Magogo Memories

09/10/2026

Self-Discovery Daily Photo

Month 9 - Becoming in Motion
Day 252 - I Notice

What am I becoming more willing to see, even when it isn't what I hoped to see?

The value of SELF-REFLECTION.

When I began this journey, I knew I would be taking a picture every day.

What I didn't fully understand was how much those pictures would require me to look at myself.

Self-reflection has become one of the most valuable parts of my Becoming journey.

It requires me to stop, examine my experiences, pay attention to patterns, question my own thinking, and be honest about what I discover.

And honesty is important.

Because sometimes I see something I don't like.
Sometimes I realize something isn't working.
Sometimes someone's actions don't match their words.
Sometimes I recognize that I have been holding onto something because of what I hoped it would become instead of acknowledging what it actually is.
And sometimes the person I have to examine most closely is ME.

I'm learning that noticing something isn't enough.
I have to be willing to accept the information it gives me.
SEE what is.
ACCEPT what is.
THEN decide what needs to change.

That doesn't mean I have to like everything I see.

Acceptance doesn't mean approval.
It means I am willing to begin with the truth.

Even today's photo became part of the lesson.
I had another idea for how I wanted to capture self-reflection.
I tried it.
It didn't work.

Instead of forcing the picture I imagined, I accepted what was and found another way.

Maybe that's what self-reflection is teaching me about life too.

I don't have to make reality fit the picture I had in my head.
I can look honestly at what is in front of me and decide what I want to do with what I see.

At Day 252, I understand something more deeply than I did when this journey began:
Self-reflection isn't just about looking back.
It helps me decide how I want to move forward.

“I may not like what I'm seeing.
I may wish it were different.
I may even grieve what it means.
But I am willing to begin with what IS.”

09/09/2026

Self-Discovery Daily Photo

Month 9 - Becoming in Motion
Day 251 - I Receive

“What am I learning to recognize that I have already received?”

GENUINE LOVE AND SUPPORT.

Receiving has never been easy for me.

Some of my life experiences taught me to question what might come with someone's generosity.
What will they expect in return?
Will I owe them something?
Will this be brought up later?

So I learned to be cautious about receiving.

But as I reflected on this question, I realized something else is equally true.

GOD has blessed me with some valuable, healthy, trustworthy, and loving relationships.

There have been people in my life who showed up because they cared.
People who supported me when I needed support. People who wanted what was best for me without trying to control what “best” had to look like.

And I realized:
What was missing in some places, GOD provided through others.

That doesn't erase what was missing.
But I don't want my attention to what I didn't receive to cause me to overlook everything I HAVE received.

This photograph captures that for me.

My hand is holding my cane—
something that is part of my life in this season—
and another hand rests gently over mine.

No one is taking the cane away.
No one is walking the journey for me.

Someone is simply there with me while I walk it.
Maybe that's what healthy support looks like.

I can still carry responsibility for my own life while allowing someone else to care about me.
I can appreciate generosity without turning every act of love into a debt that must somehow be balanced.
And I can acknowledge what was missing while being deeply grateful for what GOD sent from somewhere else.

Today, I recognize something I haven't always recognized enough:
I HAVE received.

I have received friendship.
I have received support.
I have received people who showed up.
I have received love.
And I receive that truth with gratitude.

“What was missing in some places, GOD provided through others.”

09/08/2026

Self-Discovery Daily Photo

Month 9 - Becoming in Motion
Day 250 - I Risk the Ask

“What am I learning about asking, even when I am afraid of the answer?”

That asking requires me to risk hearing NO.

Asking people for things has never been easy for me.

I would much rather figure something out myself than put myself in the vulnerable position of needing someone else to say yes.

Because asking comes with risk.
They might say no.
They might not respond at all.
And sometimes, the disappointment can make me wish I had never asked in the first place.

I'm learning to challenge that.

A no does not mean I was wrong to ask.
It simply means I received an answer I didn't want.

And if I never ask because I'm trying to protect myself from hearing no, I also eliminate the possibility of hearing YES.

Today's photograph captures the part I struggle with most.

My finger is right there at the doorbell.
I haven't pressed it yet.
I'm in that small space between wanting something and being willing to ask for it.

I can still pull my hand away.
I can still decide it isn't worth the risk.
Or...
I can press the button.
I don't know who will answer.
I don't know what the answer will be.
And I cannot control what happens on the other side of the door.

But I'm beginning to understand that I don't have to.

My responsibility is to make the ask.
The answer belongs to someone else.

I'm still uncomfortable asking.
I'm still learning.

But Becoming doesn't always mean I've conquered something.
Sometimes it means I'm willing to do it while it still scares me.

So maybe courage, for me, looks like this:
Getting close enough to the button...
and risking the press.

“Asking doesn't guarantee me a YES. It simply gives YES the opportunity to exist.” ❤️

09/07/2026

Self-Discovery Daily Photo

Month 9 - Becoming in Motion
Day 249 - I Build

“What am I no longer waiting for someone else to give me the opportunity to become?”

A leader.
For much of my life, I thought leadership was something someone else had to recognize in me.

I thought someone would see my abilities, acknowledge what I could contribute, and give me the opportunity to lead.

Today, I'm no longer waiting to be chosen.

It's a new day.
I'm in BUILDING mode.

Instead of waiting for someone else to create a place for me, I'm learning to create my own.

That doesn't mean everything I've attempted has worked.
It hasn't.

Some ideas haven't developed the way I imagined.
Some doors haven't opened.
Some things I've built haven't attracted the people or support I hoped they would.
But I'm learning not to confuse unfinished with failed.

Today's photograph reminds me of that.
Construction isn't pretty.

There is digging, disruption, heavy lifting, and a whole lot of mess before anyone can see what is being built.

Sometimes progress doesn't look like a finished building.
Sometimes progress looks like construction.
That's where I am.

I don't have a completed story to point to and say, “Look at everything I built.”
I'm still figuring things out.
Still learning.
Still adjusting.
Still trying.

But one thing has changed:
I'm no longer waiting for someone else to decide I'm qualified to lead.

I'm not looking for a promotion.
I'm not trying to climb someone else's ladder.
I'm building something of my own.

What it ultimately becomes remains to be seen.

But at 64, I know this:
I'm still building.
And there is no turning back.

“I'm no longer waiting for someone to give me a place at their table.
I'm learning how to build my own.” ❤️

09/06/2026

Self-Discovery Daily Photo

Month 9 - Becoming in Motion
Day 248 - I Don't Need Permission

“What do I do differently now that I no longer need someone else to agree with my decision?”

I define my own relationship with GOD.

For much of my life, I thought there was a certain way my relationship with GOD was supposed to look.

As I've grown, lived, questioned, learned, and experienced GOD for myself, I've come to understand something differently.

My relationship with GOD is personal.

For me, faith isn't defined by how often I enter a building, how closely I follow someone else's expectations, or whether another person agrees with how I choose to practice it.

My faith is reflected in how I live.

I pray.
I seek GOD's guidance.
I recognize His presence in my life.
I trust Him when I don't understand what is happening.
I thank Him when I can look back and see that He was carrying me through something I couldn't understand while I was living it.

And I've learned that I don't need anyone else's permission to define what that relationship looks like.

Today's photograph captures that realization beautifully.

A church sits beneath a wide-open sky.
The building has boundaries.
Walls.
Doors.
A defined space.

But the cross rises beyond the structure into something much bigger.
And so does my faith.

I walked away from compulsory religion. I did not walk away from GOD.

Today, I can appreciate what introduced me to faith while also recognizing that my relationship with GOD had to eventually become my own.

I no longer need to defend it.
I no longer need to explain it.
And I don't need someone else to agree with it.

My relationship with GOD belongs to me.

“I discovered that my relationship with GOD was bigger than the building.”❤️🙏🏾

09/05/2026

Self-Discovery Daily Photo

Month 9 - Becoming in Motion
Day 247 - I Let Myself Enjoy It

“What do I allow myself to enjoy now without needing it to be productive, meaningful, or useful?”

Taking pictures.

I have loved taking pictures for as long as I can remember.

I don't need an assignment, a client, or an occasion.

Sometimes I simply notice something—
a person, an expression, an interaction, a moment—
and instinctively reach for my camera.

Some people see a moment and keep moving. I see a moment and reach for my camera.

That's exactly what happened when I took this photograph.
Something caught my attention, and without much thought, I raised my camera.

Just me doing something I genuinely enjoy.

Photography entertains me.
It introduces me to people, starts conversations, and allows me to hear stories and build relationships.

And I LOVE seeing what happens to the photographs afterward.

A picture I captured becomes someone's profile picture. It appears in a family slideshow.
It gets shared with relatives.
Sometimes, years later, it becomes part of how a family remembers someone they love.

Perhaps that matters so much to me because I know what it feels like to wish I had more photographs.

I lost my parents when I was young, and I don't have nearly as many pictures of them as I wish I did.

Maybe that's why I've spent so much of my life making sure other people have theirs.

I've wondered whether I should turn photography into a business.
Maybe someday I will.

But I also recognize something worth protecting:
Not every gift GOD gave me has to become a job.

Some gifts can simply be enjoyed.
Shared.
Poured out.

Photography may create something meaningful for others, but that's not why I pick up my camera.

I pick it up because I LOVE taking pictures.
And that is reason enough.

“Some gifts are not meant to be measured only by what they earn, but by the joy they create when we share them.” ❤️

09/04/2026

Self-Discovery Daily Photo

Month 9 - Becoming in Motion
Day 246 - I Made Room

"What have I made room for in my life that an earlier version of me might have considered unimportant?"

PEACE.

For much of my life, I thought peace was something I needed to find.

A peaceful place.
A peaceful moment.
A peaceful season.

But I'm learning that peace doesn't always simply arrive.
Sometimes I have to make room for it.

Lately, I have been in a season of removal.

I've become more willing to release things, situations, expectations, environments—
and sometimes people—
that consistently disturb my peace.

There was a time when I might have held on simply because something had always been there.

I might have stayed because of history.
Because of obligation.
Because I didn't want to disappoint someone.
Because I believed letting go meant I had failed.

Today, I understand something differently:
Not everything that once had a place in my life is entitled to remain there.

And not every empty space needs to be filled.
Sometimes the space itself is the gift.

This photograph captures something ordinary—
my hand releasing something into the trash.

But when I looked at it, I saw more.
My hand is open.
I'm not gripping what I'm releasing.
I'm not reaching back to retrieve it.
I'm letting it go.

Maybe that's what making room for peace looks like in this season of my life.

Not waiting for everything around me to become peaceful.
But recognizing what repeatedly disrupts my peace and becoming willing to release my hold on it.

I used to think peace was something I had to search for.

Now I understand:
Peace is also something I help create.
And sometimes creating it begins with opening my hand.
Releasing.
And leaving the space behind intentionally unfilled.
Because...

“Peace didn't simply arrive in my life.
I had to make room for it.”❤️

09/03/2026

Self-Discovery Daily Photo

Month 9 - Becoming in Motion
Day 245 - I Chose This

"What is one choice I make now because it genuinely works for me—
not because it is what someone else expects?"

I choose simplicity.

We're told we're supposed to do plenty of things.

One of them is cook at home.

But here's the truth:
I don't like cooking. 😂
And I don't like grocery shopping either.

For me, cooking isn't simply preparing a meal.
It means shopping, carrying groceries inside, putting everything away, deciding what to cook, thawing it, preparing it, cleaning up afterward, storing leftovers...
and eventually doing it all over again.

And I am a household of one (1).

At some point, I had to ask myself:
Who am I doing all of that for?

So most days, I go out, pick up something for lunch, bring it home, and eat.

Simple.

Some people may think I should do it differently.
And that's okay.

I've learned that something doesn't have to be the best choice for everybody to work for me.

That may sound small, but it represents something much bigger in my life.

There was a time when I gave far more consideration to what I was supposed to do—
what was expected, approved of, or considered the “right” way.

Today, I know myself better.
I know what I enjoy.
I know what I don't enjoy.

And I am increasingly willing to build my life around what actually works for the person living it:
ME.

This photograph isn't really about takeout.

It's about the freedom of no longer making simple things complicated just because someone else thinks I should do them differently.

I don't need to defend every choice.
I don't need everyone to understand it.
And I certainly don't need everyone to make the same choice.
I just need to know that it works for me.❤️

“Not everything that works for someone else has to work for me.”

09/03/2026