Winter is Late~ Birds Don't Seem to Mind

Attitude of Gratitude

I had a wonderful experience this morning teaching my first class at the Raquet club this morning. I so appreciate the opened mindedness of the participants. It is another gray day here in Illinois, so nice to be able to start my day with a wonderful group of women. I took these photos a couple days ago when we had beautiful frost with the sun to light it up mixed with a light fog. Love the weather! Both of these shots were taken purposefully overexposed (letting in more  light) in order to capture to mood of the moment.

More Abstracts~ Learning to Let Go

Well, as quickly as I came upon that book about writing, I lost it, or I guess I let it go. This is fascinating since I just couldn't give it my attention, it vanished. I have the desire to be able to write but for me it is so time consuming while taking photos is more timeless, effortless. I recently began a transcendental mediation class which they described to me as effortless and much to my surprise, it really is. It is all about letting go, letting thoughts come if they come, not forcing anything, just letting things be as they are. This type of letting go is exactly what I want in my life.

Here are a few photos taken while letting go.... of judgment (why are you taking a picture of a screen?) of control, (let the subject be just where it is), of thought who wants a photo of that?). I am enjoying abstracts as they are more about feeling and I can not only let myself go while taking it, but I can also let myself go INTO it to see what feelings it evokes from me and hopefully others.

 

  

 

Writing Begins with the Breath

I've picked up an new book, I'm not sure how I came to choose it or why. Often books seem to choose for me. This is a book about writing, about authentic writing. The first writing prompt is : When I am at a crossroads I......

It occurrs to me that people are often not aware of most of the crossroads they face in life.

Freedom~

The photos captured below seem to have a sense of freedom to them which is interesting since the last post was more "caged in". I suppose it is accurate though. I do seem to be experiencing both a feeling of freedom while also feeling or maybe observing the fences around me. I love what looks like the release of this bird. This one holds lots of meaning for me. Now is a time in my life where I am free to fly if I can allow myself. Often we fence ourselves in one post at a time without ever realizing it until the fence is large.

Reflecting on reflections

Walking through the streets of New Orleans early in the morning I was stuck over and over by the fence posts which seemed to be popping up every where I looked. Thinking about this, as often my photos show my inner state, I am feeling perhaps a bit caged in.

Viewing the Abstract~ Pre class photos

I am just leaving a wonderful week in New Orleans where I spent some time working on creating abstract shots as I am enrolled in an online course through Kim Ort. My mother once asked me, "don't you get tired of taking the same photos in New Orleans all the time?", (we visit there often) What my mother, and I imagine a great deal of other people, fail to realize is that we never take the same photo twice, it is actually impossible, which to me is fascinating. Never will the light, the circumstances, my view be exactly the same. This is one of the reasons I enjoy photography so much, it really is about that one moment of time captured.

These photos were taken before any instruction was given. I was caught by the light and shapes.

Morning Walk

I feel quite lucky to be able to spend a morning or two a week walking the country roads with my dear friend. This morning was the first morning I brought my camera.

Illinois Prairie

The morning before the super moon lunar eclipse, September 27, I drove around our country roads hoping to find a good spot to capture the large moon right at the horizon. These are some photos I took that morning.

Outside In

Gratitude for the space I have, looking at it differently through the mirror in this bottom photo, I see my life looks even better than when I look at it head on. Sometimes we have to get out of our own way to see things more clearly. It is hard to watch our children struggle, but it is important to remember that it is their struggle, not our own. We do not have to own or feel responsible for their decisions. We do not own our children, we only borrow them from the world for a short time. Hopefully we have enough positive influence on them that they eventually find their way, but if not, that's okay too. For they are learning whatever it is they need to learn. Try looking at your life from the outside in... what do you see?

Firewalk~ Building our Energy to walk across the coals

So this was a way cool night! We spent time raising our energy fields to match that of the fire so that as we walked across the 12 foot long path over the 1200 degree coals we did not get burned. I've learned much this summer about the energies inside us and the energies in our universe. Here are some prewalk photos. Unfortunately I didn't get us going over the coals. I didn't want to carry my camera across so I put it away for safe keeping. It took only about 2 hours for this massive 20 plus foot high fire to burn down enough for us to walk across. As we waited for the flames to tear down the cedar logs we worked on preparing ourselves for the journey across. We sang and danced and broke wooden arrows using our necks to build our confidence and courage. Jeremy, our firewalker trainer also built our fear; apparently fear has powerful energy. We learned to direct our fear and transform it.

In anticipation

Qigong Practice

Day's end practice...

Qigong~ Mother of Tai Chi

I am spending the week at The Marianist Center in Eureka, Missouri for a Qigong teacher training with master trainer Roger Janke. It is warm, sunny and very humid so we are spending almost all of our time indoors in the air conditioning which is very hard for me.  It is a long intensive training with class starting at 7:00 am and finishing about 9:00 pm. I did get out after lunch for a walk through the woods down to the Eureka River. Here are some photos I took on my Qi filled walk.

The 9 Phases of Cultivating and Mastering Qi:

1. Discover Chi
2. Gather Chi
3. Circulate Chi
4. Purify Chi
5. Direct Chi
6. Conserve Chi
7. Store Chi
8. Transform Chi
9. Dissolve Chi

Trains, Trains... Trains

Early Morning at the West Baden~ One of our favorite spots