about US, for ME

living in the now is the anthem.

but, appreciating the moment in reflection

also brings the past into the equation

of blessedness, appreciation,

gratitude.

WE were once in kindergarten, both of us thrilled with life and our new roles in it.

a few years and miles separated us.

it seems it took a long time to explore the world and our souls before we met

finally, we landed, in the same place. 

serious about our professions,  and celebrating our coming together.

many decades have passed, and our work has changed to 'play' in a way... 

his guitar and my camera take us to many places,

with mutual support and encouragement 

many things change in life: our appearances, our circumstances....

but we both realized that making a home in each other's arms is the 

sustenance~ 

~and knowing the importance of balancing the separateness

in our togetherness is the secret.

cheers, Dear!

and, of course, a kiss.

ROYAL clicks...rocks picked

a solid instrument, revisited at a friend's gathering

pressing firmly, one key, one click at a time
one word at a time, thinking about the wrapping of rocks

here's the Random stream of words I 'pecked' out of the Royal:

ROCK ROCK rock rapt
enraptured, emotionally carried away
wrapped, embraced, tied up together, gifted
courted    cared for   taken home


life transitions, life's hidden released,
cared for in the carrying, 
enrapturing your self in the process


rock ROCK stacked   paired   coupled
kept waiting for the right one
heavy load    CHOSE.    step.  set. stack.  WAIT.


Wander     Return     Layer   Lay on, Return
rock, Rapt, wrapped:      when it's right
smoothed   balanced    topple    tumble   
touch
lightly
bind   bound   bumped    toppled
wrapped rapt enraptured by rocks


water stream     mountain flow 
sandy,  ripply,   left by the wind
water feathered,      waves washed. 
carried with great Motion


embedded quartz
    bedded-down to rest
home   rest  Repeat...Rinse    rocks.
recovered   honored   simply given


Shared with Grace

LAKE MICHIGAN ROCKS, above and below, 2010
PLENTITUDE
what a difference a year made

how to CHOSE?

SAME BEACH, 2011....how to FIND?

aw, A GROUP...chose all and consider the weight

SOME ARE ALREADY "SPOKEN FOR"

some come home with me. some leave together.

SO LINEAR

SOME MORNINGS, I NEED A THEME. TODAY, LINES ... 

MASKS should stay on the wall..

the "Soul of the World" ... the source we all drink from... a theory embraced by modern psychologists

"According to this theory, WE ALWAYS TRY TO BE INDEPENDENT INDIVUALS, but one part of our MEMORY IS THE SAME. Whatever our creed or culture may be, we all seek the ideal of
BEAUTY, DANCING, DIVINITY, MUSIC."

"Society takes care of defining how these ideals are to manifest themselves on the level of reality....they change from one generation to the next."

"Carl Jung classified individual progress according to four stages: the first was the 

PERSONA---the MASK that we wear every day, pretending to be who we are....

but with that kind of pressure from the persona, we sort of self-evaluate:
  "Some people try to understand what is wrong, and end up finding the SHADOW (another mask), our dark side, which dictates how we should act and behave. .... ."

In my terms, a battle develops between the persona and the shadow, we hopefully accept who we really are, the Shadow disappears, and we come in contact with the SOUL.

Jung speaks of "a return to the SOUL OF THE WORLD, the source of knowledge. Our instincts begin to grow sharper, our emotions more radical, the signs of life are of greater importance than logic, our perception of reality is no longer so rigid.  .  .We react in ways that not even we ourselves would expect."

"Then we discover that if we can only manage to channel this surge of energy, we can organize it in a very solid center, which Jung calls the Wise Old Man, or the Great Mother."

                                   BUT
...isn't it always lovely to be able to throw off the 'persona', get out of the 'shadow', and avoid the 'wise ones' taking us over?

the moment has come to throw off the MASKS,

                           to find our voice,  

use our eyes, our senses, and to...

                ... DIVE INTO THE SOUL...

led by light

                                                                   GOLDEN LIGHT
                                                                        LEADING
                                                                             to a
                                                                    WARM NIGHT


       

NATURE HAS ITS WAY WITH US

THREE TIMES MY LIFE HAS OPENED

Three times my life has opened.

Once, into darkness and rain.

Once, into what the body carries at all times within it and starts

to remember each time it enters the act of love.

Once, to the fire that holds all.

These three were not different.

You will recognize what I am saying or you will not.

But outside my window all day a maple has stepped from her leaves

like a woman in love with winter, dropping the colored silks.

Neither are we different in what we know.

There is a door. It opens. Then it is closed. But a slip of light 

stays, like a scrap of unreadable paper left on the floor,

or the one red leaf the snow releases in March.

from THE LIVES OF THE HEART by

JANE HIRSHFIELD

when a NEGATIVE is a positive

gentle reminder
negatives are not what they seem
when softened with stillness


(that is the 5"x7"negative propped in the window...)