I have developed a new roll of Lomo! :) See more of my photography over at my flickr!

I’ve been thinking a lot about photography lately. Maybe I have chosen the wrong path? I’m currently a law student, but all I can think of these days is how much I would like to study photography. I don’t claim that I have talent, but I have passion, and that counts for something, right?

However, this choice is too big and comlicated. I’m so confused.

When one of my readers, Essie, requested a post on perfect days, I was thrilled!

Who doesn’t dream about that perfect day? Still, a lot of people don’t really know what their perfect days would be like. Dreaming takes you nowhere! You have to work to reach your goals, and I have created a little recipe to help you on your way:

Essential Tips

- Only define a perfect day in terms you can control! You can’t plan for sunshine or only nice customers at work. You can’t control everything, and you shouldn’t rely upon external factors to define your day. Plan your perfect day when it comes to what you can control, and you’ll see that you can handle the uncontrollable way better too!

- Similarly, don’t rely on others to make your day! Don’t think that a perfect day could only be spent with your boyfriend, best friend or family member. Rely on yourself! This doesn’t mean that you can’t include spending time with friends and family, just don’t let them ruin your day if they let you down.

Recipe for a Perfect Day

1. Imagine. You have to spend some time figuring out what would be the perfect day for you. There is no universal recipe for the perfect day, you will have to figure it out for yourself. If you could do anything tomorrow, what would it be? Forget about school, work or other commitments. At this stage, even forget about economical restraints. Visualize your perfect day.

2. Write it down. Get it on paper, fast! You don’t want to your plans to be vague and general. By writing it down, you are forced to make your thoughts more concrete and narrow it down. Write your own recipe! You can also make lists of your perfect days in terms of seasons, occasions and economies. How about that perfect spring/summer/fall/winter day? Perfect work day? Perfect day off? Perfect low-budget day? Perfect indulge day? There are no limits! Plan!

3. Analyze. Spend some time analyzing your plan(s). What makes these elements the important pieces of your perfect day(s)? For me, I know inspiration is a vital essence. Maybe the alone time is yours? Or family time? It could be anything, really. The important part is to figure it out so you can use it later.

4 . Integrate. If your perfect day is not possible to realize during the first couple of days, integrate some of the elements into your daily life. Are there any gaps in tomorrow’s schedule? Could you do something in your lunch break or after work? Make use of what you have already identified. If the most important part of your dream day is to spend time with friends, make sure you do that tomorrow. Even a phone call might help lift your mood! If your trigger is inspiration, read a magazine or spend 20 minutes creating an inspiration wall. There are so many possibilities to make parts of your dream day come true, even if you don’t have any free time in the next days.

5. Just do it. No excuses now! You have already figured out what you want to do, created a recipe, figured out what you love and made plans on how to integrate it tomorrow. Now you just have to do it. Make it a top priority! Let nothing ruin your plan. If you have school/work and other commitments, make sure you set a date when you have no obligations to have your perfect day!

6. Repeat. What makes a perfect day changes over time. It changes with our life situation, our priorities and our schedule. This means you can repeat this exercise once in a while. Make sure you keep what you have written down, and eventually you will have a whole cook book with amazing perfect day recipes!

My perfect day

I would wake up early, and start the day with the radio on and  a cup of tea, followed with a nice breakfast.

I would start the day with a visit to a museum. I prefer contemporary art, and we have a great museum here with a great collection. A trip to the natural history museum would also be great.

Then I would go to a cafe and sit down with more tea and a cupcake. I would take notes in my pretty notebook and read an exciting novel.

After lunch I would visit some of my favorite stores. Not necessarily for shopping, but for inspiration. While walking from place to place I would take lots and lots of photographs. In particular, I would like to spend hours at the city’s biggest bookstores. Maybe make a wish list of books.

I love to eat great food, so the evening would consist of home cooking with candles, a lit fireplace and a glass of wine. After dinner, it’s time for reading blogs and maybe write a little post for my own blog. And then I would relax with a novel before bed.

What would your perfect day be like?

Come back for my next post on how find time and make your perfect day a reality.

Here are the submissions for the Photograph the Ordinary Challenge! Click on the photos to get to the photographers blog! I’m sorry again for posting this so late. Would you like more photo challenges like this one?

All photos taken with my Diana Mini and Lomographic Film

I am so sorry I haven’t been posting regularly lately. Something unexpected came up at work, and I have been working a lot lately. I know it’s really annoying when someone just stops posting all of a sudden, but I promise to I’m back!  I’m going to get the results from the Photograph the Ordinary Challenge up this weekend! Also, I have a few posts planned, so stay tuned! :) What have you been up to lately?

Photo by Brian

I’ m extending the Photograph the Ordinary Challenge until Sunday, since I know you are all busy, and I want more entries! :)

I’d love to see how your ordinary weekend looks like!

I first saw this video on See Hear Say, and in case you aren’t following that blog (you should!) I just have to repost it. I bought my very own Olympus PEN when I was in London, which makes this video even more interesting for me. I hope you like it!

I’ve got a very interesting post coming up soon, so stay tuned! And don’t forget to enter the Photograph the Ordinary Challenge!

Ps. Have you seen this amazing giveaway over at Fleur Avenue?

When browsing flickr, I realize that the photos I enjoy the most are simple photos of everyday life.

This has really inspired me to start a little photography challenge:

1. Take at least 10 photographs of something ordinary. It could be something on your desk, an item from your house, a photo from your travels to work, your family etc. Try to see what you see every day  from a different perspective. In a different light maybe? Or from another angle? Try to figure out what makes ordinary unique.

2. Chose your best photograph and post it on your blog with a description of the item/person.

3. Comment with a link to your photo. If you don’t have a blog, you can e-mail me a link to your photo at me(at)mausumi(dot)com.

The closing date is Friday March 5th at noon GMT. I’ll have the photos up over the weekend! Have fun!

Source unknown

Barcelona Harbor, taken with Lomo LC-A

I have noticed that my most popular posts are the articles I have written. These are also the most challenging posts to do, but I really do enjoy writing them! This has got me thinking, and I’m wondering if you would like more of these posts?

If you haven’t done it already, check out some of my articles to understand what I’m talking about: 10 ways to make your work day lovely, 10 tips on how to relax after a long day, How to live in the moment, How to wear interesting jewellery, and 14 Ways to Beat the Blues.

If you do want more posts like these, please tell me if there are any specific topics you would like me to cover! :)

I would also like to use the opportunity to welcome all my new readers. You are awesome, and I really appreciate that you’re reading and interacting! :) If you would like me to come over to your blog and say hello, please leave a comment, and I’ll come right over.

The Sweeterie is possibly one of the sweetest blogs I have ever stumbled upon. Each post is usually a photo and a little story. The greatness of it is the simple story that says so much in so few words. And the photo is always a great source of inspiration too.

These little words make me so happy. I think it’s my new favorite blog! Enjoy!