It's Energy

"Love isn’t material. It’s energy…
We experience it as kindness,
giving, mercy, compassion, peace,
joy, acceptance, non-judgment,
joining and intimacy."
~ Marianne Williamson

Glorious Asheville sun! You are magnificent this morning. All golden glow. My heart soars...

Oh, this sun!

More Radiant Than Ever

"The delight we inspire in others, has this enchanting peculiarity. That, unlike any other reflection, returns to us more radiant than ever."
~ Victor Hugo

Cloudy chilly morning. I... slept... in... My sun is putting on a light show through the heavy clouds. Inspiring!

Solve It

"The best way to escape from a problem

 is to solve it."
~ Welsh Proverb

Art Is A Guarantee

"Art is the guarantee of sanity.
That is the most important thing I have said:
Art is a guarantee of sanity."
~ Louise Bourgeois

Bond Between Earth & Sky

"In the mythic tradition, the Mountain is the bond between Earth and Sky. Its solitary summit reaches the sphere of eternity, and its base spreads out in manifold foothills into the world of mortals. It is the way by which man can raise himself to the divine and by which the divine can reveal itself to man."
~ Rene Daumal, Mount Analogue

Friendships

Am waiting for the sun and cutting and bottling thyme harvested from my garden to take to my friend Susan in Seattle.

"Life's about friendships,
the way you love your partner,
the way you care for your children.
That is what life is about."
~ Joe Strummer

Fog drenches the cove with thick wonder & the sky is alight with rich pastels. Surreal glory.

Discovery

"A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind."
~ Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Heavier Things

"Bear patiently, my heart,
for you have suffered heavier things."
~ Homer

Fog might be blocking the sun, but the clouds above are glowing fire orange. wow. wow. wow... Look up. Let the sky ease your cares. Let light in.

Stillness the Dancing

2 black crow, sitting on a branch, surveying the cove, no doubt waiting for the sun as well...

"So the darkness shall be the light,
and the stillness the dancing."
~ T.S. Eliot

You Will Find

"Stand up to your obstacles
and do something about them.
You will find that they haven't
half the strength you think they have."
~ Norman Vincent Peale

Travel Light

Chattanooga, Tennessee



"He who would travel happily must travel light."
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Early morning ride through downtown Chattanooga, over the Tennessee River. Barely no one awake. Caught the sunrise over the Walnut Street Bridge.

Ideas

"The best way to have a good idea
is to have a lot of ideas."
~ Linus Pauling

#14 ❤ Leap of Faith

"Credo ut itelligem--
belief precedes knowledge;
it is the first step.
We need to make an intial leap of faith.
Faith is stronger than fear,
and fear is the killer of beginnings."
~ Anne Hazard Aldrich

7:15 Leap of Faith... That is what this ritual is. Every morning. As I contemplate life's challenges, I believe in human potential for creativity and compassion. I know that faith is stronger than fear and I am reassured by this living proof of redemption.

#13 ❤ Love

"To love someone
is to see a miracle invisible to others."
~ François Mauriac

7:04 All love...

#12 ❤ Rhythm Within Rhythm

"I want to proclaim out loud
that life is only rhythm and rhythm within rhythm."
~ Guy Tirolien

6:59 It's all rhythm within rhythm. Such is life, donchathink? Orange becomes gold becomes blue sky... Change is constant now. I notice how the mountain curves and shadows.

No tripod or music today, my camera's on a strap around my neck & I'm sitting here watching the show with my laptop... My heart thumps hard, I can feel it... No cropping; always wish my lense was wider, stronger...

#11 ❤ Spiritual Realm

"There is a spiritual realm
that is available to all
who find its many entrances."
~ James Melvin Washington

6:55 Difficult to describe the 15 photos that came before this one, only they are just as breathtaking as this one... Birds are soaring and singing all around me... Golden orange makes the mountain's silhouette dramatic and that holy spirit I believe in is moving strong in my heart.

#10 ❤Creative Problem-Solving

"Life is a continuous exercise in creative problem solving."
~ Michael J. Gelb

6:52 Look at how the sun radiates... At this point, I've shot 50 photos and wonder how do I choose just one for this blog... Need a sunrise committee to help me problem solve this dilemma...

#9 ❤ Inside You

"The magic is inside you.
There ain't no crystal ball."
~ Dolly Parton

6:51 No matter how far up you go... MAGIC!

#8 ❤ One Man's Ceiling

"One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor."
~ Paul Simon

6:51 Now is a good time to pull back and look at the clouds. If there are clouds, they will be putting on their own show to compliment the sun... I find that pulling back always gives a new perspective...

Paul Simon, ♪♫ ♪♫ One Man's Ceiling ♪♫ ♪♫

#7 ❤ Grateful Thought

"A grateful thought toward heaven
is of itself a prayer."
~ Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

6:49 All sun, all glory. Wisps of fog. Orange sky. Drink it in...

#6 ❤Stay Focused

"My secret? See it, and stay focused on it."
~ Shaquille O'Neal

6:47 Can't get close enough. Stay focused. And the action is so fast, every shot is different, in subtle ways... Shadow, color, light. High Drama. And I am utterly mesmerized... Time stands still.

#5 ❤ A Gift

"Every time you smile at someone,
it is an action of love,
a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."
~ Mother Teresa of Calcutta

6:47 Now all I can do is hold my breath and shoot the gift... The vivid orange is remarkable this morning... And the birds are out, singing, as if they know, feel, celebrate my joy...

#4 ❤ One Joy

"One joy dispels a hundred cares."
~ Confucius

6:47 There is no way for me to adequately express the pure joy I feel every time that sun cracks the horizon. It happens so quickly, it is easy to miss, yet if I catch it...

#3 ❤ Dance

"How can we know the dancer from the dance?"
~ William Butler Yeats

6:46 I am distracted by the clouds... They are swirling and dancing their morning greeting.

#2 ❤ Curiosity Survives

"It is a miracle that curiosity
survives formal education."
~ Albert Einstein

6:46 Golden light against that yummy pale orange sherbet sky. Makes me curious as to what is coming (You know it's going to be something good.)

#1 ❤ Tell It Like It Can Be

"We have enough people who tell it like it is—
now we could use a few people who tell it like it can be."
 ~ Robert Orben 

6:28 am... the twilight sky is awash with colors and shadow and holiness.

Good Bonfire

"When you do something,
you should burn yourself completely,
like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself."
~ Shunryn Suzuki

I love these golden summer sunrises w/ the sun over Asheville. It energizes my romantic heart... This morning's sunrise is sizzling, dramatic. Nothing placid here...

Miracles

Dramatic change. In seconds, horizon completely blanketed in fog. Will have to see what sun will do now. What statement it will make.

"As for me, I know of nothing else but miracles."
~ Walt Whitman

Learn the All

How can the news this morning be so terrible when outside is so beautiful?

"Reverence the highest,
have patience with the lowest.
Let this day's performance
of the meanest duty be thy religion.
Are the stars too distant?
Pick up the pebble that lies at thy feet
and from it learn the all."
~ Margaret Fuller

Looking North, Asheville is buried in low gray clouds. Above, the sky is blue, clouds are magnificent. Will wait & see if my sun appears... Heart racing. Like magic, the sun. Shining holy, sweet.

Keoki Kahumoku, ♪♫ ♪♫ Rise & Shine ♪♫ ♪♫

Higher Than You Know

Watching a half dozen crows soar against the gray sky. Cloud bubbles move right to left this morning. No sun?

"Always dream
and shoot higher than you know you can do.
Don't bother just to be better
than your contemporaries or predecessors.
Try to be better than yourself."
~ William Faulkner

Hint of orange, there. Orange through the gray. Come on dear sun. Don't be camera shy. You know I'll make you look good. Come out and play... There you are. Stunning. Glowing like a silent dream... Just like that, mere seconds, my sun has revealed and is gone...

How Important

"Kiss me you will see how important I am."
~ Sylvia Plath

Convulsions of the World

"Throw yourself into the convulsions of the world.
I'm not telling you to make the world better,
because I don't believe progress
is necessarily part of the package.
I'm just telling you to live in it,
to look at it, to witness it.
Try and get it.
Seize the moment."
~ Joan Didion

The Asheville sky is awash in glowing gold and blue this bright morning. Clear focus, waiting for the sun... Then the sun breaks the horizon with golden glory. ❤ And my heart is full of joy and clarity. Everything is a blessing... I check my shots. The colors, those vibrant celebrations, spill into power & possibilities... Fuel. Balm...

Saunter

"It is a great art to saunter."
~ Henry David Thoreau

All Delight

"Love is the perfect sum
Of all delight.
I have no other choice
Either for pen or voice
To sing or write."
~ Tobias Hume

Misty morning with gentle colors, cool air. Pretty everywhere you look. New week, new possibilities... Always best to step back, then start from a place of love. Everything falls into place...