Lightly Child, Lightly

“It’s dark because you are trying too hard.

Lightly child, lightly.
Learn to do everything lightly.
Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply.
Just lightly let things happen
and lightly cope with them."
Aldous Huxley

The Whole World Is Revealed

" In the choice to let go of your
known way of being, the whole
world is revealed to your new eyes."
~ Danna Faulds

It's Resiliency That Really Matters

 

"All of us get knocked down, but it's resiliency that really matters.
 All of us do well when things are going well,
but the thing that distinguishes athletes
is the ability to do well in times of great stress,
urgency, and pressure."
Roger Staubach

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

Other People's Reality

 

Birmingham, Alabama

"The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people's reality,
and eventually in one's own."
Susan Sontag

Surprise: This surreal sunset to pause and celebrate. A moment where life expands and gratitude lingers like colors on the horizon.

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

The Single Best Thing I Can Do Today

 

"What is the single best thing I can do today
and make this day an extraordinary one?"
Bernie Siegel

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

If I Lose What I Have

"If I am what I have, and if I lose what I have, who then am I?"
Erich Fromm

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

Heal Your Life

 

"You have the power to heal your life,
and you need to know that.
We think so often that we are helpless,
but we're not.
We always have the power of our minds…
Claim and consciously use your power.”

Louise Hay

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

The Chance To Be Extraordinary

 

"We must overcome the notion that we must be regular... 
It robs you of the chance to be extraordinary
and leads you to the mediocre."
Uta Hagen

Oh, the sky

the sweet morning sky

a serving of love

a feast of an extraordinary life.

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

Clear and Radiant Glory

"The Sun. The bright Sun, that brings back, not light alone,
but new life, and hope, and freshness
to man-burst upon the crowded city
in clear and radiant glory."
Charles Dickens

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

Endured, Never Expended

 

James Wolf, RIP

"There are some griefs so loud

They could bring down the sky,

And there are griefs so still

None knows how deep they lie,

Endured, never expended."

~May Sarton, A Durable Fire, 1972

James and Christine, 2007

"Perhaps they are not stars but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy." Eskimo Legend

Help Others To Rise

I am breathing in the sky after a satisfying Saturday working at the facility...

 "Love one another

and help others to rise to the higher levels,

simply by pouring out love.

Love is infectious

and the greatest healing energy."

Sai Baba

And I am waiting for the sunset with a beer, watching the billowy clouds floating above me, and those two birds on the wire.

This moment is punctuation to the nonstop day of movement and hands. Just a quiet chance for me to be grateful, alone, and smiling at the sky.

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/

A Part Of Others

 "To be a complete person is to be a part of others,
and share a part of them."
Elliot Richardson

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The Ecstasy and Sacrament of My Life

"Nothing more do I ask than to share with you
the ecstasy and sacrament of my life."
Emily Dickinson

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

When We Hunch

 

"We lose touch with our wingspan when we hunch."
Martin Shaw

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The More You Can Hear

 

Birmingham, Alabama

"The quieter you become, the more you can hear."
Ram Dass

The sky is magnificent. The sounds and colors of Spring are everywhere. I am certainly enjoying myself, up on the roof...

Something New Trying To Be Born

 "Everywhere we look at present
we see something new trying to be born."
Eric Hoffer

I am having lots of fun as the Easter bunny this morning, not the plumeria in my hair, delivering goodies to the residents. Music is playing off my cart and I am going in-room to each one with personalized gifts and cards and some snacks...

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

Oaks Take Deeper Root

"Storms make oaks take deeper root.
Kites rise highest against the wind-- not with it."

Winston Churchill

Dusk. After the storm, there is an eerie calm following an afternoon of tornado sirens, lightning, and rain. The storm was terrifying, because of the chaos, the sirens, and the rage of Nature.

Now, like an epiphany, the Alabama clouds move quickly, left to right-- heavy gray is replaced by swirling colors and ebbing light. All is quiet and then behold, a new possibility--the birds are singing again in the tangled branches of the oak trees.

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/

Being Who You Are

 

"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are."
Joseph Campbell

The oaks' silhouette against the sky's colors-- and the buds of green leaves, Nature's delight, are beginning to tickle the branches! Spring's bountiful gifts. One more time!

"The tree of immortal life, of the knowledge of immortal life.
 And the Buddha under his tree and Christ hanging on his tree
are the same image. They are the same image.
The one who has died to the flesh
and been reborn in the spirit."
Joseph Campbell

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/

What You Are

 

"Character is what you are in the dark."

Dwight L. Moody

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Listening To Yourself

The extraordinary sky this evening from my back lanai...

"I think a lot of making art is listening to yourself."

Kiki Smith

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/

Deepest Voice of God

 

"Passion... it's the deepest voice of God
that is moving us along the river of aliveness.
It's God's way of getting you to be
in the right place, at the right time,
for the right purpose, for the right people."

Alan Cohen

Glorious sunset through the trees. I cannot distinguish the new leaves from the resting birds, but I can take off my mask and let the light wash me with gratitude...

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/

State Of Joy

"I’m discovering the art of living life from a state of joy,

no matter where I’m standing or what I’m looking at."

Esther (Abraham) Hicks

This sunset greeted me, energized me, as I stepped out of my car. I put all the stuff I was carrying on the asphalt to free my hands to take the shot. The gifts seem to just come if I pay attention.

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/

Believing In Something

 

"A man lives by believing in something,
not by debating and arguing about many things."
Thomas Carlyle

After almost a year, our nursing home is still closed to visitors, but I take the residents outside to a protected area every afternoon. We are able to enjoy the fresh air. And together we look at the sky.

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/

Moon Is a Polka Dot

 

"After all, well, moon is a polka dot, sun is a polka dot,

and then, the earth where we live is also a polka dot."

Yayoi Kusama

I am up early. Screen door open, watching the moon set over Birmingham, Alabama. I hear the songbirds in the nearby oak branches, a train whistle eight miles away, and the hum of tires speeding on Highway 59/20.

The moon, like me, reflects the light of the sun and puts on a color show -- turning orange then red as it lowers. This moon dances, enchants, then is swallowed by clouds before kissing the horizon.

My meditation practice includes prayer and this watercolor, the art awash in mindfulness and peace.

Shine bright.

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

 

The Moon Is There

 

"I like to think that the moon is there
 even if I am not looking at it."

Albert Einstein

This morning, mesmerized,  I watched through the bare oak trees the moon set over downtown Birmingham as I welcomed the new day. We are Waxing Gibbous at 90%. The full moon is on Friday.

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

Joining Heaven and Earth

 

Birmingham, Alabama

"Joining heaven and earth is not separating
this and that, but making them indivisible."

Chogyam Trungpa

My thoughts are hanging with the bare trees. Vibrant reds and oranges and that glowing gold sun.

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

Talent Meant To Use

 

“The person born with a talent they are meant to use
will find their greatest happiness in using it.”
Johann von Goethe

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

The Mere Sense of Living

 

"The mere sense of living is joy enough."

Emily Dickinson

Walking from the parking lot into the Nursing Home, the sky is a banquet of colors and hope. Can there be so much beauty amid the fears and unknowns?

The morning air yesterday was not as cold, so I did not have to wait for the ice to melt on my windshield. But, ready to drive to work, I was able to take this photo of downtown Birmingham, jump in the car, and drive.

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

When the Heart Breaks

 

Five Points South, Birmingham, Alabama

"When the heart breaks, it heals.
It's not magic… I'm human."

Dan Gottlieb

I have a new iPhone with beautiful cameras: The morning sky cooperates with this gift of spectacular blue with hearts bubbling in the clouds.

my first selfie

Let me hold my life, live my life, with creativity and compassion, remembering what and who I love.

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

My Panacea

 

"For my panacea... Morning air!"
Henry David Thoreau 

Another catch my breath sky: Walking to work and the sky is awash with clouds of hope above the Nursing Home.

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/

The Free Soul Is Rare

Asheville, North Carolina

 "The free soul is rare,
but you know it when you see it -
basically, because you feel good,
very good, when you are near or with them."

Charles Bukowski

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/ 

A Magnet In Your Heart

"There is a magnet in your heart
that will attract true friends.
That magnet is unselfishness,
thinking of others first.
When you learn to live for others, they will live for you."
Paramahansa Yogananda

Home, after several straight days of work. I am exhausted, looking at three days off (I hope). The sunset welcomes me home. The world is beautiful.

♥ My Society6 Art Gallery \(‾◡◝ )/