Once upon a time A tiny striped caterpillar Burst from the egg Which had been home For so long. "Hello world," he said. "It sure is bright out here in the sun." (excerpt from Trina Paulus, Hope for the Flowers)
Fun striped and checked findings for Leya’s lens-artists photo challenge!
This week, Patti gives us the opportunity to focus on emotions…to share portraits or street photography that captures people’s feelings, such as happiness, anger, sadness, curiosity, or fear.
Okay…this weeks lens-artist challenge, emotions, opens the door to one of my secret struggles…it is one of many that remain in a mud puddle of confusion.
I am not sure if I understand the difference between a feeling and an emotion.
So far this ongoing search for clarity has me understand an awareness of a feeling, like sadness, arises from my awareness of … tears/heart pain. I am able to acknowledge “anger” from a awareness of variations of speech and thoughts. Fear…the gut punch feeling in my stomach. I have experienced a lot of gut punch feelings since the latest events in Washington D.C.
I continue to ask myself, what is an emotion? I’ve looked at the word, emotion, and came to an awareness of “motion.” So, I’ve asked myself is emotion a feeling that motivates me to action? Today, at this moment in time, I’m going to go with yes…well…a tentative yes because within the word heroin is hero. There clearly is a mismatch there.
I do know for certain that to be driven by the emotional system often times is action that is separated from thinking. It can be action that is blocked from an awareness of moral shame, both internal shame or external shame. Now, I find myself questioning is shame a feeling, an emotion, or is it a mental formation that arises after a period of reflection?
Then I wonder…do feelings of anxiety (is anxiety a feeling or an emotion?) fog up a clear reflection of self with protective mechanisms of denial, rationalization, displacement, projection, and/or sublimation
Now…I ask myself are these defense mechanisms emotions…driven by feelings of anxiety, uncertainty, confusion.
I am certain that most of our communication with others is drawn from nonverbal communication. That is, the feelings/emotions that we interpret by another’s body language. Problems arise from this channel of communication when these interpretations are not clarified by the other.
I also believe that feelings are contagious; that is, a smile awakens a smile, a tear awakens a tear and fear awakens fear and anger awakens anger. I find that I just half smiled at this moment with an internal notation – we are impacted by a contagious virus as well as infectious feelings/emotions.
How are you feeling right now? I’m feeling a bit confused.
today’s heavenly gift
again is small…
billowing cloud ~Issa (cited: haikuguy.com)
micro images (AF-S micro nikkor 40mm) submitted in response to slow shutter speed’s lens-artists photo challenge.
be safe…be well…be sage.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
“it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
“it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
“it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the winter of despair,
“we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
“we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way
“– in short, the period was so far like the present period,
“that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received,
“for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.” ~Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.
Quote from Charles Dickens’, A Tale of Two Cities, and images submitted in response to Travels and Trifles first photo challenge for 2021.
Opening a door of gratitude…
Reading an author’s words that have traveled through time and space.
Regret that dropping sun’s dusk; Love this cold stream’s clearness. Western beams follow flowing water; Stir a ripple in wandering person’s mind. Idly sing, gazing at cloudy moon; Song done—sound of tall pines. ~Li Po*
Camping with family in the Snowies
Watching clouds drift over Cameron Peak
Watching children explore life through play
Waking to the silence of an early Spring’s snowfall
Being grateful for photographers inviting me to see the beauty of the blue and yellowish-brown colors of early spring
Driving through Wyoming on clear roadways
Seeing the smile of togetherness
Opening myself to the wisdom of words spoke by those younger than I
Sharing precious love-filled moments
This week Amy (The World is a Book) invited us to share precious moments we have had, before or during the pandemic.
*cited: Trans – Arthur Waley, The Poet Li Po Project Gutenberg ebook
PA Moed invites us to share images that feature a subject that begins with the letter A. Hum…can tone be a subject? Or am I being a bit of a rebel by featuring double exposure photography with “A” toned luminosity masks (amber, azure, and amethyst with their contrasting tones)?
Had I not seen erect in the river
These solid timbers of the olden time
How could I know, how could I feel
The story of that house? ~The Sarashina Diary (cited: Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
That moonless, flowerless winter night
It penetrates my thought and makes me dwell on it–
I wonder why? ~The Sarashina Diary (cited: Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
Do you see that the little night opens 1
And on the ridge of the mountain, serenely bright,
Shines the moon of a night of Autumn? ~ Diary of Izumi Shikibu (cited: Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
Nikon D750 f/4.8 1/800s 65mm 100 ISO
Applying a subtle color to the highlights and shadows/ of your black and white photographs gives you a slice of the emotional qualities that color can offer, without disguising the depth and texture of your black and white photograph.
After autumn winds have blown away the colors of fall, the wilting landscape left behind is a sleeping yellowish-brown hue that remains until spring winds travel across glaciered lands. Between the snowfalls of winter, it is wabi-sabi that greets me throughout each day.
Words of old-- whispered today by wind in the reeds. ~Shōhaku (cited: Trans: S Carter, Haiku before Haiku)
From bare brush along a mountain path-- the sound of frost ~Shinkei (cited: Trans: S Carter, Haiku before Haiku)
Fallen to the ground like those words of old-- glowing leaves ~Inko (cited: Trans: S Carter, Haiku before Haiku)
Travels and Trifles invites photographers to share what they find interesting about a chosen subject. This post represents current work with double exposure as an avenue to open myself to the beauty of the imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete qualities of late autumn.
the neighborhood’s
relaxation spot…
the tree’s deep shade ~Issa (cited: haikuguy.com)
hazy night–
people listening
to heavenly music ~Issa (cited: haikuguy.com)
the mountain bees, too
yearn to live there…
town of people ~Issa (cited: haikuguy.com)
A historical journey through my neighborhood…images and haiku posted in response to this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge: Found in the Neighborhood.
O Sun that rose in the eastern corner of Earth,
Looking as though you came from under the ground,
When you crossed the sky and entered the deep sea,
Where did you stable your six dragon-steeds?
Now and of old your journeys have never ceased:
… ~Li Po (cited: gutenberg.org)
I did not sleep, gazing at the moon all night
But the dawning of the day
Was in whiteness of hoar-frost. ~Izumi Shikibu (cited: Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
the early sun
reaches the valley…
roses of Sharon ~Issa (cited: haikuguy.com)
Anvica’s Gallery is hosting this week’s lens-artist’s photo challenge: the sun will come out tomorrow
This week Patti invites us to explore the various composition elements that invite viewers to focus on the subject : leading lines, patterns, color, contrast, selective focus, freezing the action, doorways or arches, or human/animal eyes.
Be safe. Be well. Be sage.
The quiet that follows a snowstorm.
looking delicious
the snow falling softly
softly ~Issa (cited: haikuguy.com)
Yesterday’s snowstorm blanketed the sphere of my world with 17.7 inches of snow…today feels calming, relaxing, and tranquil.
What a treat from Mother Nature.
Time to slow down…What a treat!
Travel and Trifles invites us to share “What a Treat”
This week Ann-Christine (Leya) invites us to explore where or what is our hideaway.
What exactly is a hideaway?
Roger’s International Thesaurus (revised: Robert L Chapman, 1977) offers two understanding of Hideaway: 1) hiding place – secret place, corner, asylum, sanctuary, retreat, refuge, cubbyhole and 2) retreat – secret place, den, ivory tower, hideout, cell, lair, cloister, hermitage, ashram
Refuge synonyms include: sanctuary, harbor, safe haven, game sanctuary, safety zone, shelter, home, hospice, orphanage, retreat, secret place.
One may take refuge, claim sanctuary, throw oneself into the arms of, make port, reach safety.
My hideaway…retreat…sanctuary is my backyard where my family plays, camps, swims, hikes, photographs, share memories/hopes/fears, and laughs. These places where we sought sanctuary include Medicine Bow National Forest, Horsetooth Reservoir, Poudre Canyon, Cameron Peak, North Park.
Today, all threatened within the Mulen Fire and the Cameron Peak Fire.
“…from another perspective, refuge is about how you relate to the experience of life itself. When you stop looking outside or inside for something to free you from your struggles, you take refuge in direct awareness. …When awareness and experience are not different, you stop struggling with what arises and you are taking refuge in clarity…when you experience life without grasping, opposing or ignoring what arises, you take refuge in unrestricted experience.” (cited: Ken McLeod, Reflections on Silver River)
An island of self….
a meditative journey 
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