Newcastle Photographer and Content Creator, Mandy Charlton, Always on a quest for adventure, often seen on buses, trains and planes. On a quest to be happier and healthier. Lives in Newcastle with her 3 cats, Iris, Maggie and Arthur. Loves good vibes, musicals and cakes. Full time professional wedding photographer in the north east of england alongside content creator on Tiktok, Instagram and Facebook

Friday, October 03, 2014

Embracing Life

Yesterday dear reader I had a photo shoot in the late afternoon in Jesmond Dene so walked there and back through Armstrong Park which for any of you who aren't local is a park which connects Heaton Park to Jesmond Dene gifted by Lord Armstrong in the 19th century to the people of Newcastle and if you don't know who Lord Armstrong is, well he had the very first house (Cragside in Northumberland) to be lit by electricity.

I digress, my point is that yesterday was the most beautiful sunny autumn afternoon and if you were stuck in an office then all I can do is apologise for the afternoon you missed.  Luckily for you I took just a couple of photographs on my walk home.

This first one was in Jesmond Dene, I love paths which lead the eye but you can't see exactly where they're going, it could be anywhere but for me it means that adventure is just around the corner.



These 2 just show the glory of Armstrong Park at the moment and I get to walk through this park every day when I have a photo shoot in Jesmond Dene, I get to enjoy and embrace this beauty for free!

Now on my lazier, fatter days I have been known to get a taxi straight to my photo shoots and still do if they're really early morning but for the most part now more than ever I find myself walking and walking and walking some more, sometimes on my own and sometimes with Petunia who of course loves a walking adventure.

It's a month today since I started living on my own (well apart from the kids, the cats and Petunia) and the thing I've learnt is that you have to go out there and grab life by the neck and enjoy every minute of it, you have to work less and be slightly more broke but love more, cherish the ones you love and love the ones you cherish because work may bring success and financial gain but you can't go to bed at night cuddling work!  Now more than ever I remember my life plan and the commitment I've made to change.  I am very much living the simpler life and there is an adjustment to not working as often and if I can find a way to make a residual income I am working on finding that.  I have though spent just about every Sunday with my family and we've had some great times and this Sunday we are going to the aforementioned Cragside estate for a family stomp around.

So if you haven't done it yet, go read that life plan, embrace the ones you love and care about before it's too late, please understand that I don't believe that my whole marriage collapsed due to me working too many hours but it was certainly a contributing factor and the thing I've chosen to work on and change and I can already see that it's being appreciated that we get so much more quality time together as a family.

Today I have a couple of afternoon photo shoots and so I once again get to walk through the autumnal landscape of some of the most beautiful parts of Newcastle embracing every footstep that I take.
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