Tiny Treasures

In pausing to photograph wildflowers, a woman finds her path to inner peace.

Her journey began as a quest for answers to questions created by time, created when the role previously dominating her life disappears. A fifty-five year old woman, Mary McKSchmidt packs her car with an assortment of old camping gear, a bicycle, camera, stack of pocket-size spiral notebooks and sets off alone to explore the dunes framing the eastern coast of Lake Michigan. A former corporate executive accustomed to five star hotels, she braves nights alone in a tent as she wanders trails and bike paths stretching from the Indiana Dunes to Mackinac Island. Always with her, poking their tiny faces through the drab remnants of winter, are wildflowers. Intrigued, hoping to learn their names, she pauses to take their pictures. In the second edition of Tiny Treasures, Mary McKSchmidt shares reflections inspired by the wildflowers and over one hundred of her favorite photographs as she takes the reader behind the lens of her camera. In this artistic combination of writing and photography, the artist shares her transition from life working for the CEO of a Fortune 500 company to one pausing to celebrate, share, and protect even the tiniest treasures of Nature.

Formerly President of Customer Partnerships reporting to the Chairman and CEO of Baxter Healthcare, a Fortune 500 company, Mary M. Schmidt moved to western Michigan in 2005. Through her writing, photography, and public speaking, she advocates for protecting Lake Michigan and all life along its shores. Excerpts from Tiny Treasures were featured in the spring 2010 issue of Michigan Blue magazine. Other published works include “Winter Walks” in the 2012 issues of Michigan Blue; “Autumn Crossing,” appearing in Sail magazine’s August 2010 publication; a monthly opinion column on Great Lakes issues written for The Holland Sentinel from July, 2006 through February, 2008; articles on the Great Lakes featured in The Grand Rapids Press and the Great Lakes Town Hall website. Her essay “Can One Person Make a Difference?” was read in the opening session of the 2006 Great Lake Restoration Conference in Cleveland, OH. She is a frequent speaker throughout Michigan.