Spreading wings… Welcoming…
Being Open to Light and Life… Thankful… In Gratitude… Continue reading
I recently wrote that I would be going through the 650 plus issues of Picture to Ponder/Treasure Your Life Now published in the last 10 years and feature some of your and my favorite photos and queries.
Presumably, because I’ve been immersed in Vegetables and Fruit photos for the past month or so, putting together a Stock Photo Package for sale, I was almost immediately drawn to an issue with sliced mushrooms on my cooktop. See Vol 6 – Issue 9.
At the time I wrote the issue, my eye had been caught by the expressive faces I saw when I cut a mushroom in half. I started smiling immediately as two of them instantly showed up. Despite the fact the faces were not particularly happy ones, I couldn’t help laughing at the irony of how quickly, it seems, I see “faces.” Interestingly they might have been expressing my own mood at the time.


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Once again it has been an extended time between posts. Ironically, I had planned this on to be around a thought I had the other morning. I asked myself, “Are you allowing confrontation to stop you or are you stepping back and allowing for new openings?“
And, as I opened the last issue Confrontation or Peace, I see that this, in fact, was its theme. I wonder if you noticed anything for yourself then, or now?
In the meantime, when I let go of some of my “stuff”, I decided that it’s important for me to share some of my experiences to ensure that I’ve put out everything I know that can help others to Treasure their Lives Now and in the future.
With that being said I’m changing the customary Photo/Self-Reflecting Queries format for this issue to go straight to my story, offer and Treasure Your Life Now Tip. Continue reading
With this post, I am going back to the original basics of Picture to Ponder almost 10 years ago. At that point, photographs of images that caught my eye inspired what I termed “Self-Reflecting Queries,” questions for the viewers to “ponder” about themselves and their lives. When walking in Green Cay Wetlands the other day, I was reminded of one of my early Pictures to Ponder issues, Zig Zag Lines – Confusion and Bombardment, in 2006. Below are three different views of the current scene that provoked similar thoughts for me. Perhaps there is something in the imagery for you also.
Before reading my descriptions below, I invite you to spend a moment or two with each of the photos. Note what’s different for you in each. Then go on to read the descriptions and my responses and finally, the Self-Reflecting Queries.
Are there there times that you find yourself in a “funk”?
You feel stuck and don’t want to do anything?
You KNOW the answers, how to shift, and aren’t taking action?
You might even counsel others on what to do in similar situations.
I was experiencing such a state last week when I heard my inner voice remind me of the advice I’ve often given AND written about many times here in the past.
“When you’re feeling stuck, take out your camera. Look around and simply snap pictures of whatever catches your eye. By the time you’ve taken 5 pictures your energy will have shifted.”
For me, the element of play oftentimes kicks in which certainly adds to being enlivened.
The photos that follow are illustrative of a recent experience.
All Paths Lead Out and Then Back to the Core Center
As I stated in the emailed portion of this ezine, I’d been dragging and remiss in posting photos and writing. Picture to Ponder started out and continued for 7 or more years as a sharing of images that caught my eye. The subsequent ponderings that came up after, turned into “Self-Reflecting Queries”.
In the past year or so my camera is less and less with me. Is it that I am spending more time looking in, or simply on thoughts, than being open to what is visually around me….? or is it mainly that my environment is pretty much visually the same?
Now isn’t that silly. Continue reading
I felt most honored when publisher Jan Lundy invited me to submit an article on “Celebrating the Feminine” for one of her magazine issues.
My first thought, “No. Not me. I’m far from feminine.” My internal reaction was pretty strong to this, including the inclination to refer her to other writers.
You see, to me when I think about it, “feminine” represents frilly clothes, lipstick and makeup, manicured nails, pedicures, regular beauty salon visits, special lingerie, undergarments and much more. [Note – Photo is NOT my bathroom] Even the dictionary affirmed this, when I double-checked. They added “feminine” hobbies to the list – “sewing and cooking” as examples. OK. So I knew that’s certainly not Jan’s focus. Continue reading
Current Treasure Your Life Now posts can be found on the Photography and Transformation Blog. Formerly Picture to Ponder ezine it evolved into Treasure Your Life Now in 2012 as more and more emphasis was put on relationships with self and others. Photographs and writing by Sheila Finkelstein continue to be the inspiration for life changes and transformation.