jtoneill.net

So I am working on a website featuring both my photography and my original art work.  But there is an introductory page that I need to do - and part of that page is the dreaded "About me" -- hmmmmm - that is tough to write so I will practice here first.
      Long ago and far away I was a teenager.  What a time of angst and confusion. Solitude was my best friend and family was my refuge.  I pushed myself out into the world via a marriage and, with its demise, all doors opened.  So many exciting doors with so many choices! That twentysomething decade included roller coaster years of exploration and discovery, of roles and masks, of social life and solitude. Personal encounter and change characterized those times.  They are remembered fondly and with great appreciation for all that I learned.
     And still long ago and far away were my hard working thirties and forties.  These two decades were all about raising children and striving for professional perfection and acknowledgement.  Marriage, friendships and self had to be inadvertently set aside as the responsibility of parenthood and work simply took over.  Being a reflective, responsive, and present parent has been the toughest work of my life but the payoff is grand.  I am so proud of those two children.  Professionally, I remain in love with my work and believe I am in my element there.
     Now for the last third (or less) of my life...... scary.  It saddens me when I think that at least two thirds of my life has been lived,  much of it with my eyes closed and my foot on the accelerator.  I suppose this website is an attempt to meld together much of what I have learned so far in life.  It isn't really for anyone else but me.  It is a way to fuse past and present via my own words and images and the words and images of others who have profoundly touched me.  Putting it all out there for the world to see and judge is rather narcissistic, I venture to say, but it is one way to sort life out and be held accountable. What do you think?
     ps:  The website isn't up quite yet but I'll let you know when it is!