Blue happens to be my favorite color (robin’s egg blue that leans more towards blue than green, to be exact, but I pretty much like all the shades of blue). Perhaps that’s why I’ve never associated blue with sadness. I mean, I can shoot the blues but I can’t sing them.
And so I did. Shoot the blues, that is. At the San Francisco’s Pier 39. And it was just what I needed for the WordPress Photo of the Week Challenge with the theme Blue. (Betcha you guessed that immediately, right?)
So here we go with the last of my backlogged photo challenges: BLUE, for you!
{Click on the image for a larger view}
For the record: I think this was the first time I actually saw this kind of silvery-blue fish. Pretty awesome really, those creatures.
Mason Cooley wrote,
The sheen of ocean gleams on the blue fish-plate.
And so it does, doesn’t it?
Now if, like me, seeing all that beautifully glistening blue makes you imagine the b-l-i-s-s of floating peacefully along, gently rocked by the ocean’s rolling waves, then I’m guessing you’ll love how Enya’s Caribbean Blue brings you perfectly to that place of cool, calm comfort:
All this blue around has made me curious: What is blue to you? Does it bring to mind something extraordinary and uncommon (Blue Moon)? Someone beloved (Blue Eyes)? Love (Mr. Blue)? The wonder of the heavens above and oceans beneath (I see skies are blue, red roses too…)? Sadness (Singing the Blues) or happiness (Blue skies, nothing but blue skies…)?
I personally think blue is cool. But then, you knew that from the first sentence of this post, right? heehee.
Hope today turns out to be cool for you, both literally and figuratively, my dear friends!
There are busy days, and then there are busy days. The kind that seem to rush past in a blur, and when we finally get the time to sit back and take a deep breath, we abruptly find ourselves at the end of the day. Ever have that kind of day? I have many of them.
Luckily for those of us who get caught by the daily rush, there is a way to get through them and survive and even come out victorious at the day’s finish line, cheering and whooping and dancing amidst the confetti rain. I’m not talking about sticky-tacking the hands of the clock when no one’s looking (though I will admit the prospect of doing just that is deliciously tempting, if only it would work. Ha!). And, tempting though it is, too, to follow the day’s hasty pace and charge through our To-Do list with a Tasmanian-Devilish burst of speed, I suspect the answer doesn’t lie there either. Often the blur is something we have no control over anyway, so to go rushing blindly isn’t going to make it go away. So what then?
Ahem. We were talking about solutions, right? I like to think the answer lies in applying the Shooting Principle. And in case you feel you have to google that, don’t bother: I just invented it right now (haha).
The Shooting Principle of Life
Basically, the Shooting Principle is all about coping with life’s quick pace the same way one would when shooting a photo. If you move around too quickly, or if you don’t hold steady, or if there isn’t enough light (or a tripod to keep your camera steady otherwise—but then how many of us walk around with a tripod on a daily basis, right?), you’ll get a blurry shot.
Yeah, so?How does not moving quickly, holding steady, and working with light translate to the business of real life? Stay with me, my friend. It’s going to make sense in a bit, I promise.
See, I think, in much the same way, if we rush through the day without taking the time to be grateful for all the blessings that are easily overlooked in the hurry and flurry, if we allow ourselves to be thrown out of whack by unexpected occurences or unforeseen problems instead of staying steadily on track, if we forget to take the time to light the day with moments of both calm prayer and cheerful humor, then our life would be a complete blur.
So the answer, then, lies in keeping ourselves focused, even and perhaps especially when we are caught in the midst of the daily rush. That’s the key word then: Focus. In the midst of trying conditions, the only way to avoid getting lost in the blur is to keep focused. Train our sights on our goals and keep working steadily along. (Let’s see now: Get laundry done. Check. Get the groceries shopped. Check. Get dinner cooked. Check.). Choose to look at the positives and let the negatives fade away. Know what needs to be done at each moment and strive to complete that before going on to the next. Then, even if the blur continues, that which is the object of focus remains standing and triumphant.
Amazingly, there actually exists a song about Frames & Focus! Here you go:
And so, this is where I end for now, as I focus on today’s To-Do List (still full as always, but now with one backlogged WordPress Photo Challenge less and just one more to go before I’m all caught up… Yay!). In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful day filled with the right lights, intense focus amidst the daily blur, and lots of good times to capture with heart and hands and perhaps even a camera lens!
Forgive me for being absent for quite some time… I just got back from a family vacation on the West Coast, and had two weeks of net-free, real life adventures, family bonding and together-time!
And now, to do the accounting:
Pounds Gained = 6 (alack!)
Days Spent Trying to Get Rid of Jetlag = 11
Wordpress Weekly Photo Challenges to Catch Up On = 3 Family Bonding & Happy Adventures = Priceless
More than worth any cost, for sure!
So apt, then, that the first WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge that I need to catch up on is themed Together. Here’s my take on it:
{ Click on the image for a larger view}
(I especially love that the mom and dad are holding hands while pushing the stroller… did you notice that too? Awwww! )
And resurrecting an oldie but goodie to celebrate love and togetherness:
Have you gone anywhere together with loved ones recently? Was it awesome, too?
I am thrilled to find that I am finally getting checks on my backlogged to-do list! (Not everything is checked, but hey, it’s the journey that matters, and I’m getting there, right?)
So here I am, catching up on two WordPress Weekly Photo Challenges that I missed in the past. (Somehow the ne’er-give-up part of me has been whispering “Better late than never” so I just had to get these two challenges done, even if they happen to be long overdue).
The Journey
First, because life is a journey for all of us, here’s my take on the Journey theme:
[ Click on the image to get a larger view]
Would you agree that we all have the same goal at the very end of life (which, I would say, is to have lived a life worth living, one in which we were able to leave the world a better place than when we first came into it)? Yet, although there is one end that we all journey toward, there are different paths to lead each of us there… or not. And isn’t it precisely that “or not” that encourages us to use our wisdom, our talents, and our faith to choose the right path to get to the right destination? And then, yes, to travel that path and to make the journey in the best possible way we can (not according to any person’s criteria, but according to that of our conscience and our faith). Ah. The journey called life. It’s awesome, is it not?
Arranged
As a mom of five, I am a big advocate of order (especially when it comes to getting my kids to pack away their toys. ).
Seriously, though, I do believe order is essential. One needs only to look at the world around us to see that what is most pleasing to the senses is that in which order reigns (cadences and chords in music, flowers swaying in the field, the rising and setting of the sun, even the way dappled sunlight falls on the leaves of trees). Even the account of Creation as recorded in Genesis reflects order. Amazing, no?
Too, seventeen years of teaching have given me enough evidence to agree with child specialists who proclaim that children naturally seek order in their lives (which is why I understand that it is not only good but necessary for us to set boundaries according to a child’s maturity and capabilities as he grows, with the objective of course of ensuring not that he will rely on us and our judgment forever, but that he will one day be strong enough and wise enough to let go of our hand and venture out on his own ).
Speaking of children and order leads me then to my take on the Arranged theme for WordPress’ Photo of the Week Challenge:
[ Click on the image to get a larger view]
Even little plastic men feel the need for order imposed by my sons’ hands. <teehee>
And of course, I could not resist leaving you with an old but nevertheless wonderful song to go with this post:
And a question for you too: Of all the journeys you’ve taken in life, what is the one that you will never forget?
Two is for the number of weeks that I’ve been getting less than 4 hours of sleep, working on ten million and one projects, all at the same time. (Could life get any better? ). Two is also the number of WordPress Photo of the Week Challenges that I have missed and need to catch up on.
And two is the theme of this week’s WordPress Photo of the Week challenge (and thankfully, I’ve managed to grab the time to get back on track).
The challenge prompt for this week was:
Two Subjects. This “theme” is more of a composition challenge. In the picture above, there are actually two subjects – one in the foreground (the cup), and one in the background (the dog) – both are essential parts of the picture and they each contribute something differently to the photo. Share a picture with TWO SUBJECTS!
[ If you want to see the cup and the dog in the prompt photo, you can see it here ].
I am always delighted when the theme for a challenge is open to a million different interpretations. I am also delighted by sunrises, snowballs, delicious pairs of boots (note the plural form ), children’s laughter, my camera, and my computer… and above all, I am delighted by love in all its myriad manifestations.
Which brings me to my interpretation of this week’s challenge:
[ Click on the photo to see it in full size ]
My sweet nephew and his darling girlfriend have decided to tie the knot next year, and he got her the ring to seal the deal! (About time too, Joey! ). Ah, youth and love. *sigh & swoon* What a delight.
And delight is this song, too, which is, quite literally, perfect:
My Perfect Two is of course my hubby and me (which over the years morphed into the Perfect Seven = one girl, me, and six men… or boys, as the case may be ). Still another Perfect Two of mine are my camera and my computer. Oh, and my coffee and my biscotti too!
I love surprises. I love it when yet again there is proof, both visible and audible, of the wisdom in this truth: We must go beyond the surface and seek the beauty that is within. And I love it when that truth is proven in such an unexpectedly stunning way.
Hang on a sec, if you’ll just indulge me just a wee bit, I feel the need to gush some more: I especially love it when the underdog rises above a hurtful past and manages to come out so wonderful, not despite but perhaps even because. I love it that someone who has every reason to be proud of himself chooses instead to remain refreshingly humble. I love that in the moment of victory he remains magnanimous, and doesn’t forget the friend who has journeyed along with him.
Such deep lessons from a seemingly simple video.
And whattaguy, seriously.
Check it out:
PS. Clicking above will lead you directly to the video on Youtube since the video doesn’t permit embedding in blogs. Sorry about that. But it’s worth watching, I promise you.
Just two more hours—and the minutes are ticking by—before I host (for the very first time) the Speed Scrap at JessicaSprague.com! This is part of the four-day party we’re having to celebrate my being in the Designer Spotlight this weekend. It’s wild (with a 40% off discount on everything in my shop), it’s wonderful, and it’s guaranteed to make you go WOW!
So join me, please, in two hours? It would be awesome if you would! (Plus a little birdy told me there will be a little sumpin-sumpin for those who do ).
Indulge. It’s the latest theme for WordPress Photo of the Week. (Love the constant challenge!)
I don’t know about you, but when I hear the word indulge, I see things in my mind that look a lot like chocolate fudge loaded with whipped cream. Or a lazy afternoon on the beach with a shallow book (purely for entertainment) and a tall glass of fruit shake. Loads of laughter and long tight hugs from my kids. That sort of thing.
But indulge can mean different things to different people. Heaven knows, the dictionary itself defines it in various ways:
to gratify
to yield to a desire
to engage or to take part in, especially freely or avidly
Sounds good enough, except that as I’m going through the rest of the definitions in the dictionary, I start to get the feeling that the act of indulging might not be something I’d want to admit to, too often… especially when the additional entries in the big book define it as yielding to the desires and whims of, especially to an excessive degree and allowing oneself unrestrained gratification. Eep! Sounds like that might be a mite too unrestrained and maybe a wee bit too risky for my taste…
Except, I think, when it comes to living life.
Indulging in life: now that, to me, means living life to its fullest, and that can’t be anything else but a good thing, right?
But how to represent that in an image captured through a lens? For that I’d need a metaphor, and this is what INDULGE looked like through my lens today:
That’s actually just part of the story. Here’s the full monty, the big picture (poster?) that gives the complete story that lies behind the final cat-who-got-the-cream SLURP! shot:
(Click on the image to view a larger size)
And speaking of indulging in life and all it has to offer, here’s Andrea Bocelli to remind us of what we need most in order to do that as best as we can:
Hope you have a wonderful day filled with love-filled indulgences!
I love windows. My home is filled with them. I love that they let light in, and I love even more that they allow me to look out, up, and down.
To me, windows—and the views they allow—are a great metaphor for wisdom. If we look, and look well; if we look and take in different views, odds are we’ll eventually find the answers we’re seeking. Only when one is able to see things from different angles can complete understanding, often even true wisdom, walk in.
Speaking of wisdom, one of the wisest things I’ve learned came from one of my past relationships in my late-teens / early-twenties (yeah, that time when you think you’re an adult but you’re not really there yet, so there’s still a spattering of angst and a tendency to brood over things that don’t quite go the way you want them; that kind of thing ). I don’t even remember what I was moping about, but the lesson I have kept well and have practiced all the time since, and it is one I have passed on to my kids:
When things don’t go the way you want them to, or something makes you frustrated / depressed / angry et cetera, ask yourself this question:
Can I do something about it?
If the answer to that is Yes, then go do it. If the answer to that is No, then laugh. That’s right: laugh! You can’t do anything about it anyway, so you might as well keep your sense of humor and get on with the rest of the business of living… of living a happy, good life. Right?
We can be down, honey, but we’ll never be out.
Which brings me to the WordPress Photo of the Week theme (Down) and my take on it:
And extolling the wonders of looking at the world from a different viewpoint, here’s Jack Johnson:
I want to turn the whole thing upside down I’ll find the things they say just can’t be found I’ll share this love I find with everyone…
Have a wonderful day loaded with amazing sights and views, and much love too, my friends!
Do you hop out of bed when the alarm clock shrieks? Do you run to the sink and splash water on your face while brushing your teeth and slipping your feet into your shoes, or do you amble toward the bathroom door with a quick glance at the clock, mentally calculating how many minutes you have before it’s time to rush out the door?
Do you walk, run, drive to your office, park your car or jump off the bus, walk briskly to the door with a brief nod at the doorman and a “Good morning” that fades just a beat behind the echo of your footsteps as you make your way to the elevator, sliding your shoulder in between its rapidly closing doors and nudging your way through the rest of the suited and coated crowd?
Or do you bundle your children in their school clothes, hastily dump the dishes and flatware in the sink as you quickly buss the kiddos before dropping them off at the bus stop or the school grounds, then whip out your To-Do list (with items pending from yesterday) and get yourself to the nearest grocery store to pick up necessities that can’t necessarily be delayed any longer before you drop off the week’s clothes at the dry-cleaners and rush off to that Parent-Teacher meeting that you’re already running two minutes behind?
(Phew! Are you panting yet?)
At the end of the day, do you drop dead on your bed feeling like a totally squeezed lemon, reaching for sleep the way a starving man reaches for a grain of rice after a month-long fast?
Or do you have the gift of time?
Are you freakin’ kidding me?, you might ask incredulously. And I would understand; I would get you completely. I often feel like I’m riding on a speeding train too, one that won’t stop long enough for me to catch a breath of fresh air or to insert a skip and a hop between the brisk steps I have to take to get from Point A to Point B, double-time. Yup, I know what it’s like, my friend.
But I hope there are for you, as there thankfully are for me, routines throughout the day that force us to stop a while, to take stock and be silent and pray (and I kid you not, I have to make an effort to make sure those routines are kept in place because, tempting as it is to throw them aside in favor of what seem to be more pressing matters, I have discovered that the moments of silence are precisely what ensure that the rest of my day goes as best as it can, rush-hour and trips galore notwithstanding).
Thankfully, I have five children, three of whom are under the age of 10, who are courageous enough to ignore the daily rush and speeding time in order to stick their face in front of mine and say, Mom guess what happened at school today? or to lay a hand on my arm and quietly whisper, I love you, Mama.
And thankfully, sometimes, someone gets the brilliant idea of performing some experiment that will test whether, when given a chance, really busy people will stop long enough to recognize beauty in the middle of mundane everyday routines. To focus on what really counts. To appreciate the glorious that hides behind what is so commonplace and easy to overlook.
Because in this crazy, hectic, busy world filled with an insanely huge amount of musts and to-do’s, it is so, so, so important to do this. To take the time to simply
STOP. And pay attention. Seriously.
Beauty, miracles, amazing discoveries: they’re all around us. In sights, in sounds, in touches. The only thing we need to do is to halt long enough to uncover them. Then we are rewarded with gentle reminders of why it’s good to be alive, why there’s so much to be grateful for, why we are so lucky that we continue to be blessed by a loving Father who showers gifts on us abundantly, even if we are often remiss in stopping a while to appreciate and say a silent prayer of thanks.
I came upon this while surfing the web today, and it was/is one of those amazing stories that one could easily overlook… or that one could stop (perhaps, being fated to do so?) and pay attention to and be reminded once again to smell not just the coffee percolating, but the quiet fragrance of the grass outside the kitchen windows and the sweet morning scent of the kids just risen from bed and the freshly-shaved skin of the hubby who (thank goodness) takes the time to hug you warmly before he goes off to work.
This story certainly drives home that point in more than a couple of ways.
It’s a story of a regular Friday-rush-hour January morning at a DC metro, when a very regular nondescript white man takes up his violin and starts to play. In the 43 minutes that he plays 6 musical masterpieces, only a handful stop to listen, and the first one to do so, only after the man has played for six minutes. And despite the amazing gift of beautiful music that fills the station, it is just a few (you can count them on one hand) who are “awake” enough to take notice of the gift of music that they happened to pass by on that morning, among them a three-year-old toddler who had to be pulled away by his rushing mom, an Au Bon Pain waiter busing tables nearby, and a USPS supervisor who once dreamed of being a violinist but did not recognize, either, the man who was playing before him.
It was Joshua Bell, one-time child prodigy, internationally-acclaimed yet refreshingly humble violin virtuoso (who plays to standing-room $1000-ticket-paying audiencies in symphony halls, whose audience in those halls are so respectful of his talent that they postpone their urge to cough till he’s done playing, and who has been described as one who “plays like a god.”). On that January day, he played not easily-recognizable classical music but those masterful, majestic, difficult-to-play pieces, Bach’s Chaconne and Schubert’s Ave Maria among them. And he played these on a $3.5 million Stradivarius violin.
It was an experiment done by Washington Post to investigate “context, perception and priorities,” to see what would happen if a great musician played great music in a banal setting at a time when leisure is an unheard-of commodity; would beauty transcend? Would people actually stop to listen? To appreciate? To realize the beauty unfolding in the most unlikely place and time?
Here’s a clip of the actual event (thank you, Youtube ):
And here’s the full story, Pearls Before Breakfast, by Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post.
It is one definitely worth taking the time to read. One that possesses little nuggets of wisdom, hiding between the lines, not least of which is this strikingly astute observation that Weingarten makes:
If we can’t take the time out of our lives to stay a moment and listen to one of the best musicians on Earth play some of the best music ever written; if the surge of modern life so overpowers us that we are deaf and blind to something like that—then what else are we missing?
We might not ever find ourselves in a metro on a rush-hour morning, but certainly the basic ingredients will be there: modern life and its incessant demands; the rush, the hustle and bustle, the never-ending many-paged priority lists. But yes, we can and yes, we should stop and look, listen, smile. And be thankful that we remembered to simply be thankful.
May your day be full of glorious stops and discoveries, my dear friends! xox
Oh what a thrill! Another thing to cross off my never-ending perpetually-accumulating To-Do List! I’ve always wanted to give my little blog-porch a facelift but somehow never had the time to get down to that business. Finally, after spending the past two days fiddling around and figuring out (thank you, google and WordPress Support Archives) [...]
I love living on these islands in the Pacific, I truly do. I love that we have great beaches (love, even, that I can mention “beaches” in its plural form, and that reaching them does not necessarily involve a plane ride). I love that the two seasons–wet and dry–don’t require drastic wardrobe rotations. I love [...]
I will, at the risk of revealing certain factors that may make it possible for you to guess my age group, admit to being a child of the Seventies, and loving every moment of it. A decade like no other before or after it (yet), the 70s espoused the wild and carefree spirit that the [...]
). Still another Perfect Two of mine are my camera and my computer. Oh, and my coffee and my biscotti too!
). I don’t even remember what I was moping about, but the lesson I have kept well and have practiced all the time since, and it is one I have passed on to my kids:
