Inspired

Once In a Blue Moon

 

Today, December 31 2009, is the last day of the year and the last day of the first decade of the 21st century.  There’s also a full moon tonight…but it’s not just any old full moon, it’s a blue moon. 

And what’s a blue moon you ask?  When there’s more than one full moon in the same month, it’s called a blue moon and to make this event even more unusual, there’s a lunar eclipse happening tonight. 

Endings and beginnings.  Releasing and embracing.

The new year brings new possibilities and creating an intention for the year helps bring focus to what we want to create for ourselves.  I’ve been choosing a word to focus on for the past 3 years…and this year I’m continuing the tradition. 

My word for 2010 is commitment.  I’m making a commitment to live my life fully in all the ways that are important to me…creatively, spiritually and physically.  I’m making a commitment to “me”.

I’ve been away from here for some weeks now.  We moved into the house, unpacked the basics and hosted Christmas Lunch.  My computer crashed, my Nikon is still in for repairs and I lost the card for my point and shoot, so creativity came to a standstill which was probably a good thing as I was really too tired to string two words together!

We’ll soon be leaving for the sunshine of Mexico again, but this year we’ll be there for just a month and then flying on to Panama for three weeks, which I’m VERY, VERY excited about.

I wish you all a very blessed 2010 and hope it brings joy and peace to your heart.

Everyday Peace – Peace Everyday: Beautiful People

“I have a friend who reads people's auras. He sees all sorts of colors like green and red and purple. He says anyone can do it. All it takes is forgetting everything you think you know and just looking. I've tried it and even though I haven't seen any colors yet, everyone I meet looks so beautiful when I stop knowing everything, that it's pretty hard to go back to the old way.”  

~ Story People

Beautiful people surround us everywhere we look and love is an expression of inner beauty.  Do we give love every day? Do we feel loved every day?  More importantly, do we love ourselves…every day?

 

If we could forget everything we think we know and look just beyond that, just think how beautiful our world would be.

I had an experience many years ago that helped me know the truth of this.  I was sitting by the waterfront at the Vancouver Public Market on my coffee break.  It was a warm, sunny spring day and as I sat on the bench watching the sun sparkle on the water, my gaze wandered over to the bustle of people sitting, standing, walking and playing nearby.  Gradually everyone’s physical bodies began to dissolve and all that was left were shapes of light.  I saw that every “light” was connected to every other light, like a web and I understood then that we’re all energy, that we are all ONE and we really are all connected…even though that’s not our everyday experience.  This lasted for several minutes and then gradually, everything faded back to “normal”.

This forever changed my perception of who I am, who we all are, and how we relate to each other.  We really aren’t who we appear to be on the surface.  We’re all incredibly beautiful, despite what the world perceives and we all have a magnificent, inextinguishable, inner light, no matter what emotional scarring our personalities project.

We are each a bright shining star. 

Blessings to each and every shining star who stops by!

(The photo’s above, of the beautiful people of Gautemala were taken two years ago while travelling there. The boys live in the village of San Pedro on Lake Atitlan and the mothers were picking coffee on a plantation near Antigua.)

Holiday Welcome

The theme this week at Lens.Us.Together is Holiday.  I thought this photograph wasn’t going to happen but inspiration hit me just as the week is ending. 

We moved into our home on Monday…it’s not quite finished yet…but WE’RE IN!

It feels a little strange.  As with any new home it takes awhile to bring your own energy in and make it yours, but slowly we’re sifting through boxes and finding places for our belongings.  There will be A LOT that won’t make the cut as we’re downsizing big time.  Strangely, one of the first things that came out of our storage containers was this Christmas welcome sign and it was stuck into in a flower bed by the front door, just to get it out of the way.  It’s perfect…and it’s the only Christmas decoration that I have right now.  (I haven’t made it to that box yet!)

For me “welcome” is what Christmas is all about.  Opening our hearts and our homes and welcoming others to share the warmth and love.  No matter what our circumstances, we can always open the door of our heart to give and receive; a smile, a hug, a cup of warmth, a meal or even just a kind and generous thought, rather than a judgement.

Swing those doors wide open this holiday season and share that generous heart of yours.  It’s a beautiful treasure and so desperately needed in the world. 

Someone, right now, is longing for even just a moment of love.

Blessings to you!

(and no, it’s not snowing here…it’s yet another texture layer to play with from PinkSherbet on Flickr)

Handmade/Homemade

Last week’s theme at Lens Us Together was “Homemade” and I struggled a bit with this topic.  If you’ve been visiting here for awhile then you’ll know that much of my “life” has been packed away in boxes since the end of April…including the contents of my studio.  It’s been a challenge for me but also very freeing, as I was forced to focus soley on photography and digital media and that has opened up new projects and new ways of approaching this media. 

The other challenge has been the difficulty I’ve had in concentrating on anything creative when my mind has been on construction decisions and living with extended family.  We’ve all had a lot of fun together and enjoyed the experience so much, but it’s definitely time to get back to “normal’ life…whatever that might be!

In the last few months I’ve been working on a series of digital work which start with my own black and white photographs.  I then add a solid block of colour and continue to add on collage layers (digitally).  I find the contrast of black and white with a bright solid colour, interesting and fun to work with.  The top picture was originally of a pumpkin patch…hence the orange, and the pink one above was of a field of gladiola’s.

 

And this one, which I’ve posted here previously, is of the ever present sea that nourishes and surrounds me! 

This is about as “home made” as it' gets around here these days!

I’m so glad you stopped by for a visit,

Play well and be kind to one another.