Inspired

Looking Up

 

A Horse Chestnut “conker” ready to shed its soft, spikey protective capsule

 

Looking up at a chestnut tree, I see a seed splitting and opening.  It's outgrowing it's shell and the emerging seed requires that it discards what once protected it.

Opening. Cracking open. Birthing. Potentials.  Can you feel it?  There’s a new energy afoot. 

There are many things in this world that have failed humanity for a very long time.  Imbalances in many areas.  Greed.  Misuse of power.  Revenge.  The pendulum has swung to extremes...back and forth.

The larger solutions may not yet be clear, but person by person we are each realizing our own personal solution is to know our truth and stand in it, in a balanced way.

Neither victim, nor aggressor, but a middle ground.  People are seeking balance…balance in their own lives, balance in the world.

 

Beyond right and wrong there is a field.  I’ll meet you there.

Rumi

It’s good…it’s all good. Like the splitting of the chestnut's shell, it may feel destructive and unsettling at first but we are beginning to listen to the whispers of our hearts. We are standing in our truth and we are doing this both in solitary and in solidarity.

And my heart whispers the words of the Buddha...

 

“when you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky”.

Wishing you all a knowing of the perfection of each step of your journey. Thank you so much for visiting.

 

(Looking Up is this weeks theme for 52 Photos Project.  Thanks Bella!)

Colours of Autumn

We’ve had a beautiful fall on the island, although our colours aren’t that new-england-spectacular fiesta.  We get lots of gold/orange/brown tone’s which, when set against the lush dark green of the coniferous forests, are beautiful in their own right…but not the flaming reds which the east coast deciduous maples are so famous for. 

When I was looking around the web for a weekly photo challenge, (because a daily one is sooooo not for me, as I found out this summer) I came across Bella’s 52 weeks project.  It’s good to have a focus like this and yet it's not too much pressure.  I had stopped taking my camera everywhere with me and was feeling quite blah about it but I think shooting with Jaime last weekend got the photography juices flowing again.   It was probably a break that was needed and I’m feeling much more motivated to get back into something low key again.

 

The creative process is a form of meditation that allows me to approach each act of creation with intuition and discovery.

 

 

This week the theme is autumn colour and rather than try to find the perfect show of autumn leaves, I went to the market instead. 

The farmer's market's on the island are full of beautiful root vegetables right now…many with the old heritage varieties.  The nearby pumpkin fields are chock full of glowing orange spheres and all I need to complete the autumn feeling is an apple pie baking in the oven!  I'm off to a late Thanksgiving and very early Christmas gathering with family later today, so I may even find this treasure on the table if I'm lucky.

 

“I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.”
- L. M. Montgomery

 

…and I truly hope that your weekend is filled with many little pleasures.  Thank you ALL for stopping by.

 

Photographs and Friends

 

Today was a beautiful day.

It was a day of sunshine and crisp light…a day made for revelling in, as only a sunny day in October day can be. Days like today are meant to be embraced with gratitude and imprinted on the heart and soul for solace in the winter days ahead.

And what made it even more perfect was that I was meeting a new friend, a blogger who lives near by, for a day of photography. Sunshine + photography + connecting with a kindred soul = perfection.

We met in Fernwood…a fun and funky Victoria neighbourhood…and sipped our Chai’s while we talked about life with all it’s twists and turns, joys and challenges. When we could no longer ignore the sunshine calling us, we headed out with camera’s in hand, walking and talking and finding a million quirky, beautiful, colourful things to photograph.

 

cats posing in windows…

 

The graceful symmetry of white picket fences...

 

 

and quirky pieces of sculpture found in unexpected places.

Jaime is a beautiful photographer and today she taught me more about my camera in one afternoon, than I’ve learned in the past five years. What a relief it is to realize that I’m finally able to begin using the camera as it’s intended to be used!

 

 

One of the most inspiring things I saw today was in a sweet little art school, just beyond this door...

 

 

There was a poem written on the classroom wall and I knew I was meant to see these words today, so I took a photograph of it through the window.

 

As the sun slipped away and the temperatures began to drop, we finally said our goodbyes with plans to do it all again soon.

I hope your weekend was soul satisfying dear friends and that you were able to find time to sing your own beautiful song.

October…Five Senses Friday...on Saturday

 

 

This week...

Seeing:  fall colours, dark clouds scuttling across the sky, fields of pumpkins, puddles from last night’s rain and stacks and stacks of fence boards…we’ve been staining mucho grande lengths of wood this week.

 

Hearing:  the sound of breathing...my own breath actually.  I've been breathing deeply...in to the count of 6 and out to the count of 6...rhythmically and deeply. I've struggled with medatative breathing for years but this year it's all come together for me.  I love it.  I crave it and I can't get enough of it.  I've been studying both the physiology of deeply oxygenating the body as well as the esoteric/yogic information and it's pretty darn amazing, emotionally, physically and spiritually. My next step...Kundalini Yoga.

 

Smelling:  Hmmmmm….not much really.  Except for fence stain.  And wet earth. Now that I think about it, my olfactory senses have  been quite underwhelmed recently.  I believe the aroma of apples and cinnamon just might be on the menu this weekend.

 

 

Touching:  brushes. I’ve been holding large brushes while painting the fence as well as smaller brushes while painting a new canvas...and for the first time, I’ve been holding a palette knife too.  So much FUN!

 

Feeling: Content. Awed. Fortunate. Grateful.  (I'm now in the interior of BC to spend the (Canadian) Thanksgiving holiday with my dad and my brother and hoping to get together with friends who are leaving in three days to build a new home and a new life in Panama.)

 

Wake up your senses,

come to your senses and in turn,

you may fire up your passion in all areas of your life!

Corrie Woods

 

(the chrysanthemum in the photograph above was HUGE…at least 10” across!)

Monet's Garden and Me in 2012

**warning:  the following post contains a shameful overuse of such superlatives as "beautiful", "gorgeous", "stunning" and "lovely".  I apologise in advance, but it was truly unavoidable.

This week something very special arrived in the mail.  Something that was wrapped up in an envelope almost as beautiful as the gift that lay inside.  (I was doing some silent inner squeeling as I opened this!)

 

I was the lucky recipient of one of Georgianna Lane’s georgeous calendars.  She has several new ones ready for 2012 and this one is brimming with 12 stunning photographs that she took this summer in Monet’s Garden near Paris, France.

 

 

Oh my goodness, I just love these colours!  It’s full of soft pinks and turquoises and roses and poppies and windows with shutters and lace. 

 

 

These lovely images will be with me throughout 2012 to remind me of summer, and romantic French gardens and beautiful dreams.

And if that wasn’t enough she even included a photograph of a stunning Parisian door…an amazing blue door.  Have I ever mentioned how much I love doors?  There's so much to wonder about them...what possibilities lie on the other side...what opportunities do they open to?  How many people have walked through them and what are their stories?

 

 

And the sweetest part of all was the little package of Parisian goodies…a card and napkin from a certain very well known French Patiserrie…Lauduree…they’re famous for their heavenly macarons, and a city guide to find my way there!  Oh my goodness…there are just so many things in my life recently, that are pointing me towards Paris.

Do you think that perhaps Georgianna knew about this?

 

Paris is always a good idea.

Audrey Hepburn 

 

Seriously, if you've never visited Georgianna's magical wonderland, you're in for a real treat.  Take a few moments to wander through her virtual garden. (and just in case you were thinking about it, I already have first dibs on carrying her camera bags around for her on her next international photography assignment, so don't even think about it!)

Thank you Georgianna!