Challenge 13, Part 3: Shelter

Image by Julie De Waroquier

This week's blog challenge offered several different images from which we could choose, and then share our interpretation of the image.  It's been interesting for me to read about everyone's different perspective on the images! The photographer was completely new to me, and I've become quite taken with several of her pieces.  If you haven't heard of Julie De Waroquier, I encourage you to take a peek at this French photographer's site.

The image above is called Shelter, and it is probably my second favorite to the tree image.  I found myself often taking shelter from the world in the pages of a book.  To this day, I still find shelter within the pages of books (well, books unrelated to work!) as it is so comforting to get lost in a world where you know everything is already taken care of, and all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.

There is something safe about taking shelter in a book, about how it protects my mind from my own intrusive thoughts, at least while I'm within the pages of the story.  Something about how my world is calmer, as I'm lost in the story, instead of lost in my real, somewhat frightening world.  One can take the literal term for shelter from this image, but one can also take that figurative route, and be distracted by the comfort and security within another's words, instead of the tragic and traumatic words of our on minds......

My Distraction Box

I got this idea from a fellow blogger over at Swallow a Spider.  She created a box that contains safe distractions for when she's in a tough spot.  I thought it was a fantastic idea, and have started assembling my own box.  I really like the idea of having everything in one spot, easily accessible, in case of emergency.  Sometimes when I get into that state of desperate panic where I don't quite know what to do with myself, well, this box could be a pretty handy tool.

Taped to the inside of the lid are phone numbers, in order of who to call first, so I don't have to look should I be that frazzled.

I've included a small stuffie and a small scrap of my favorite, extra soft, snuggle fabric, which is always soothing.  There's a bottle of panic meds and Advil, just in case I need something more.  Also inside are crayons, colored pencils, and a sketch book, all good distractions and fun!  Additionally, I've included a photo and message from someone very helpful to me, and a few motivating quotes that I like.  I put in a book to read, one of my favorites, so it will be like revisiting old friends when I read it.  There's also a mini deck of cards and a twist/toy fidget.  The last thing inside is a small kids mp3 player with a special message and some of my favorite songs on it, along with headphones.  I picked it up very inexpensively for a project that I never used it for, and while I likely won't need it, I figured I'd put it in, just in case!

I still may put other things in, and the contents will likely change over time, but for now, I know that if I were in a tough spot, and I didn't know what else to do, pulling this box out would distract me, at least for a little while!  (And even better, putting it together was a great distraction in itself!)