mags in may

In the merry, merry month of May, the magnolia blossoms return to entice me. As their fragrance fills the air, I think of the tree I climbed as a child and the fact that I have photographed them in various cities across the country and in countries around the world. There’s something about both the flowers and the leaves that fascinates me no matter where I go. Several years back, quite by accident I stumbled onto an editing process that brings forth gorgeous artistic, sometimes abstract creations that for some reason does not seem to produce similar results when used on other flower photos…

…their creamy, curvy, sometimes enormous petals delight my eyes and senses bold and beautiful just as they are, no edits needed…

As May closes out, I celebrate the magnificence of the magnolia and wonder if they grow in Morocco, a question I will answer later this year as I travel to the place I’ve always wanted to visit, so…

keep your peepers open!®

raindrops on roses

I graduated from one of my classes a few days short of two weeks ago. One of the things we had to prepare and present was a vision board and last Sunday, I actualized one of the things on my interpretation of such board when I visited a meditation center to help me deepen my spiritual practice. On my way home, I was gifted an illegal parking space due to a commencement being held on The Mall; the distraction of the ceremony granted me just enough time to park and hop out of the car to photograph for the first time this year some of the roses in front of the Smithsonian Castle. Continuous misting rain produced beaded jewels in every box of the garden…

Heavenly scents sent from heaven enhanced by the closeness of slightly humid air, I was drunk before I knew what hit me and oh what a pleasant and welcome intoxication it was! I did sober up enough to drive the short distance home as voices from the Sound of Music sang somewhere in my head; raindrops on roses, being caught in the rain on a warm day, moist dewy skin, the rose garden itself certainly make my list of favorite things.

The Sound of Music brings up more than just verses in songs. The opening scene on top of the mountain of green grass under open sky with scenery as far as the eye could see took my breath away as a child. I now wonder how much that influenced one of the places I go to when I close my eyes to meditate. My vision -- a meadow of hip high colorful wild flowers everywhere blowing in the sun shine breeze, the sound of rolling waves breaking in the ocean beyond the cliff a short distance from where I am standing rock me into peace as I drift along before I come back -- is quite different from what I saw on the big screen.

When I made my vision board, I used a torn paper technique. The freedom of tearing paper and gluing it down without too much thought always reveals something unexpected, on occasion something I need to see and this time, an abstract mountain rose up under my hands. I planted seeds of what I wish to blossom for me all over that hill; my hill is alive with the sound of my life so as I whirl around, arms outstretched…

keep your peepers open!®

chakra blossoms

7. Purple/Violet - Crown - I understand

Top of head. Spiritual awakening, search for meaning. Our relationship to our spirit and God. Central nervous system, overwhelming fatigue. Observant, universal mind is centered,

creating a place of connection with Spirit.

Mantra “I believe”

6. Indigo - Third Eye - I see

Brow, center of forehead. Intuition, intellect and mind, inner vision. Brain and nervous system, eye problems. The home of your visions, as well as where your psychic knowing resides.

Mantra “I see clearly”

5. Blue - Throat - I speak

Center of the throat. Communication, self-expression and will power. Thyroid problems, sore throats, addictions.

Mantra “I speak my truth”

 

4. Green - Heart - I love

Over the heart. Love, forgiveness, unconditional love. Relationships. Circulatory and immune systems. Heart and lungs. Loneliness. Where your heart vibrates.

Mantra “I can give and receive love”

3. Yellow - Solar Plexis - I do

Over the solar plexus at the bottom of the rib cage. Self-esteem, self-confidence and how you see yourself. Digestive system, worries and fears, the stress of responsibility.

Focus on thoughts and decision-making, instincts.

Mantra “I believe in myself”

2. Orange - Sacral - I feel

A hands breadth down from the belly button. Sexuality, creativity, financial issues, honor and ethics, one to one relationships. Genital and urinary systems, bladder and prostate. Emotional center.

Mantra “I am a creative, sexual being”

1. Red - Root - I am

Situated at the base of the spine. Emotional grounding and ones roots. The excretory and reproductive systems and the immune system. Grounding force, which keeps us "down to Earth".

Mantra “I am in touch with the earth, my roots”

namaste.

keep your peepers open!®

at ease

The forecast for my Sunday calls for slow and easy…

no zoomin’ around for me…

so if you don’t mind…

I’ll be back on Wednesday, until then…

keep your peepers open!®

ps…look closely at that little ant in the last picture…I didn’t see that it had turned it’s upper body around to face the camera as if to say, “hey girl, I’m busy here so if you don’t mind” until I was editing. the day I took that photo, I asked to find something wonderfully unexpected…I am grateful to have been heard and today it's time for some much needed quiet time...

urban baptism ©

fresh rain fell quick

aroused a primitive desire to strip down,

get wet, run wild amongst the drops

bathe

in scents of moisture on the pavement, dampened bark,

my nostrils drank the comfort of the familiar

lubricating each pore

moving slowly down to my feet

rooted

in the quiet crescendo of rubber splashing

through sudden puddles harmonizing with the whoosh

of pop-up umbrellas.

head tilted towards the source

fresh rain showered baptismal restoration...

I stand still.

Let the rains wash over you the next time the heavens open up and once you’re refreshed…

keep your peepers open!®

mother's day

take some time to rest or play

why? because it’s mother’s day!

To all the women -- if you’ve ever nurtured another be they child or adult, family or friend, patient or just someone who needed a hand, may you have a Happy Mother’s Day.

Be kind to yourself, let others be good to you and as you do...

keep your peepers open!®

later now

When did now become an undetermined, unclaimed date in the future? A date with no date on the calendar, one that may never be found in our destiny no matter how many promises to keep we make with others and ourselves. Last time I checked, the definitions of now are 1) at the present time as opposed to in the past or future and 2) at once, so again I ask, when did now become later, when did now lose its sense of immediacy?

Opportunities arise, “yes” springs from our lips yet when it’s time for the commit, we opt instead to continue to linger beyond the expiration date with things that don't bring us joy. We self soothe with excuses not realizing that if we take just a minute now, it could stretch the length of a mile... if we open ourselves to that possibility.

Now is what gets put to the side when something more pressing befalls us, often forgotten as the obstacles of life tumble us along. We forget that not all challenges are insurmountable, that now may pass us by if we stop everything when the curtain rises and the scene in front of us is not the performance we bought the ticket for.

We all want to believe that we have plenty of time to get to now. Some of us even believe we need to suffer long and hard before we can do what our heart and soul desires, before we deserve to breathe life into our dreams whatever they are. As the year progresses, I am often reminded that now is no longer for many so I now ask, what are we waiting for?

I love picking dandelions to blow their fuzzy white seeds into the air, have so since childhood. Like little fairies floating up and away, they carry my wishes along to the unseen. Nature (and a strong gust of wind) dictates that the time for this moment of magical delight passes quickly; now is the/my time.

keep your peepers open!®

fancy pansy

Flowers are the music of the ground. From earth's lips, spoken with sound. - Edwin Curran

And when it rains, notes drop like tiny sparkling chimes there and everywhere,

crystal bell balls that speak of the future as they ring,

whispering clarity if you bend down to lend an ear.

Listen closely and while you do…

keep your peepers open!®

serenity

Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary

to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.

    - Hermann Hesse

Finding that place takes quiet patience, a desire to find it and belief that you will. Seek and you shall…

keep your peepers open!®