Smile

 

We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.
–Mother Teresa

I hope Mosh’s smile did some good for you.

For other posts bound to make you smile, visit The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Smile

Peace . . .

 

 

Setting

The biggest cliche in photography is sunrise and sunset.
—Catherine Opie

To participate in The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge, Rise/Set, or see other interpretations, click here.

Birdie with a yellow bill

A birdie with a yellow bill
Hopped upon the window sill,
Cocked his shining eye and said:
‘Ain’t you ‘shamed, you sleepy head?
― Robert Louis Stevenson

On the mornings when Mom woke me, instead of Dad, she would often come in reciting this poem, but would change the last line to her liking. It might be,

Good morning!

Or maybe

Time to get ready for school!

Or on a lucky day

Get up we’re going to the fair!

Peace . . .

My favorite place is solitude

The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge is “Favorite Place.” While the photo was taken at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, undoubtedly one of my favorite places, it depicts more. Space for introspection, stillness, connection to Mother Earth. Solitude. That’s my favorite place.

Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone.
— Paul Tillich

Peace . . .

I’d rather be…

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.
— Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

In response to this week’s Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge, I’d Rather Be…
To participate or check out other interpretations, click the link.

Peace . . .

Nearly the end

Nearly the end of the winter, nearly the end of the day, nearly the end of the trail.

Limited by our perspective

Each person does see the world in a different way. There is not a single, unifying, objective truth. We’re all limited by our perspective.
— Siri Hustvedt

What is the truth? A peculiar out-of-this-world specimen of vegetation, or the soft frond of a house plant? Exercise your perspective and see things in a new way . . .

Peace . . .

To participate in The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge, click here.

mind·ful·ness

mind·ful

[mayhnd-fuhl]

adjective
attentive, aware, or careful (usually followed by of): mindful of one’s responsibilities.

Related forms
mind·ful·ly, adverb
mind·ful·ness, noun

It’s become quite a buzzword in recent years.

To be in a state of mindfulness requires you are in the present. Not in the last minute or the next, but always in this fleeting present moment.

This moment is what passes while we are capturing the perfect selfie or posting it to Twitter. Hey, I’m never going to give up my social media, but I’m painfully aware that mindfulness and Instagram are never going to coexist. We can spend the best moments of our lives looking for the next photo, or we can put the friggin’ camera down and be there.

My days are spent like most people, eating my cereal while I’m packing my lunch, running late for work, and driving brainlessly while I catch up on the news. Life could be much more meaningful if we could be present at every minute.  Let’s face it, it just isn’t going to happen outside of a mountain monastery.

I like to think my camera and I have a fairly healthy relationship.  She comes with me on long walks, showing me things I might otherwise have overlooked. We like to “focus” on little things. Pun intended.

Don’t get me wrong. An ocean is beautiful, but I see it knowing that thousands of other people have seen it too. It’s the single wave that breaks along the shore that moves me. You need to be there to see it. Be present. It’s like a fleeting moment, as quickly as it’s come, it’s gone.

“What day is it?”
It’s today,” squeaked Piglet.
My favorite day,” said Pooh.”
― A.A. Milne

Peace . . .

 

Life is Sweet

“That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.”
— Emily Dickinson

Stop waiting to live life until after you’ve lost the weight, found a spouse, bought a home, been hired for the perfect job, purchased the nicest car. Life is fragile. Life is short. Life is sweet. Eat the damn danish and savor every. last. bite.

To participate in the Weekly Photo Challenge from The Daly Post, click here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Intricate

“To be well married you have to have a penchant for the intricacies of intimacy and larval change..If the personality is a spider’s web, you will want to know every thread…Pleasures no longer come to you, but there are pickings to be had if you can learn to scavenge for them”

— Hanif Kureishi, The Body

For more photographic interpretations of Intricate, or to take part in The Weekly Photo Challenge, go to The Daily Post.

The ring bearer’s pillow pictured above exhibits the Norwegian art of Hardanger.  Even weave fabric, cut between series of satin stitches, creates intricate open designs.  I made it in 1982 at the age of 21. 

I haven’t done this Weekly Photo Challenge in a while and I’ve missed it.

Peace . . .