~~One Word~~

I read an article the other day that suggested that ONE work could change your life for the better....just ONE WORD!

(Insert drum roll here....)

The one word:  Nonetheless


Check out these examples of how to use "nonetheless":

• It is cold/hot outside; nonetheless, my entire day goes better after a brisk walk.
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• That piece of cake is "calling" me; nonetheless, the extra sugar will make me feel guilty and isn't for me anyway.
• 
  
• I don't feel like making that overdue phone call; nonetheless, when I make it, it will be off my mind.
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• I would like to spend the entire day crocheting on the couch; nonetheless, I get more done after a good hike <---Lacing up my hiking boots right now....

Purrl and I doing yoga after saying "nonetheless"

~~The Trail~~

Do not go where the path leads you.

Go where there is no path and make a trail....

~~Estes Street Photos~~

The Stanley Hotel

Enjoy a morning walk through and around Estes Park, Colorado!

The Stanley at Dawn

~~On Arizona~~

I have created several photo books over the years...On training (as in locomotives)...On Switzerland...On Italy...On Motherhood.  Most of my books were just my experimenting with various book publishing services.

I found a service that I LOVE and I am now going to create photo books galore!  I really hope everyone that reads this will order one...or more, of course.

Here is the first of many to come....

"On Arizona"

Click here to preview your copy!

http://www.adorapro.com/mimiparis/book/on-arizona/xjda149ad3

This luxurious book will not only take you on a journey through one of the most unique states in our country, but will also lose you in it's beautiful texture!

Books need to feel as great at they look!

~~Martha Mary~~

I was born "Martha Mary Parisotto" in Springfield, Illinois. I was severely deformed in that my legs were tangled up like a pretzel and curled up by my ears. I was fitted with baby casts that were later replaced by braces.

At 11 months old, I was dumped like a stray animal in a city park, left only to be found by police. I was placed in the local hospital until the first of many foster/group homes could be located for me. 


We often identify ourselves based on our childhood, our relationships with our parents and siblings and our environment. When you are thrown out as a baby, abused as a kid and begged a judge to go back into foster care, it's nearly impossible to have strong self-esteem.



I spent my entire life hiding who I was and from whence I came. Photography has become a powerful vehicle that keeps me out of the shadows and in the light.

Beach Sunset, Kenai, Alaska

The Dark Room

When I first started in photography, I was living in the "dark room." I was emotionally depressed...probably even in a darker place than depression.  I was physically bankrupt, with no energy reserves.  As I look back, I don't know how I survived the dark room.

Every time the phone rang, I cringed, "Now what?"  And sure enough, another drug associated crisis would send my life back into a blinding hurricane of chaos.  So much chaos that I couldn't see the next hit coming.  Years and years of it.

In between bouts of crisis, I tried to heal. The windows of time between the bouts were narrow. Sometimes, I had just a day or two. Often, not even an hour or two.

To heal, I started looking outside of the dark room.  I looked out.  Outside, I saw that there was light. I saw people, seemingly happy...seeming living "normal" lives.  I isolated in the dark room, but began to look out.

My camera helped me capture moments of light.  And when the darkness fell.....yet again...I could look at my photographs.  Looking at my captures brought light to me, even as I was living in the dark room.