You know what I think the best part of yesterday was? Getting this book. And it’s funny - I was so caught up in what was going on during the show and the live blogging that I didn’t even make much mention of it in my post. I only caught the tail end of what it was. But then, on my train ride home (because I was alone, remember - go see what happened to Sarah and Laurie here) I remembered I had it in my bag and opened it up. I was mesmerized. Captivated.

I find this book to be inspiring on so many levels. It is a photo collaboration between two women who met through blogging. They decided to start a blog together in which each of them would take a picture every morning, and then these pictures would be paired side-by-side and posted on the blog. They never discussed the photos or the subject matter - it was never planned. And it’s amazing.

The photographs are stunning in their simplicity, and they make me long for a slower, simpler life. I look at them and feel stillness, appreciation for the small pieces that, when put together, make our days. They make me want to pare things down, to slow down, to calm down and just be.

The pairings of the photos together, the diptychs, are truly breathtaking. So many times as I turned the pages I would gasp out loud, remembering that none of the pieces were premeditated, but seeing instantly the connection of the two women - kindred. A set where one has taken a picture of a white orchid on a white background, the other a necklace on a white background, but they are nearly identical in composition, in placement in the frame. A photo of fluffy white clouds in a blue sky, next to a rumpled, airy white shirt over a blue skirt. A table where the remains of flower cutting are scattered - scissors, gloves, stems, and leaves - while in the other image a few new flowers sit in a glass of water. The relationship between these two women, who had never actually met in person until deciding to do this project, is special, serendipitous, and beautiful. It speaks so much to me of the true relationships we form as bloggers. It celebrates this new medium of connection between human beings so wonderfully.

I don’t know much about photography, but the way these pictures are placed together gives a novice like myself a place to start. Details that would have otherwise been overlooked are suddenly clear, prominent. I take notice of lighting, composition, color, as well as subject matter. And, most importantly, I let myself feel the images they have presented - the comfort, the stillness, the quiet, the beauty. At the very least, it makes me want to take better pictures and to take them more often, to document the lives of my family and our days together.

This book makes me want to do something special. I don’t know what it is yet. But as I look through it, I wish I could have been part of it as an observer while it was happening. I wish that checking their blog each day had been part of my daily ritual. It reminds me of how truly amazing this blogging thing really is, but it also tells me something about the way I want to live, to see.

The Year of Mornings blog has been taken down since the book has been published, but the two women, Maria and Steph, are now blogging “A Year of Evenings,” which I look forward to viewing at the end of each and every day.