance of staying connected and grounded in my physical body.
I can remember writing stories at a very early age - my mum would get us to cut out pictures from magazines and paste them in notebooks and then make up stories about the images.
This started my lifelong love affair with books, stories and with writing.
I spent 38 years in a very non traditional career for a woman.
I worked in heavy industry and technical field based roles including the steel industry, consulting, and the oil & gas industry.
I worked my way up to a senior executive role with a lot of responsibility and accompanying stress.
I retired in 2022 and feel that this was the time when the real work of figuring out how I want to find contentment for the next 5, 10, 15+ years started.
Luckily for me I found photography which started shortly after we brought home our Bengal cat Roxy (she has a very popular Instagram account @roxythe_kitty with 10k+ followers - it still baffles me that so many people want to follow her adventures).
After taking way too many photos of Roxy, I found that I fell in love with the process of making images and being able to express my feelings through photography.
Once learning the technical aspects of photography became more routine, I noticed the positive effects of photography on my mental well being.
I found I was calmer, more present and taking in so much of the natural world around me - reconnecting with myself and nature.
I’m happily married to my best friend and in addition to photography I enjoy cooking, reading, hiking, camping and walking my cat - and let’s not forget to mention my slight fixation with beautiful shoes.
I love being in the outdoors and being active - it fills me with a sense of wonder, curiosity and calmness.
Photography has become my vehicle for unlocking my senses and my creativity.
I want to create a positive place and community in this little corner of the web where like minded people who are exploring a new phase of their lives can connect and share ideas, thoughts, frustrations and learnings.
I share stories of my own experiences through my transition (both the ups and downs) and exploration of mindfulness as well as my obsession with photography.
check out my feed on Instagram
Come grab a cuppa and join me - I’m not sure where this will take us, but I do know that it will be filled with interesting adventures, aha moments, laughter and some surprises.
