Intentions...and Reality!!

My intention is to write on the Photoschmoozer blog daily - but we know what often happens to intentions...reality sets in - or a different kind of seeing.  When I drive to the pool for warm water exercise ( a perfect event in itself) I pass a big pond and there is a fake swan and a fountain oh and a rowboat on the shore.  The other day, I noticed the pond was full of lily pads.  I never quite noticed them before so I made plans to stop by.  I finally did and just got lost in the stillness of the environment (even though I was right next to the busy road!)  Often makes me wonder why people don't just stop and see - they are too busy getting somewhere?!? for something 'important'.   Hey I am retired - whatever that means - and as I say, this state of being is somewhat like a permanent vacation.  The lily pads and the yellow buds make me relate that to life.  They hang out, look pretty, and float along with the currents.  Not too shabby huh??  Now if we could only be more like the lily pads, the water and the blossoms.  BUT for so many of us (me often included) we want to KNOW what is going on. We want to know what we are MEANT to do - and we forget that a big piece of us is MEANT TO BE!!   It's a BE STILL thing, friends - we have to be quiet and go within to find out what is to be...all of the answers are within us - it's just tough to believe in and trust that!!

   Recently, related to life and relationships, I have tried to look at the days and people differently.  For me it is all about EXPECTATIONS - and the possibilities.  I just said to someone that if I could pick a middle name, it would be Possibility!!  I dream about the what ifs and that brings me joy.  The challenge with that is that when my expectations are not fulfilled and reality sets in, I become disappointed and even though Don Miguel Ruiz tells us in The Four Agreements not to take it personally, well...another of life's learning lessons.  What is wrong with me - what did I do wrong - that responsibility comes from the oldest child and needing to make things 'right'!   So many challenges and lessons to be learned and don't you know, we get those lessons OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAINI til maybe, just maybe one day, the aha will really come and wisdom will be achieved.  To be wished! 

Then the other day, I got drawn into this beauty in our garden!  We visited and I was still with her...and she shared her splendor.  Friends, IF I had worried about the technicalities of the camera and photography, I would not have been still enough to see the magnificence of this gift.  HEY - a thought just crossed my mind...all related to the BE STILL and SEE stuff.  Isn't life the same way.  I just shared with a friend that we can't seek the answers/solutions from anywhere but the stillness within us.  So life...my photography...learning...they are all intertined...there are only synchronicities, lessons and possibilities!  We have to be still and NOT seek  out answers in a determined, planned way.  Just brings so much more peace when we can BE!  So today, I am taking a friend to the doctor's in Philadephia and we are meeting early and heading to the city just to BE and SEE!  Hmmm wonder what is across the bridge for us?!?!?

Totally Awesome Little Grasshopper!!

We took our first class at Grounds for Sculpture near Trenton, NJ. The amount of sculptures placed throughout the grounds are totally amazing and well worth a trip to explore.  Once again, I am enrolled in a photography class where folks want to know how to use their camera!!  When will I find one where people come because they want to learn so much more about HOW TO SEE what is all around them, how to create composition, and how to be creative??  I am beginning to think that I might have to create my own to find like minded souls.  Not today though.  We listened to the instructor for about half an hour talking about the camera being like a computer and we needed to learn how to use the settings.  Then she sent us out into the bright light close to high noon to take pictures.  Don't you hear the words of the magic times for photography - aren't they early in the morning and at sunset?  They call these the golden hours?  Mark my word.  These hours are NOT high noon!!  No way.  We did explore and once again, I was drawn to the beautiful lillies by the small ponds.  I was still and watched but even then, I did not see the gift that I received when I got home and put the pictures in the computer.  Make sure you look closely and see the bright green grasshopper watching me from the center of the flower!  How lucky do I feel?  Remember I talk about synchronicities?  Yes, my friends, they are all around us.  Just stop and see what pleases you!!