My Place & Yours: My Secret Weapon

I missed a week or two of Pip's My Place & Yours meme because living in a one bedroom apartment with a boy and a cat means certain compromises have to be made regarding space. I do not have a 'blogging HQ', a 'creative space' or even a dining table. Maybe this is why I never get anything done?!

This week's theme, chosen by Deedrie of My Bricole fame, was 'My Secret Weapon'. It's a good challenge, no? Thought provoking, a little left of field and requires no dusting. Yay!

She wrote:
I’m asking everyone to share her/his “secret weapon”. No deep dark secrets here, just something you keep close to your creative heart...Whatever it is, it should something that you know you can go to in a pinch and it will never let you down.

So, keeping in mind this is a creative stimulus and not 'My Secret Vice', I am not going to share with you my favourite drop of whiskey, felafel restaurant, chocolate block, tv show or much used couch. They may never let me down but they're hardly stimulating.

My Secret Weapon has completely changed my outlook on life. Literally. It makes me look up, look down, focus, zoom in and stand still. Sometimes I have to crawl on the ground, get my feet wet or ask my boyfriend to stop the car, stop the car, please can you pull over!

The beauty of my secret weapon is that even when I don't have it on me, I'm still looking at and thinking about the world with a different point of view. It's enriched my every day - my walk to the bus stop is filled with stop and smell the roses moments. Every day becomes a holiday because my secret weapon is a Holga.

What's a Holga? It's a plastic toy camera. It's simple and it requires little technical knowledge about photography, which is good, because I have none. Sometimes it punishes me but if I'm patient and persistant I get rewarded with beautiful shots that fill me with warm fuzzy feelings. Best of all, I can even pretend I'm an artist. Now I just have to convince others that I'm an artist and all my dreams will have come true!

This is my second Holga. I stepped on my first one. Oops.

Sometimes (quite frequently) my photos don't turn out how I imagine, sometimes they don't turn out at all and at roughly $10 for a roll of 12 shots and $20 to get the film developed, it's not the cheapest of hobbies. I've been disappointed many a time after waiting in anticipation for my film to be developed, hoping to find a diamond in the rough. But even if my physical photos turn out to be failures, I still get to keep those beautiful images, those peaceful moments and creative surges in my mind.

Here's some of the good, the bad and the ugly that me and my holga have captured on film:

Do you have a holga? Got any tips for me now you've seen my photos?!
What inspires you creatively? What's your secret weapon? Join in here!