Rachel O'Hara

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Project 52 hasn't stopped...

... I just got SUPER lazy in actually POSTING. With my awesome new job I kind of got too caught up in work and getting into my new groove. I have still managed to take a photo of myself each week and I have passed the half way mark. I'm not thrilled with them all and I don't think I'm going to continue writing long prose with each one. I am hoping I can get a bit more creative here with my portraits over the next few weeks and I will continue to document the week, date, time and give each one a creative name. BUT I'm just proud to have kept up with it even if it hasn't gone straight to my Tumblr right away. If you're curious for a look check it out there - http://rachelsohara.tumblr.com/

Here are a few photos from the last few months...

Week 21

Week 24

Week 28

Week 31

peace. love. happiness.

-rso-

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Project 52: Weeks 6-9

Another four weeks has come and gone. February was an intense month. It may be the shortest, but it wasn't the easiest. Here are the photos from weeks 6 through 9.

Project 52 - Week 6

Title: Broken Glass
Time: Thursday, Feb. 7 at 1:50 p.m. (approx.)

Project 52 - Week 7

Title: Cuddle time
Time: Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 9:30 (approx.)

Project 52 - Week 8

Title: Drive
Time: Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 6:04

Project 52 - Week 9
Title: Work setup
Time: Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 4:52

live. laugh. love.

-rso-

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Project 52

When I did my 365 project in 2011 I remember being totally freaked out when eleven days in I was already thinking, “Oh no. What have I gotten myself into?” But then suddenly the days, weeks and months flew by and suddenly the project was complete. I felt so happy, so proud, so empty knowing I no longer had to keep a promise to myself to document each day. I surely wasn’t up for doing another round, but I still missed posting my photo of the day and writing about it. I didn’t make any resolution to start another photo project in 2012 and I sort of kicked myself a few months later when I felt like I had no personal creative outlet anymore.

As the New Year resolutions and ideas began popping up in my inbox, Twitter and Facebook feed, I saw Photojojo’s newsletter article entitled 7 Photo Projects to Start on January 1st. Of course 365 was in there, but Project 52 caught my eye. One girl’s blog was made up of 52 self-portraits - one a week. I’m usually behind the camera (despite the amount of Facebook photos I have accumulated of myself over the years) and the idea of documenting me once a week for a year seems intriguing. It also seems a little scary and daunting since I’m not sure how crazy I will end up getting with this project.

For now the guidelines are simple:

1. One photo a week by me of me taken on my phone, on my computer or with my camera and or some camera-like recordable device.

2. The photo can be as straightforward or as abstract as I want.

3. I will post the images on my Tumblr once a week, my Blogspot each month and possibly start a Facebook album.

4. Enjoy it. It’s MY project about ME. It’s personal and should at least bring me creative joy. Hopefully others will like it too. But even if you don’t, I should.

So that’s it! Here’s to a new year and a new project. I have high hopes for 2013.

Check out the first five weeks of photos below. The text that goes along with the photos is on my Tumblr if you want more insight on what was going on, why I took the photo, etc. For now, I'm 5 weeks in. Only 47 more to go.

Project 52 - Week 1

Title: Pink Lips

Time: 8:15 a.m. (approx.)

Project 52 - Week 2

Title: Stop the madness

Time: Friday, Jan. 11 at 9 a.m. (approx.)

Project 52 - Week 3

Title: Child’s Pose

Time: Thursday, Jan. 17 at 10:40 a.m. (approx.)

Project 52 - Week 4

Title: Canon Face

Time: Thursday, Jan. 24 at 11:11 a.m.

Project 52 - Week 5

Title: Playground getaway

Time: Thursday, Jan. 31 at 5:04 p.m.

live. laugh. love.

-rso-

Thursday, June 21, 2012

A Trip Down Memory Lane at 93

* FROM 12/10/2009 and was never published for some odd reason. Just found it in my "drafts". It was a very emotional trip for me. I miss her so much. I miss her and Papa.

I recently went to visit my grandmother, who we refer to as Grammy, and found myself a bit overwhelmed. Grammy doesn't look 93, but she sure is beginning to feel it. Medications for all sorts of pains and aches and difficulty walking without her walker are just some of the daily issues she deals with. She recently had a spill where she fell on the tile floor in her kitchen. She did end up bruised and did hit her head, yet she did not break a bone. After the fall, she was given more medications and increased doses. Then came my visit.

I wanted to record her talking about the past (IE: how she met Papa, funny stories from when

she lived in N.C., growing up on a tobacco farm, etc.). Once my tape recorder was fixed she reminisced about all sorts of people and places that she had not thought about in years. Plus she read her sister-in-laws obit, Aunt Polly, which also reminded her of lots of good and funny memories.

But her pains, her constant medications, and my aunt and uncle popping in; we didn't get very

far. Then on Sunday, after a long night of getting up to go to the bathroom and thinking she had fallen again, she asked me,

"When are we going home?"

I didn't know what to say.

"What?"

"When are we going home?"

"Grammy, you are home. In Maryland. Where do you think you are?"

"What?"

She was convinced she was in Greenville, N.C., where she grew up, later she thought we were in Kinston. Soon she would remember where we were and say, "Damn. Why can't I remember that?" or "Ha. I wondered how they got all my stuff here.". After 24 hrs of this, medications were cut back, (specifically her Cymbalta) and she stopped thinking she was in N.C. But her pain symptoms did come back (they disappeared during her episode).

This episode scared me. I felt that it was my fault for bringing up the past. She had never had

this kind of episode before. The scare scared everyone.

Since my visit she has been to the doctors and they have taken her off the Cymbalta that caused her to hallucinate. On the way home from that appointment and dinner with my aunt and uncle she did, however, mention how nice her trip with me was.

"What trip, Mom?" my uncle said.

"Rachel and I. To North Carolina." she responded.

"You didn't go on a trip, Mom. Rachel was here. In Maryland. Remember?"

"Oh. So we didn't go on a trip?"

"No, Mom."

"Oh. That's right."

We may not have gone on a real trip, but we did take a trip down memory lane. She had 24 hours without pain and relived some great memories. While I felt terrible about her episode and worried that I had caused her more stress, I think that maybe it wasn't all that terrible for her. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing for her to think she went on a trip. She's fine now, she's

more optimistic and acting more like her old self: getting up, wanting to go out and about, picking out her stylish outfits and so much more. While the changes in medications helped, but I think the "trip" did help her out a bit.

-rso-

One of her many faces she likes to make when a camera is around.

Showing off the earrings I gave her to wear for my aunt's Christmas party.

Pretty in Pink

Grammy's Hands

Grammy with the blanket she made me to come home in from the hospital the day I was born. Oh, and Piglet.

Big Rach (Ivey Sutton Smith) and Little Rach (Smith O'Hara) - 93 and 21

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

December: The End.

Now that December 2011 has come and gone and 2012 is here, I am officially done with my 365 Project. I am feeling a variety of feelings - relief, sadness, pride, happiness, confusion - just to name a few. It feels weird not looking daily for a photo to put up and write about, but I gotta admit that while it was fun, it was also sometimes stressful. I can't believe I did it though! I really did it! Here are some highlights from my final month.

December 03, 2011