Moments of Opportunity

Life is made up of moments not long, extended periods of happiness and bliss. Life is made up of choices. Life gives us a great deal of opportunity, but are we willing to accept it?

What do you see as opportunity?  Is it that moment that you perceive as bringing great joy, happiness and reward or is it that moment that you perceive as bringing great pain, sorrow and difficulty? Are you willing to use the abilities you have to make your life brighter and happier?  Or do you back away from using them because you might face the unknown or the unexpected?

Attaching expectations of certain outcomes to opportunities in life can lead to disappointments, and disappointments can lead you to stop pursuing opportunities. If you want many special moments, then you must make special moments.  If you want unforgettable times, then you have to take advantage of your opportunities and make the times unforgettable.  You must remember to not shy away from the opportunities that appear difficult for some of the most incredibly special and unforgettable moments can be made in those difficult opportunities.  You must remember to focus on the positive in all situations (yes there are positives in all situations you might have to dig deep but they are there) and choose to go forward into the opportunities with an open heart and mind and an attitude that says I will make this unforgettable and special.  Then you can seize the moment of opportunity and change your life as well as the life of others.

Remember it is a moment at a time this journey we call life, seize each moment and determine that you will make it the best moment that moment can be!!!

Peace

De

Are you happy mommy?

When my kids were little we took many long road trips, which allowed them to experience a lot of the country that others don’t get to see.  It was during one of these long road trips that my son, when he was about 2 1/2 years old asked a wonderful question.  He looked at me with those big beautiful blue eyes with a brilliant smile on his sweet dimpled face and asked “Are you happy mommy?”  I remember smiling and saying “Yes Bo I am happy.  Are you happy, Caleb?”  He beamed and with his whole body and his words replied “Yes I am happy, mommy!”  Pure happiness exuded from him at that moment and it became an often asked wonderful question through out his younger years.   Every time he asked it I was reminded of the things that made me truly completely happy at those moments which were always first and foremost my three beautiful, wonderful, healthy loving children.

As the years passed the wonderful question fell by the wayside swallowed up by sports, school, and growing up but it is a valid question that we should ask ourselves each day and contemplate the answer.  So the question is are you happy and if you are why and if you aren’t why not?

First I believe happiness is a choice we make, there are many people, circumstances and events in our lives that we have opportunity to respond and react to in a way which would bring us happiness if we choose the appropriate response/reaction.  So happiness is within all our grasp but that doesn’t mean that grabbing it is easy by any means.  So what keeps us from choosing the response/reaction that will put happiness  firmly in our grasp?  Your perception of truth-which is actually your beliefs, for it is what shapes every second of your life, remove limiting beliefs and replace them with positive beliefs that are consistent with your desires and dreams and happiness should be within your grasp.  Now that is the simple quick and dirty explanation there is much deeper work that requires work on all of your being: spiritual, emotional, mental and physical but there is one very identifiable thing that you can concentrate on that will bring quick results.  I call it our “superpower”  what is it good ole’ attitude.  The right attitude makes all things possible while a negative attitude will leave even the simplest of tasks virtually impossible. But to  achieve the right attitude you must take responsibility for your own actions.

So artist what does being happy, knowing what makes you happy or not, perception of truth, beliefs and attitude have to do with your creativity?  Everything, they all shape your creativity and your work.  They are the lens through which you see the world and the sifter which you use to accept or reject what to communicate through your medium.  Compare the work you’ve done when you were happy and when you weren’t, when you had a positive attitude and when you had a negative attitude and you can visible see the difference.

So my challenge for you today is this ask yourself are you happy and figure out if you are pleased with your answer.  If you aren’t take a look at your attitude and your beliefs, if you are take a look at your attitude and your beliefs, then start looking at how you can work on your attitude and beliefs to change or deepen your happiness.

Peace to all

De

Which dog do you feed the most?

A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner:  “Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time.”  When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, “The one I feed the most.”unattributed

Sorry for my inactivity of late for me there is a uncreative/lazy dog and a creative/energetic dog and I have been feeding the lazy one of late.  It is my intention to once again write on a regular basis at least weekly.  I will be expanding the vision of the blog a bit to encompass more life inspiration to hopefully draw in others and motivate and encourage them.

So lets talk about these two dogs obviously we all have a  dog that leads us to good and pleasant paths and a dog that is determined to take us down a path that is nonconstructive and dangerous and we see them in all aspects of our being spiritual, mental, and emotional.  Feeding the “bad” dog in one area of your being will result in a lack of interest in feeding the “good” dog in other areas of your being.

So what should we be feeding the “good” dog in order for it to grow stronger than the “bad” dog.  In order for the “good” dog to be the strongest,  I have to fill my mind with positive thoughts and ideas, uplifting stories and poems, beautiful images and songs.   I also must   encourage people, forgive, allow, compliment, help.  This helps maintain my physical health, my emotional health, and my spiritual health.

Artists what does any of this have to do with feeding your creativity?  There are those who would say that in order for an artist to be known they have to feed the “bad” dog and draw from the “edgier” side of life, but I don’t believe that.  While I have produced some decent work when I have been down or in to things that weren’t the best I believe my best work has come in the times when I am focusing on the positive side of life. Feeding the “good” dog brings life and light to your creativity and your work.

So my challenge to you for today is to first find your “good” dog and then begin nourishing it with compassion, positivity, laughter and forgiveness and see how your life and your art improves.

Peace to All

De

To Have confidence or Not

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imaged for himself, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.- Thoreau

My confidence in myself has wained in the past several weeks due to not being able to have a “normal” life.  Fortunately most of normal has returned but it still had my confidence in my ability to provide and other areas as well.

The question here for the creative me is what does this confidence shake up do to my art,  I haven’t  done much photography or drawing or anything else creative for weeks.

It is time to ponder, push, sweat, contemplate and regain a new confidence that will hopefully take my art to the next level.

Adversity and Art

Can we apply the old adage of what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger to our art? I think we can with a little tweeking the adversity we go through will make our art deeper. I am looking forward to how this will apply to my art and my life. 2008 ended horribly for me. After an injury @ work kept me out of work for almost 3 months I found a second job to try and catch up. It worked into a full time position with no increase in pay but a job where I could sit down which I needed due to the knee injury. Like a good person I gave a 2 week notice to the first job which I needed to work to keep catching up. This wonderfully kind Christian based employer promptly took me off the schedule leaving me short since the other job didn’t start full time until Jan 5th. Now my car which I must have to get to work is having major issues causing me to miss 2 days of work this week. Not sure how I am going to pay the bills for it or for the month but I do believe that my art and my photography will have more depth.

2009: A (re)New(ed) Point of View

On the other side of darkness far away there shines a light.

A new year always brings new and renewed hopes and dreams.  It also pushes us to make resolutions, those sometimes wacky knee jerk declarations that we will change or make better our life in the new year.  I don’t usually do resolutions because I learned early on I didn’t stick to them, but I do want to share some things I plan to pursue and hopefully accomplish in 2009.

Look at things from a different angle.

My first example of this is the above photo which paid off.  As I wandered around the dark, fogged in playground of the State Park I searched for a different view a different angle a different perspective.  Were they all good no but was I enlighted, stretched and challenged yes.  Was my art taken to another level, did it gain freshness yes.   Did it cause me to comtemplate who I am what I do and how I interact with others yes.  That is the point of looking at things from a different angle or perspectiv. . . it might not always be the best but it challenges and changes you!!!!

Expand my art.

I have shown you my photography but I am an artist in many other mediums so it is my goal to begin an additional page to share my other art.

Positively Impact my world

I want to make people stop, contemplate and grow.  It may be my art, it may be my actions, it may be my inaction’s but I want to have a positive impact on my world.

So have a creative, artistic and successful 2009 it will be what you make it.

Another year draws to a close

“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning, but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” Hal Borland

Experience has taught me that working 64 hours a week (13 hour days between 2 jobs) is really exhausting, then doing that just after knee surgery and you can also add insane!!!!  I am grateful for 2 jobs in such a bad economy!!!  Experience has taught me that persistence pays off as the part time job that involves using my photography and art skills is going full time as of Jan 2009!!!!  Experience has also taught me that time for my  kids is more important than anything!!!!

In the coming year I will get to return to writing on this blog daily and I will be adding a second page to track my one drawing a week challenge to myself.

As the year draws to a close take time to reflect back and see what experience has taught and brought you to take into the continuance of next year!!!  Have a wonderful, creative and art filled holiday.

Waiting for the world

Gazing into the future I see many possibilities as I am waiting for the world to come to me.

As artist we must take time to stop and let the world come to us.  Does that sound like a strange concept to you?  Artist are observers but we must be patient and consistent observers.  As a photographer it is routine for me to photograph the same scene more than once.  Most people would say sure because landscapes change with the seasons and interiors change with lighting.  Those are true statements but that is not always the purpose of photographing the same scene more than once.  There are times when I stare at a scene or a photo of a scene and I know there is something more there it just hasn’t revealed itself yet and therefore I have to be patient and let it come to me rather than trying to create it or force it.  Creating art is a journey and some masterpieces are long journeys.   Today be an observer gaze into the future and let the world come to you!!!

Shades of bittersweet

Autumns colors are so incredible in all the varying hues and tints a wonderful palette for every artist. Here lovely leaves in shades of bittersweet reach out their fingers of tangerine and mango to embrace the coming winter. Drink in the depth of all the shades of all the crimson, bittersweet and marigold before we are bathed in a sea of mahogany, ice blue and charcoal.

Autumns Wonder

Autumns wonder brings in a season of splendor, a harbinger of the winters chill to come, but for a few brief moments sit and drink in the blaze of crimison and gold and enjoy the last warm moments before the icy grip of winters restoration takes hold.