An online journal sharing my interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, spirituality and asking deep questions.
“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty ‘yes’ to your adventure.”
Joseph Campbell
I like his suggestion that “being who you are” is a privilege. Because for me, I was never truly happy with my life when trying to be who or what society suggested I be. Life is becoming more of an adventure each day, even at this age, as I say “yes” in becoming me. It is a privilege! Hope everyone stays cool and safe today.
“We begin to find and become ourselves when we notice how we are already found, already truly, entirely, wildly, messily, marvelously who we were born to be.”
Anne Lamott
Well, if it did get above zero yesterday it had to have only lasted for a couple blinks of eye. I heard a handful of people say they saw it, then it was gone. I wasn’t one of them. I took this image just outside my door. It is warmer this morning at -5° but there is no sunshine. And, we are expecting clouds and light snowfall all day and maybe a high of + 7°. It will be a soup kinda day along with reading and journaling.
I like how Anne Lamott does not say that we find and become ourselves but that we begin. This makes it a journey. I never thought about deep questions like that when I was younger, my focus was on things rather than my very nature. But there came a day when questions like who I am and what’s my purpose began popping up on my radar. Thankfully, I can report that for me finding who we were born to be has become quite the adventure. I find it exciting and makes life enjoyable for me. I’ve heard it said that life’s journey is to uncover, discover and discard all that keeps us from becoming who we already are. What a beautiful journey to walk! Thanks for listening and stay warm!
Often when something is ending we discover within it the spore of new beginning, and a whole new train of possibility is in motion before we even realize it. When the heart is ready for a fresh beginning, unforeseen things can emerge. And in a sense, this is exactly what a beginning does. It is an opening for surprises. Surrounding the intention and the act of beginning, there are always exciting possibilities.
John O’Donohue
I’m not going to offer a list of my favorite images for 2023 because they’re all my favorites. That is not arrogance but an acknowledgement of a love I have for this craft of photography that even the ones you don’t see are teachers for me. This will be my final post of 2023. It is time to say goodbye to the year and look to the possibilities in 2024. Last year began with a lot of unknowns with my health and this year I have other unknown health issues. Seems to come with this age thing. Yet, I am looking to this coming year with exciting possibilities in all areas of my life. I’m not sure where this year will lead me, what spirit of adventure awaits, whether those are good or bad, what adjustments to my sails I will need to make, what will I need to learn, and what new ground will I walk? Exciting possibilities.
I started this last day of 2023 at Pineridge Natural Area to take in the cold, in the silence and the amazing colors of predawn. Nothing more energizing for me than beginning the day and ending the year with time in nature. And, I also enjoy witnessing creations ever changing works of art. I then made my way to Starry NIght for an Americano and a croissant. I end this post with a prayer and wish for all your new possibilities in the coming year.
The God of our understanding is just that: the God of our understanding. What we need is the God just beyond our understanding.
Rami Shapiro
As I set up my tripod this morning, the full moon was setting behind me and the sun had not yet risen. Predawn or twilight are the names we call this time of day. It is a favorite time for me. An orange glow sat along the horizon, a color I have come to know as the gift offering of the day’s mysteries. And today I think I will call those mysteries: adventures. As I returned home and walked to my front door the sky above me became filled with the sight and sounds of hundreds of Canada Geese. I just stood there with a bag of groceries in one hand and 12 roll package of toilet paper under the other arm. I watched them zig and zag in their attempt to keep perfect formation. And, as always there are those one or two or three that wander off course, then hustle to get back in formation or join another formation. I watched the rising sun begin lighting them with its glow against the clear blue sky. I accepted another of the day’s offerings!
When younger I did not use the name God in any form or shape of reverence or awe, but usually out of anger or frustration with life. I’ll just say it was profanity. I could not understand a God that would cause or allow the pain and suffering I saw in life. However, I reached a point in life where, as Rami Shapiro suggests, I began to seek a God just beyond my understanding. As I experience moments of reverence or awe like this morning, I have a sense this is what God is all about. Yes, it is just beyond my understanding. Hoping you have a wonderful day!
When we live as if everything is sacred, which it is if you really think about it, we relate to the things in our environment in a much more responsible way.
Jane Reichhold
Not sure I can adequately list all that I wish for you but here is a short one… Wishing you oodles of joy, happiness, peace, good health, Dove’s chocolates, the miraculous gifts of each new day (sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, butterflies), a heart bursting with love and hope, a heart of gratitude, family times, new adventures, DQ Blizzards (at least the small size), the gift of the songbirds morning canticle, innumerable hugs, moments of silence and stillness, listening to your inner voice or the sound of the wind or the quiet voice of silence, more time with nature, a book or poem that nurtures your heart and soul, the lyrics of a new or an old song that touches you at some new and deep level, new friends, times of quiet prayer and meditation, and to live as if everything is sacred!!! ❤️
I would say that 80-90% of the leaves have let go of the mother tree and moved on to the next phase of life. And, every year I’m intrigued from a photographer’s perspective to see the few leaves who seem to want to hold on. Maybe it’s because they remind me of me. They remind me of my tendency to hang on when letting go of my unhealthy habits, traits, and thinking was a better option. Hard lessons have taught me that letting go allows us to experience new adventures in life. I would say that at this Fall Season of my life I am learning to let go and live the next phase of life. Truly, it has become an adventure!
We are cold at 23 degrees. Took the bus to campus and now sipping on a mocha at the Lory Student Center. Have a wonderful Friday!
“You can only appreciate nature by feeling and seeing it with the heart and the eyes of a child.”
Michael Bassey Johnson
I would not be able to look myself in the mirror if I visited Yellowstone National Park without a photograph of the lower and upper falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. I got both! Crowds were small at Artists Point due to the time of year. Without crowds I was able to just stand there watching, listening, experiencing the awe and wonder of it all. I took this photograph about 2:00 pm and that’s why the lighting is flat, but I also know any image would fail to express the experience. You had to be there!!! The waterfall captures most people’s attention but the canyon with those precipitous jagged cliffs and that yellow rock cause me stand speechless while listening to the sound of the waterfalls power echo in the canyon. I already wanna go back.