#bllphotoaday.

you know how i have been doing photo a day challenges for over a year now? well, i have and i love it. i love it so much that i began to make my own challenges last december. and that whole process has been amazing in itself. it is really humbling to have people from all over the world join in the photo journeys that i have created. some months i have created the list on my own, and other months i have asked other to get involved by suggesting word prompts of their own. these monthly photo journeys have blossomed into a collaborative, global, theme-centered experience. and i am overwhelmed and excited by all of it!

may has been a stellar month for the bllphotaday (belovelive photo a day) challenge. somewhere in the past week we passed 1,100 bllphotoaday tags on instagram! what that means is that there are now more than 1.100 photos that have been tagged and a part of this photo journey. (take a peek here!) that’s amazing!!! we now have followers and participants from all areas of the world, making it a fun opportunity to see little snippets of each others’ lives, countries, and cultures.

in addition, by turning the challenges into journeys, i hope that to inspire us all to not just think about taking and sharing cool photos, but also reflecting on who we are, our lives, what’s important, and life in general. and the awesome part is, we get to share these journeys with each other.

so, today i want to say a great big THANK YOU to those of you who are joining in and creating such an amazing IG community. i have been so blessed and inspired by all of your talent, beauty, & peeks into your daily lives. you have enriched my journey and my life.

for me, it has meant so much to “get to know” people from different places; so much so, that given the chance, we would love to meet up for a cup of coffee or a pint of beer one day. i suppose this is one way to actually form friendships in the globally connected, social media driven, 21st century world we live in today. not something i would have ever imagined in the past, but now something i could not imagine living without.

i encourage you, if you have instagram, to join in bll’s photo journey for june. and if you haven’t yet, search for the hashtag #bllphotoaday and check out all the inspiring people and beautiful photos you find there! soon, you’ll be clicking and liking others’ photos, and they will in turn be clicking & liking your stuff. and you will being building an amazing, wonderful, supporting community through images and words.

with all that said, let me now say this:

JUNE’S PHOTO JOURNEY IS READY!!

in june it’s all about enjoying the simple things in life… a time to remember that, even in the middle of our messy, busy, complicated lives, we can choose to live simply and to simply live. there’s also alot of craziness going on in my life personally in june, and i was afraid that i might get out of control & all wrapped up in the stress and craziness of moving out of our apartment. so, that is another reason i decided to focus on simplicity. to help keep me grounded, focused, and calm. this month i invite you to join me in finding one simple, beautiful moment every day & sharing it on instagram (or other places) by tagging it #bllphotoaday. can’t wait to see all of your amazing photos!! an amazing, supportive community is waiting for you!

here’s june’s list!

save it to your desktop or on your smartphone, so you know what the word is for each and every day. as i was thinking about simplicity, i realized that there are so many ways we can make our lives more simple, so i organized the month into six different themes that are centered on simplicity. each of the five words under each mini-theme give you something to focus on for those five days. remember that it’s all about how you interpret the word. be creative and express yourself however you want!

here’s a link to instagram so you can sign up & get started! click here to join in.

and if you want to become part of the bllphotoaday community, just follow me at @lizslens on instagram.

if you don’t have or don’t want instagram (which is totally fine!), then simply post your pics on facebook or on your blog. but, let me know, so i can follow along. i’ll do my best to spread the word that you are participating. however, the best way to create a photo journey community is actually on instagram. buuuuut, there is one more option… you can post your photos every day to belovelive’s facebook page! perhaps we can get that community growing as well! invite your FB friends to “like” belovelive’s page and then our community will spread even further & wider! think of all the inspiration! click here to go to belovelive’s page.

so, there ya go! we’re all ready for june.

i just wanna give one more shout out to all of you #bllphotoaday photographers & friends. it has been an amazing ride, and i can’t wait to see what’s in store next!