rose buds

How invisibly

it changes color

in this world,

the flower

of the human heart.

                              ~Ono no Komachi*

 rose

…our ordinary vision is limited, and…our conventional consensus of reality is not the only version of reality.

The complex multidimensionality of the modern world no doubt contributes to the constructive habit of the mind that, in its attempt to provide meaning, continually rearranges the world to fit individual needs.  The failure to recognize the constructive nature of the mind can be a major obstacle to artistry and creativity.  Conversely, understanding the constructive nature of the mind and reality can lead the way to Great Understanding in the art of photography and in the art of living. (61)**

 

sources:

*The Ink Dark Moon

Trans: Jane Hirshfield with Mariko Aratant

**Tao of Photography

Philippe L Gross & S.I. Shapiro

weekly photo challenge: the world through your eyes

With one who does not speak his every thought

I spent a pleasant evening. ~ Hyakuchi*

worldthroughmyeyes2

Things wabi-sabi have a vague, blurry, or attenuated quality—as things do as they approach nothingness (or come out of it).  One-hard edges take on a soft pale glow. Once-substantial materiality appears almost sponge-like. Once-bright saturated colors fade into muddy earth tones or the smoky hues of dawn and dust.  Wabi-sabi comes in an infinite spectrum of grays…**

This week’s  WordPress.com Weekly Photo Challenge submission:  a barn in southeastern Wyoming

sources:

*The Moon in the Pines

Trans:  Jonathan Clements

**Wabi-Sabi  for Artist, designers, Poets, & Philosophers

Leonard Koren

window of understanding

window

The remarkable thing about deja vu, or other vivid experiences of recollection,

is that they are vested with significances that we cannot put into words.

At an earlier time, whatever happened might have seemed important, or might not.

But the recollection is charged with relevance, and tears flow for no reason.

Robert Aitken, A Zen Wave

weekly photo challenge: curves

Share a picture of CURVES and explain why you chose that picture!

Gramophone

Gramophone

Blue Bird

Blue Bird

‘A photograph,’ it has been said, ‘shows the art of nature rather than the art of the artist.’  This is mere nonsense, as the same remark might be applied equally well to all the fine arts. Nature does not jump into the camera, focus itself, expose itself, develop itself, and print itself. On the contrary, the artist, using photography as a medium, chooses his subject, selects his details, generalizes the whole in the way we have shown, and thus gives his view of nature. This is not copying or imitating nature, but interpreting her, and this is all any artist can do. ~Henry Emerson *

cited in:

Tao of Photography  Seeing beyond Seeing

Philippe L. Gross and S. I. Shapiro

Mother’s Day Tea

It is a priceless gift to experience a connection with another when the author’s words mirror private reflections. This is especially so when the composition is elegantly worded. I gift these words to those who visit my blog. May you know peace this day.

bussokuseki's avatarbussokuseki

Last Thursday, my son woke up early and called to me in his still-morning voice, Daddy, this morning at eight forty-five is Mother’s Day Tea!

It is unusual for him to be excited about something like a Mother’s Day Tea. Special events tend to bring out what shyness he has, and he is not nearly so keen as his older brother on wearing a collared shirt and tie. But sure enough, he had even picked out a special sweater to wear and laid it on his bed.

My wife has been to a lot of these Mother’s Day Tea events over the years as our children have attended the same preschool in turn. Our youngest son is now five and starts kindergarten next year. This year’s Mother’s Day Tea was the last.

Later that same afternoon, I sat with my son on his bed while he showed me some of…

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