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Perfection is an Illusion

Quote of the day:  “When you become vulnerable, any ideal or perfect image of yourself falls away. (…) Many people are addicted to perfection, and in their pursuit of the ideal, they have no patience with vulnerability. (…) Every poet would like to write the ideal poem. Though they never achieve this, sometimes it glimmers through their best work. Ironically, the very beyondness of the idea is often the touch of presence that renders the work luminous. The beauty of the ideal awakens a passion and urgency that brings out the best in the person and calls forth the dream Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

The Art of Seeing – Week 9

Quote of the day:  “AT MY SEMINARS I often ask people to join in a greeting shared by the Zulu people of South Africa. The greeting is an invocation spoken in two parts. One part is Sikhona, which means ‘I am here to be seen’; and the other part is Sawubona, which means ‘I see you.’ ” — Robert Holden This week my photography learning goal was to fulfill an “assignment” that I drew randomly from Doug Beasley‘s Vision Quest Cards: Photo Assignments For Personal & Spiritual Growth. I drew the card, “Make a self-portrait using a reflection in water or a window (not in mirror) with Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

The Miracle of Trees

Quote of the day: “To be poor and be without trees, is to be the most starved human being in the world. To be poor and have trees, is to be completely rich in ways that money can never buy.” ― Clarissa Pinkola Estés,  The Faithful Gardener: A Wise Tale About That Which Can Never Die There is something wonderful about being out in nature among trees. Besides the obvious function of providing cool shade on a hot day, trees are healing and magnificent, benevolent and kind. I love wandering in the woods, and finding trees that are weathered and old, but still Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

Joyful Photos on a Summer’s Day

Quote of the day: “When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” ― Rumi The photo above is from a photo shoot yesterday.  At the end of a very warm photo shoot my friend saw the sprinklers and couldn’t resist the urge to play. I love this photo because she’s no longer thinking about my presence but just playing.  You can see the swing of her wet hair and her absorption in her play. I enhanced this photo with 2 layers of Kim Klassen’s kk_letgo texture and a warming filter to create the Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

The Art of Seeing – Week 8

Quote of the day: “Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” ― Marc Riboud I return to my personal photography learning lessons after a 3-month hiatus. This week my goal was to fulfill an “assignment” that I drew randomly from Doug Beasley‘s Vision Quest Cards: Photo Assignments For Personal & Spiritual Growth. The assignment was to “Go somewhere you don’t like. Find the beauty and make beautiful photographs.” I drew this card over 2 weeks ago and it sat and sat and sat on my desk without me acting on it. Each time I walked by I would Read more…

By Marilyn, ago