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England,  Lens-Artists,  Themed galleries

Gallery: one small thing

May 24, 2022 / 49 Comments

When our first lockdown was introduced in March 2020 I knew I was going to find the coming weeks (as I naively thought then!) rather tough. I would miss my social life, my cinema visits, my travels and little treats such as coffee or breakfast in our favourite local haunts. I also knew that I would be helped enormously by focusing on the smaller pleasures of life: a sunset, a pretty flower, birdsong, a message from a friend …

One morning early on in the lockdown I had an idea. I’m very active on Facebook with quite a wide circle of friends from different aspects of my life. They include Virtual Tourist members, former work colleagues, old school friends, people met on my travels, fellow bloggers and others from photography groups. They would be facing similar challenges, I knew. So why not share those smaller pleasures with each other to maximise their impact? And so my Facebook group, One Small Thing, was born.

I set up the page with this explanation:

The idea of this group is to share one small thing each day that has given you a lift in these challenging times. We can’t all do the ‘big’ things we might have done in the past – go to the cinema or theatre, meet friends for lunch, go to the pub or the match, book a holiday. But we can still all find the little pleasures, if we look. And if we share them, in words or a photo or both, we can give each other a morale boost as well as ourselves.

I invited my friends, and many joined. Some then invited their friends and so the group grew. I expected it to last a few months at most, just as I expected the pandemic to be over in a year. I was wrong on both counts! Today our community of 300+ members is going strong; some post daily, some occasionally and some simply enjoying the posts of others. I’m moved by those who tell me how much the group has helped them.

My ‘one small things’

So for Amy’s Lens Artists Challenge theme of Every Little Thing I thought I’d share some of the photos I’ve posted to the group myself in the last few years; things that made me and other members smile!

Small stone toadstool with a grinning face

In an Ealing garden, April 2020

Stone angel sculpture

In South Ealing cemetery, April 2020

White swan on a shady lake

Swan in a local park, June 2020

Glass of white wine

First visit to a pub after the initial lockdown ended, July 2020

Pink clouds above a tiled roof

Clouds at sunset from my back door, July 2020

Fluffy pale yellow seeds

Clematis seed head, September 2020

Small black and white cat on a black leather sofa

My hairdresser’s cat, Basil, October 2020

Black and white photo of a black and white duck

Tufted duck in a local park, November 2020

Backlit lichen on a grey stone wall

Lichen on a neighbour’s wall, January 2021

Pink flowers against a deep blue sky

Camelia in an Ealing garden, February 2021

Two fluffy yellow birds on a path edged with grass

Goslings in Walpole Park, May 2021

Yellow rose with rain drops

Rose with raindrops, June 2021

Teasel with pale mauve flowers

Teasels at Brimham Rocks, August 2020

Raked gravel, grey rocks and small shrubs

Japanese garden at Kew, October 2020

River with brown trees and cloudy sky

Winter walk by the Thames in Brentford, December 2020

Other group members have shared garden flowers, family visits, craft projects, pets, country walks and much much more. It all goes to show how many small things there are that brighten our days yet are too rarely talked about. Maybe the pandemic has helped to increase our awareness of, and gratitude for, them?

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