Picture to Ponder

Close-up and Distance Perspectives – Picture to Ponder – Vol. 5 – Issue 41 – Spatterdock

by Sheila Finkelstein on November 12, 2009

Today’s photos turned into a theme of the different perspectives from which we can view our life. I did not realize, as I selected photos, that the spatterdock root was featured two issues ago. Rather than make a time-consuming switch, I am going with the flow.

TODAY’S PHOTOS –
As I was completing a recent walk in Wakodahatchee Wetlands, my eye was drawn to these spatterdock roots spreading out all over.

Meandering roots
Don’t seem to offer much.
What, then, is the pull?
Moved forward a bit on the boardwalk.

Zoomed in
Got really close
Saw a nice bridge
Almost a circle with reflections.

And then on computer monitor
Found it almost confronting
An opening and seemingly
No place to go.

So glad I have a
Third photo to share

(Plus a fourth – not roots –
After the queries.)

Now there are some choices
A few directions and some greens
More appreciable from further back.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
Now I invite you to look into your life at an area or an issue with which you may seem to be wandering all over the place. Then move in and take a really close look at it, almost as if you have it under a magnifying glass. Now step back from it slightly, giving you a third perspective.

From which of the positions do you get the most understanding and perspectives? Afar? Really close? Or a midway point of view? Does looking through a different lens empower you?

Lastly, I did promise there would be one more photo to complete the day.

Attracted by the wood knot itself, atop a boardwalk railing, it became even more interested when viewed on my computer monitor. As the SRQs were forming in my head, I saw a face, lying down, angled slightly looking at us. She seems to have a wink or a smirk.

She might be saying, “What IS all this pondering about anyway? Are you making issues bigger than they really are? ”

Perhaps you see something entirely different in the wood knot picture. That’s the fun of appreciating and being human? What images do you see?

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Lost in a crowd – Picture to Ponder – Vol 5- issue 40 – Mushrooms in AOS Gardens

by Sheila Finkelstein on November 4, 2009

Based on positive feedback I received, appreciating integrating “Today’s Photos” with “Self-Reflecting Queries,” I am continuing that format today. So be sure to scroll through the whole of today’s Picture to Ponder.

Tonight (Wednesday, November 4th) I will be interviewing camera expert, Ingrid Owens of Camera Shy. She will be sharing answers to questions she’s asked on buying and using the digital camera.

She will also be sharing the one quick tip she has for improving your photographs before even taking them. There is still time to register for the call and/or get the MP3 recording if you can’t be on the call. See Point and Shoot Photo Courses – Camera Shy. Moving on to TODAY’S PHOTOS and QUERIES –

I promised I would be featuring unusual mushroom photos from my Sunday walk in the American Orchid Society Gardens. While opening the folder in which I placed the pictures, this backlit leaf, kept calling to me. I LOVE the colors, the boldness and strength and at the same time, the rhythm of the very faint and delicate lines of the veins of the leaf. The faint vertical lines from another plant serve to ground the main image.

Back lit leaf in AOS Gardens

Where in your life are there strong contrasts of strength and delicacy? Do they add up to balance? If one is more prominent than another, is there a shift you might like to make?

Moving on from those questions, I invite you to consider the following.

WHAT IF ….

  • you quickly saw the things others are missing?
  • you were a hotbed of recurring new ideas?
  • you had new openings for communication?
  • you had access to shifting moods in an instant?
  • you had a best friend available 24 hours/day?
  • this all were fun and easy?

It’s so SIMPLE. Amazing breakthroughs in the scenarios are what participants experience in my Point and Shoot Telecourses. The day session of the next 4-week course starts on Wednesday, November 11th; evening Monday, November 16th. See POINT AND SHOOT.

Mushrooms on a path in the AOS Gardens

I am always amazed. I have been visiting the American Orchid Society Gardens for six and a half years. EACH time I visit, I see something I’ve never seen before AND as you see in the above, it’s not always a carefully, placed orchid, or other, plant.

I invite you to look into your life at one or more situations or places where you are not paying attention. After all, they are “ordinary”, “everyday” … Now, that you’ve paused to look, what new can you find?

The mushrooms above were one of several groupings near the edge of a path. A couple groups were right in the middle of the walkway. As their colors blended with the environment from which they emerged, they were undoubtedly invisible to most people and thus got stepped on.

It’s the grouping and the flow I enjoy in the above photograph AND as I look at it now, I’m more cognizant of the groupings within – the couple, the threesome and the charming, delicate, flowerlike mushroom on the left, almost in the middle.

Are you blending in or standing out in your life? Are you more comfortable tightly grouped with one or more others in your circle(s)? Can you step back and recognize the beauty of the whole of your communities?

This second grouping of mushrooms was in a different section of the AOS gardens, a little more off the pathway. Here I like the curls and folds. What do you appreciate when you look at the image?

That’s it for the “deep” queries for today.

As always, have fun and look around you with playful eyes.

Upcoming Programs that Will Enhance Your Life
1 – In addition to my Telecourse answering What Ifs :

2 – For those in business, I invite you to check out my friend Adela Rubio’s Conscious Business Telesummit 3-week series of calls, a gathering of Conscious Business Leaders eager to share the models and methods of Conscious Business, including –

Make a 6-Figure Income with a 3-Figure List
Charge What you Deserve Now
Create Your Conscious Business Story and more…

Easy-to-listen to and keen herself, Adela is interviewing well-known, successful, conscious business owners ready to share their profitable business models and their expertise.

3 – For those who are caregivers, or who know, caregivers, my friend Suzanne Holman is co-facilitating Comfort for Caregivers Telesummit, also a 3-weeks series of calls. I’m in the midst of completing a packet with writing, caregiver tips and photography – ALWAYS LOVE – as one of the bonuses.

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Focus and Direction – Alligator, Wood Stork, Turtle and Spatterdock Root – Picture to Ponder: vol 5 – issue 39

by Sheila Finkelstein on October 29, 2009

For whatever reason, I’m moved to integrate Today’s Photos and Self-Reflecting Queries as one unit in this issue. Your feedback on the format would be appreciated.

When I downloaded and looked at my photos from a recent walk along the boardwalk in Green Cay Wetlands, I realized that it has been a while since I featured water photographs here in Picture to Ponder. Given the healing power of water, I wanted to bring some back.

So I started a search in my computer. Rather than spend an extensive amount of time on it, I decided to go with the first couple that appealed to me in the moment. (Be sure to scroll down to see all three photos.)

In line with my generally striving for perfectionism, I invite you to reflect on your life for a moment or two. Do you find yourself often spending an extensive amount of time looking for the “perfect” person, food, solution, picture….?

Alligator and Wood Stork in Green Cay Wetlands

Both are seemingly at peace. Although not a particularly great composition, this photo, for me, is symbollic of the heavy concentration of a lot of different things in one area of my life, with paths wandering into the unknown just beyond.

Where is your focus when you look at this photo? When you look at your life? Weighted in one area? Meandering? Balanced?

I wish I could share with you the photos I took of the little boy, ultimately on his father’s shoulders, excitedly pointing to and talking about the activities that had been in the scene in front of us with this alligator and the tri-colored heron “taunting” him.

I did not think to get permission to make the photos public, so I will be content with the reinforcement I got, as I experienced progressively “better” photographs as Tyler became engaged in conversation and forgot the camera and posing for it. It is treasured moments like this, along with memorable photos, that are one of the things that will be available for Moms in the upcoming Point and Shoot Photo Telecourse for Moms. (If you are a mom with young children, or know one who is, please check out the link and forward the page information.)

Turtle on a Spatterdock Root in Wakodahatchee Wetlands

When I looked closely at this photo, I noticed that the turtle is looking away from us. Are you maintaining eye contact with people with whom you’re interacting? Or, are your eyes wandering, seemingly not paying attention, even if you are? And, back to projects, as mentioned above – Are you focused or distracted?

Those of you into NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), I’m sure, can expand on an answer based on the direction in which the turtle is looking.

Spatterdock Root and Leaves in Wakodahatchee Weltands

This root, with its strong angular direction, in this picture seems to want to move off the page. Yet the smaller green parts of it are freely flowing back. The vertical part and its reflection provide an anchor.

I like the overall flow and movement in the scene. Are you in tune with the flow and direction of your life? The rhythms? The anchors?

As I inserted the final photograph for today, I noticed that each of the images is moving on a diagonal from lower right, toward the upper left. I’m wondering if any of our readers have any thoughts on that… “meanings” you would like to add. If so, please post on the blog.

Upcoming Programs that Will Enhance Your Life
1 – In addition to my Telecourse for Moms:

2 – For those in business, I invite you to check out my friend Adela Rubio’s upcoming Conscious Business Telesummit, a gathering of Conscious Business Leaders eager to share the models and methods of Conscious Business, including –

  • Make a 6-Figure Income with a 3-Figure List
  • Charge What you Deserve Now
  • Create Your Conscious Business Story and more…

Adela will be interviewing well-known, successful, conscious business owners ready to share their profitable business models and their expertise.

If you are one who attends teleseminars and have not been to any where Adela is the facilitator, I highly recommend you check out this program now. The first call is Monday, November 2nd. Adela is one of the best interviewers that I experienced. And, there is no charge for attending any of the sessions.

3 – Lastly, my friend and mentor Julie Jordan Scott has resumed her very powerful, empowering Passion Activator Fridays – no fee – where the act of commiting to an action or actions and calling in every hour and reporting makes a huge difference in accomplishing desired goals throughout the day.

Julie also has launched a three option series – Dreams Do Come True. As I have stated in many issues of Picture to Ponder, much of what I am accomplishing today is a result of various courses and programs I’ve participated in under Julie’s leadership. As a matter of fact, the name “Picture to Ponder” for this ezine was suggested by Julie, whom I’ve known virtually now for at least 8 or 9 years. I am sure you will find value in anything you might choose to do with her.

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Life Cycles – Leaves, Queen Anne’s Lace and Us – Picture to Ponder – vol 5 – issue 38

by Sheila Finkelstein on October 22, 2009

– NEW -  4 – Week Telecourse Starts November 9th or 11th
Click on image above for details

I am excited. As you can see from the very top image, the header for the new Point and Shoot Photo Course for Moms, I am launching a new program. My earlier Photo/Creativity, then Through and From the Lens courses, will now be delivered under the umbrella of Point and Shoot Photo Courses. The material and philosophy is similar. Working with specific groups will further solidify the community experiences participants love, while enhancing learning and bonding with subject matter.

In terms of today’s Picture to Ponder, for whatever reason, I felt the need to feature autumn one more time. Though the fall season stays with us until December 21st, the visual aspect of it will soon be gone. When I speak of the visual, I refer to the assumed colors of autumn.

Neither of today’s featured photos is a “striking” photo. Yet each kept popping out at me as I was searching photo file folders. They did “seed” some interesting thoughts, turned queries, and compositionally the pictures do hold together.

TODAY’S PHOTOS
The upper photo is of Fallen Autumn Leaves blanketing gravel at the edge of a parking lot in Syracuse, NY. Given the overall feeling of Nature, the gravel appears as if it could almost be blueberries. I like the array of colors, representing the full range of the life cycles of the leaves we see.

The lower photo is a close up of a dried up Queen Anne’s Lace flower which, I discovered when I googled it to check spelling, is edible. Given that the developing theme today seems to be “Life Cycles”, I especially like the circular shape of the full flower and those at the end of each of the “spokes” radiating out from the center.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
Today’s photos are rich with contrasts and also represent the cycles of our seasons… both in the Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer, as well as our own life cycles… seen even in our individual projects and activities.

I invite you to consider the contrasts and cycles in your life. Are you able to easily be with the transitions? Or, are there challenges for you? Do you operate out of “being” with whatever stage you’re in at the moment?

If the latter is difficult at times, have you developed “coping” mechanisms? Are you aware of what they are so you can “call them in” on demand, when needed?

If “coping,” are you able to go beyond with “tools for transformation”?

Sometimes/oftentimes, it’s helpful to simply remember that whatever space we are in at any point of time, it is part of a cycle.

As you ponder and query today, be sure to identify the parts of the cycle that give you the most pleasure, provide the most fun.

CELEBRATION –
Two of my friends, Marifran Korb and Tomar Levine**, are among 36 other authors who have chapters in the “OVERCOMERS INC: True Stories of Hope, Courage and Inspiration” book launched today, October 22nd.

Marifran and Tomar, having seen an advance copy say that it’s great. I trust them and what I’ve read about the book. I love people’s stories. If you do also, check it out at OVERCOMERS. If it is still the 22nd when you read this, there is time to take advantage of all the bonuses with purchase today.

** You also might be interested in checking out Tomar’s Creativity Support Group forming, first session November 3rd.

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Possibilities – Openings Inspired by Autumn Leaves – Picture to Ponder – v5-36

by Sheila Finkelstein on September 29, 2009

Last week when a friend of mine reminded me that Autumn has started, I was thrown back into remembering my first autumn in Florida, six years ago. My body actually had the sensory experience of “missing autumn.” In a Photoshop Elements course at the time, where the assignment was to create a photo collage, I decided to create “Missing Autumn in NJ” to somehow bring Fall to me.

Interestingly, last week, once I expressed this and found the web page on Google, I came upon the opportunity of doing Jan Phillips Facilitators Training Workshop in the Adirondacks, New York State, where Autumn leaves should now be in abundance.

It promises to be exciting all around. What would make it even more so is connecting with any Picture to Ponder subscribers who might be in the Syracuse area. I will be spending Monday there. Please email me if you are in that area of if you know something I MUST see while there.

TODAY’S PHOTOS –
represent work from several years ago. I’ll find it interesting to see if there are any changes in the photographs I take next weekend, though I suspect consistency will rule.

The top is the photo collage I mentioned above. The other three images are, once again, photo/drawings, as featured in the last issue of Picture to Ponder. In this case they were autumn leaves in New Jersey.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
When you’ve longed for something, such as when I was “missing autumn” several years ago, what actions do you take? Are you proactive, or do you stay in the “dwelling”?

Similarly when you find yourself in the midst of frustration, what is your response?

And, if your ordinary response is not one that brings you fun, I invite you to find a means to “play” your way through the next time you find yourself in one of the above situations.

Peace and fun. �

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Healing Power of Nature and Echinacea – Picture to Ponder – v5-issue 35

by Sheila Finkelstein on September 22, 2009

TODAY’S PHOTOS
are Photo/Drawings of Echinacea Flowers – the first being “field” of them, the other three being different views from the same garden.

“Photo/drawings” is a term I created when I first developed this process using my photographs, new scanner and a pen with permanent ink to draw directly on the photos. They were the content that made up my original nature web site – Nature’s Playground stating,

“We believe that the world is a playground for personal growth and development; that natural environments – gardens, woods, beaches, rivers, streams – are sources for pleasure, creativity, play and self-discovery; that expanding sensory awareness of natural and man-made environments provides access to furthering creative thinking and appreciation.”

In an empowering interview my friend Adela Rubio did with Dean Shrock, last week, on “Why Love Heals”, he stated that “Nature is probably the purest form of love. Simply being out and appreciating natural beauty, we’ll experience love. Nature literally realigns the molecules of your body in a more harmonious manner, so that the body simply works better.” See SelfcareMastery.com for this quote and Adela’s full summary of the call.

For me, I got a dramatic “Aha” – that this can be the strong foundation on which to stand as I move forward with my work. Certainly the healing power of nature is the crux of Banana Sky DVD!

WHY THE ECHINACEA –
Interestingly, today in my writing group** one of the quotes from which we wrote was “When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it is your world for the moment, ” Georgia O’Keefe.

Responding to this prompt, Susan Jones, group member, wrote: “Flowers have one of the highest natural vibrations. That’s why flower essences are so powerful, so healing. Georgia O’Keefe painted the effect of that vibration on her. An artist does not copy, she shares the soul of the moment. ”

This seemed like such a synchronistic statement for my newfound “stand” that I asked Susan if I could quote her.

In searching for flowers to feature, I decided that the ones I would use here today would be flowers that most of us are likely to know as “healing” flowers. I, at least, always use “echinacea” in capsules or tea form when I feel a cold coming on. In addition, the center echinacea photo/drawing featured here was very much admired by a dinner guest this past weekend. A large poster-size format of it hangs on my patio.

(**Note: Susan and three others of us all first connected in one of Julie Jordan Scott’s writing programs. For those open to it, Julie has a Writing Group starting tomorrow – Wednesday, September 23.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
For today, I invite you to look at the variations of the same subject, the Echinacea above, and make note of what stands out as differences for you. Then expand this observation into your own life.

Is there an issue, a challenge, or something which you really appreciate, where you might find empowering analogous differences by taking different points of view?

And, in a slightly different conversation, relating to my finding a position of strength I can claim for moving forward in my work, are you clear on the ground on which you are standing in your work? and then in your relationships – both personal and business?

Peace and fun.

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Refreshing, Cleansing Sunlit Morning Dew in Green Cay Wetlands – Picture to Ponder – vol. 5-Issue 34

by Sheila Finkelstein on September 15, 2009

Today’s Photo –
Sunlit Morning Dew on a Metal Boardwalk Railing at Green Cay Wetlands in Boynton Beach, FL

This photograph was first featured in Picture to Ponder almost two years ago in Volume 3- Issue 59 where you can see four more photos taken at the same time. All five grabbed my attention as I was organizing past issues of Picture to Ponder and this particular photo is the one most strongly resonating with me right now.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
I am not sure what it is about today’s photo that is “speaking” to me. Perhaps it’s the feeling of peacefulness and cleansing that emanates from it, the sense of something being washed clean.

There is dark and light, yet not a “moody” darkness. I do remember the feeling of excitement I had two years ago when I first took these photos, the thrill of discovering what seemed almost “magical” to me at the time.

Today I can look at this photo and the others and appreciate the timelessness of the experience and the beauty that remains.

I invite you to look into your life now and in the past. What are some of the magical moments that you recall? What are the sensory experiences that are most profound for you?

Are there ways that you have kept them alive – in photographs, writing, recordings or other art forms? Is this important to you?

Lastly, do you remain cognizant of what you need in your life to keep you centered and balanced?

If, for some reason, my queries seem to be getting “heavy and significant”, I invite you to  go back up to the photo and allow the morning dew to refresh you.

Peace.

Program for Writers, or Wanting-to-Be Writers –
Tomorrow, Wednesday, 9/16 is the kick off day and the first of twelve sessions of my friend and mentor, Julie Jordan Scott’s “Feminine Pen Writing Circle.”

If you are a writer or an aspiring one I urge you to check our the above link. I doubt that I would be doing what I am today, if it weren’t for all that I’ve experienced in courses with Julie and the community of wonderful women and writers that come together in her empowering space.�

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Discovering Transformation – Sound and Art in Dried Onion Remains – Picture to Ponder – v5-Issue 33

by Sheila Finkelstein on September 10, 2009

INTRODUCTION –
As I was about to finally discard the dried up remains of red onion green sprouts featured here in July, I became captivated with the papery thin texture, the flexibility and the sounds of the pieces. I dearly wanted to convey these to you and could not determine how.

The following day I realized I might be able to capture some of the experience on video. I thus set up a series of videos. In the last one I start peeling a red onion I’ve been holding, also since July, for Onion Photo Story Number five. Once again, there are analogies to our lives.

Next I posted a couple of photos and one of the videos on my last blog  post – Parchment Sounds of Onion Greens Inspire Video. The first photo in the blog posting is the group of dried greens, a few of which became the art for this issue of Picture to Ponder.

To make it more convenient for you, and me, I later put all the videos from the “shoot” earlier this week on one ONION – GARLIC VIDEO page. One of the videos shows dried, cut garlic pieces slipping out of their “cells.”

Lastly, speaking of videos – In a totally different conversation, I had fun this same week videoing me opening a package of products I received from my Nature Art Gift shop You can see me excitely showing the products I had purchased – two tile boxes I love, plus tiles and note cards.

I also distinguish between my photo/drawing art and straight photography, showing examples of each. Even if you don’t watch the whole Nature Art Gifts video, I invite you to use the slider to see each of the products.

TODAY’S PHOTOS –
As I was doing the videos of the onion remnants I also took many still photographs. The top two featured photos today are of some of the remnant dried up green sprouts. In the middle photo, the black “dust” is remnants of mold that had formed inside some of the stems.

The latter are the “facts” AND I have selected these photos today for their artistic appeal. Although not planned, or arranged as such, these two photographs exude the beauty and simplicity of calligraphic drawings. Each can stand alone on its own merit.

I invite you to spend a moment or two with each and breathe in their simplicity.

The bottom photo is the underside of several layers of the cut, dried top of the onion. Again, I’m sharing it here for its aesthetic value, as well as its totally different feeling from the first two.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
For those looking for self-reflecting queries, today’s photographs and stories cover a broad range of topics.

I could pull queries out from reflections on saving old things… clutter?… transformations from one stage to another… life… death… discovery… how we each, individually, explore the latter, fulfill on it.

And, for today, I am leaving the self-reflecting queries to you. If any of the categories mentioned above spark something in you, I invite you to reflect on what’s coming up. If you’ve had a “gut” response to any of the photos, or the videos, I then invite you to reflect on what you were experiencing.

Lastly, there is ALWAYS being in the moment and simply experiencing whatever is there.

Thank you for being in my life and allowing me to share these explorations with you.

As always, remember to have fun with this.

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Being in the Present – Rainbows, Ocean Sunset and Sunrise – Picture to Ponder v5-issue 32

by Sheila Finkelstein on September 1, 2009

On Saturday afternoon we had one of our typical Florida afternoon heavy thunder and lightning rainstorms. Toward the end, when I looked out and noticed the sudden brilliant sunlight, I had the immediate thought that there might be a beautiful rainbow. Looking out my front door I saw that I was right.

I grabbed my camera, and since it was still drizzling, a plastic bag to cover it, and a large umbrella; then took a couple of pictures from underneath the latter, one of which I’ve posted on FlickR. I then pulled my car out of the garage, jumped in and started singing, “I’m forever chasing rainbows,” as I went on a search for some even “better” shots.

I ultimately ended up at the beach, too late for the rainbow there but did see a beautiful sunset. I was reminded that it had also been quite a while since I had experienced sunrise on the beach. With all these “signs” I did go back on Sunday morning. Today’s featured photographs are from that outing.

TODAY’S PHOTOS –
The top photo is a reflection of clouds and sky in the sunglasses hanging on a man’s shirt. It caught my attention as he and his family were walking toward me.

The center photo was taken five minutes before the actual rise of the sun over the horizon, camouflaged by the clouds. Note the richness of the pinks and yellows emanating upward from the sun that had not yet “risen.”

The bottom photograph was taken sixteen minutes after the “official” sunrise. Here we can almost see the sun behind the clouds. I love the reach of the bronze reflections on the surf at the edge of the beach (lower right).

For those who are left wanting to more fully experience the gentle waves lapping against the shore, I uploaded a short video onto YouTube. This was taken a couple of minutes after sunrise. Having come from New Jersey where waves were usually high, it always amazed me when I visited Florida in the summer, years ago, to see how calm and almost waveless the ocean was. Living down here now I’ve learned that this is somewhat seasonal and, of course, bad weather and heavy winds make a difference.

(For those who might be wondering, the sunrise times were found on my favorite sunrise/sunset – moonrise/moonset calendar at SunriseSunset.com)

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
Today’s photographs and stories reflect, in part, “chasing” “something more,” from rainbows to sunrises. With the rainbow, I was looking for a “perfect” unobstructed view of the full rainbow, which I would have had at the ocean.

Only, I was afraid that it would not be there by the time I reached the beach, so I stopped along the way and photographed pieces of it, obscured by wires and other distracting components. In fact, according to other walkers, had I gone straight to be beach, I would have seen what I wanted.

I did spend some time enjoying the sunset and, as I wrote above, decided to go for the sunrise the next day. The sky was beautiful when I got there, about ten minutes before the full rising of the sun. Once there I realized that I “undoubtedly” “missed” the most beautiful part, that visible when the sky was still almost dark.

I am relating all of this mind “chatter”, not because any of it’s “true”; rather, these thoughts are examples of what most of us do to ourselves during large portions of our time – the “would have”, “could have”, “should haves.”

Once open to the flip side, on Saturday night, for me, was the conversation with a woman walking along the water’s edge who shared her experiences of earlier in the evening and then those of the sunrises she usually saw. It was this that had me set my alarm on Sunday.

Then there was the fun and excitement of the discovery of the reflections in the sunglasses and the conversation with the man and his family and their pleasures in that imagery.

Lastly, the rainbow experience wound up having an impact on my selection of a quote prompt in my writing group, winding up as a Writing for Healing blog post – “Rainbow Soul and Tears – Storms in Life.”

We have choices, always… to be in the moment, fully appreciating what’s there, or looking ahead or behind.

I invite you to spend some time in the next day or so, perhaps beyond. Are there places and situations where routinely you are looking far ahead or in the past, missing what’s in the present? If so, perhaps specific intention is missing. Do you always know what it is you are looking for?

Can you set an intention to experience beauty in the moment, declaring whatever is, as beautiful or purposeful?

As always, remember to have fun with this.

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Standing Alone in a Crowd – Find the Strength: Pansies in Picture to Ponder – v5-issue 31

by Sheila Finkelstein on August 26, 2009

Click on Above Image for Information and Testimonials

Excited with the re-launching of BANANA SKY DVD, I’ve been spending a lot of time on creating the “just right” web page for Banana Sky DVD to share the stress and anxiety relief benefits from the healing music and photography that makes up this video. As I’ve been working, I have been getting a lot of great feedback and support from the ELITE FORUM members in Lynn Self-Starters Weekly Tips Forum. I am deeply appreciative.

I am also on my own DAY 8 of a minimum of one-hour of work each day before opening any email, as recommended by Kathleen Gage in the recent Niche Affiliate Marketing System Seminar I attended. This was/is, for me, one of the both challenging and rewarding tips I got out of the weekend. A flash drive with all of the presentations, including Kathleen’s from this conference, plus one earlier in the year, is available on a Flash Drive (coupon code 200aug14) for only $97 as long as the limited number of available copies last.

With my focus being so directed on the best way of sharing BANANA SKY DVD, I have not been out doing much photographing. It was therefore delightful yesterday to simply travel through folders on my computer for this issue of Picture to Ponder, doing a sit-down “discovery walk.”

Today’s photos brought a smile and a feeling of lightness and simple pleasure when I found them.

TODAY’S PHOTOS –
Pansies in the Dallas (Texas) Arboretum at the end of February.

I love the colors of the two pansies in the top photo and they have such a look of elegance.

The yellow and violet-colored pansies, in the middle photo, seem to be dancing freely and joyfully. The intensity of mid-day sunlight adds to the pleasure of the experience of this photo.

As I went back to the original size when saving the latter photo, I was drawn to the center of one of the flowers and decided to focus in and crop it. Suddenly it took on a stately and commanding presence, as if wanting our attention.

SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES –
In the almost five years that I have been publishing Picture to Ponder, this is the first time I’ve featured pansies. One reason, undoubtedly, is that pansies are not quite as common here in Florida as they seemed to be in the Northeast United States, where most of my life was spent.

As pretty as they are when I paid attention to them, they somehow seemed to get “lost” in their surroundings, no one flower really standing out from another. Did the fact that they were so “common” have an impact also, or is it simply that I’ve only gotten much more active with my camera in recent years?

The point to my above comments leads into today’s Self-Reflecting Queries. Once again, I invite you to look into your life.

Are there places where there are people, or objects, that are simply a part of a broad field for you and indistinct for their own attributes? Where you’ve simply been taking them for granted as background “noise”, perhaps?

If you find any of the above fits, I invite you to step more closely into the field at which you were looking. Study the individual components. Then, is there one, or more, that now stands out and has a new presence, as the single yellow pansy in the bottom photo? Or perhaps, you’ll find a pair, as in the top photo.

As always, have fun with this.

As always, remember to have fun with this.

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