Group Therapy

I don't know if you remember me telling you about the 104 group that I started in facebook a few years ago.

It's called '104 Things to Photograph in 404 Days', and I started the group to encourage some friends, and friends of friends with their photography.

The numbers in the group fluctuated a bit in the first year.

One or two people caused a bit of a stir and were asked to leave, others joined the group but never contributed, so I removed them.

Gradually the numbers steadied and after about 18 months, when most people had taken a lot of photos from the list, the group became quiet and needed a bit of a boost, so we began weekly challenges just to change things up a little.

That injected some new energy and soon we were all taking turns choosing themes for the challenges.  We had a lot of fun with that.

Each of us have shared a few highs and lows with each other over the THREE years that this group has been together ... I can't believe that it's been that long!

We've each provided some emotional support through some good and bad times, but since just before Christmas, the room became very quiet again.

So, at the beginning of this month, I set a new challenge.

"Ten photographs that show us a little bit about YOU, and a paragraph explaining why you chose each photo."

I expected 'light', 'trivial' or 'quirky' eg a photo of a dog with an explanation about how they acquired the dog and how it is now a family member OR photos from other countries with a description of the dream holiday OR collections of shoes, bags, jackets, teapots!

Not this group.

This group have posted photos from the most meaningful and deeply emotional moments in their lives and have written essays that have literally moved me to tears.

I wish I could share some of them here with you, but that's the beauty of the group.  It's closed and private, so we all know that it's just between us and we can bare our souls safely.

The best part is, that opening up about these massive events that changed our lives forever, seems to be linking us in a way that I never thought possible, and everyone is supporting and encouraging each other, which is beautiful to see.

The only problem that I have with it, is that I feel like it's almost 'expected' of me to share my own dramatic life moments (which I am very hesitant to do), but on the other hand, I don't want to trivialise their beautiful stories by posting a photo of my strange middle toe that is longer than my big toe!  I'm sure you understand what I mean.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this information because I am so amazed by the friendships that have formed, albeit in the cyber world, and how comfortable these ladies are, sharing intimate details of their private lives.

It seems that the timing of this challenge was spot on because some of us really needed to purge!

I love my 104 group :)

Nite all.