Nuit Blanche (Sleepless Night) explores a fleeting moment between two strangers, revealing their brief connection in a hyper real fantasy. Magic…
Body Calligraphy in Motion
May 16, 2013 By 13 Comments
Piano Works 13 from Julien Martorell on Vimeo.
What did Dad pack you for lunch?
April 30, 2013 By 29 Comments
David Laferriere, a graphic designer and illustrator from Massachusetts, has been drawing on his kids’ sandwich bags with a Sharpie marker for more than five years. 1111 bags and counting. “I’ve been doing it for my kids since they were little…They love it, and nothing makes me happier than hearing their reaction at the end of the day…I used to work nights at a newspaper, and I’d be up early in the morning making my kids sandwiches,” LaFerriere, a graphic designer at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, told Mashable. “I started drawing on the baggies, sort of as a way to channel my creative juices in the morning, and it just ended up sticking.” His kids, Evan, 16, and Kenny, 14, were both in elementary school when it started. Now that they’re older, LaFerriere said, they and their friends still look forward to the drawings every day. I’d like to keep doing this for as long as possible. Of course, things will change once they go to college — but I can still send illustrated care packages,” he said. See Flickr blog for the video. See Laferriere’s Flickr photostream for all of his illustrations. Cool!
Sources: blog.ficker.net and Mashable.com,
Monday Morning Wake-Up Call: Time to Get Up?
April 29, 2013 By 22 Comments
Sunday Morning: Sebastião Salgado
April 28, 2013 By 18 Comments
“After 8 years of traveling the planet, capturing the natural world in its most pristine state…I discovered that a huge part of the planet is yet as the day of the beginning…what I wished to show was the planet in total equilibrium…us in equilibrium with our nature…I worked with the Nenets in the north of Siberia…all that a family has is minimum…there I discovered the sense of essential…to survive, and to survive well, to be happy, to love our child, to love our wife, to be close with nature, you don’t need all this. I don’t know if I succeed with these pictures, but my wish is to do a homage to the planet…a portrait of the planet.”
See more of Sebastião Salgado’s amazing black and white photos at this link.
Sebastião Salgado, 69, is a Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist. Salgado initially trained as an economist and switched to photography in 1973. He is particularly noted for his social documentary photography of workers in less developed nations. He has traveled in over 100 countries for his photographic projects. Salgado has been awarded numerous major photographic prizes in recognition of his accomplishments and a sustained, significant contribution to the art of photography. (Source: Wiki)
Thank you Joan Walters @ Canadian Art Junkie for pointing me to this video and to Sebastião Salgado.
The days melt in my hands like ice in the sun
April 24, 2013 By 20 Comments
“Balzac drove himself relentlessly as a writer, motivated by enormous literary ambition as well as a never-ending string of creditors and endless cups of coffee; as Herbert J. Hunt has written, he engaged in “orgies of work punctuated by orgies of relaxation and pleasure.” When Balzac was working, his writing schedule was brutal: He ate a light dinner at 6:00 p.m., then went to bed. At 1:00 a.m. he rose and sat down at his writing table for a seven-hour stretch of work. At 8:00 a.m. he allowed himself a ninety-minute nap; then, from 9:30 to 4:00, he resumed work, drinking cup after cup of black coffee. (According to one estimate, he drank as many as fifty cups a day.) At 4:00 p.m. Balzac took a walk, had a bath, and received visitors until 6:00, when the cycle started all over again. “The days melt in my hands like ice in the sun,” he wrote in 1830. “I’m not living, I’m wearing myself out in a horrible fashion—but whether I die of work or something else, it’s all the same.”
— Balzac’s daily routine by Mason Currey from Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
T.G.I.F.: May it go as quickly and efficiently
February 1, 2013 By 13 Comments
Source: Thank you fantasmaglorious. Couldn’t stop watching. Boyo, what is with your fixation with water balloons?
6:53 am. And inspired.
January 30, 2013 By 27 Comments
Here’s my picks for the inspiring posts of the week.
Thank you Canadian Art Junkie for sharing the photo above in her post Shaun Lowe: Canola, Sunshine & The Sea. See her post for more wonderful photographs of eastern Canada.
Steve Gutzler with his post titled 7 Keys to Building Irresistible Energy:“I’ll be honest, one of my favorite compliments is when people take note of my energy and passion. But having such energy has been a life struggle of mine. When I was a young man in my early 20′s, I was diagnosed with a blood disorder. For over three years I woke up every day with a low grade temperature and lacking energy. I’d drag through my days. My attitude was good but my immune system was ravaged…Well, fast forward to today. I’m healthy with no hint of fatigue. I train 4-5 days a week and I eat like an athlete. I strive to get seven hours of sleep and I’m working most days by 5 AM. What I like most about where I am at is how grateful I am for what I have. I am fearfully and wonderfully made, not perfect but I’m sure grateful for what I have!”…Read entire post for Steve’s 7 Keys to Building Energy at this link.
Maybe It’s Just Me who describes herself and her blog as “The life of a middle aged hippie on Maui, eating raw and vegan and staying healthy. I walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain in fall 2012 with my husband and son“…do we need more inspiration than this?!! Her beautiful post shares her sensations as she returns home to the various places she’s lived. The post is titled: As We Relive Our Lives In What We Tell You and this excerpt is returning home to Maui: …there is no better feeling than coming home to a place that I love. I went up onto the roof deck today to look at the clouds, the palm trees, and the volcano rising above, and again later on, to watch a glorious sunset over the ocean. I was content to just sit and feel the warmth of the island air on my skin. Skin that desperately cries out for sunshine and humidity, and that whispers “mahalo” every time I return home to Maui.” Read her entire post at this link.
Every Day Mind
January 25, 2013 By 26 Comments
“Every day mind is getting out of bed, eating breakfast, going to work, coming home, going to bed. It is laughing and crying, being anxious and joyful. Everyday mind is walking and talking, sitting down and standing up. It is the mind of suffering, conflict, anger and hatred, love and devotion. How can everyday mind be the way? Everyday mind, we say, is too mundane, too ordinary, and so we want the opposite, we want the magical. It is our very search, our lust for the miraculous and magical, that hides from us the truth that simply to be, simply to know I am, is already the miracle that we seek. Everything, as it is, is perfect, but you must stop seeing it as if in a mirror, as if in a dream.”
~ Albert Low
Albert Low, 84, is a western Zen Master, an internationally published author of 11 books, and a former human resources executive. He has lived in England, South Africa, Canada and the U.S. and has resided in Montreal since 1979. He was born in London on December 16, 1928. He left England with his wife Jean in 1954, and emigrated to South Africa. There he was employed by the Central News Agency where he eventually, he became the senior personnel executive. In 1963, he left South Africa as he could not agree with the apartheid policy and moved to Canada. He settled in Ontario and was again employed as a personnel executive, this time with a large utility that was at that time called the Union Gas Company. Eventually, he wrote a book based upon his researches: Zen and Creative Management, which has since sold more than 75,000 copies. During his time at the gas company, he continued to give talks and seminars on the subject of management, organization and creativity — the latter a subject he has spent considerable time studying, and which is very closely connected with Zen practice.
Image: Mathiole – “The Optimist” from 1000 drawings. Quote: Whiskey River
Event of the Thread
January 23, 2013 By 19 Comments
I’m sorry I missed it…An excerpt of the review from the NY Times: “Anyone who liked swings as a child — and that should include quite a few of us — will probably feel a surprisingly visceral attraction to Ann Hamilton’s installation “the event of a thread” at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City…The swings are there for us, to swing on. The piece has other components, about which more in a minute, but if people are not using the swings, “the event of a thread” does not fully exist. When they are in action, the immense, diaphanous white curtain, made of a lightweight silk twill, rises and dips, and the air is stirred, causing further billowing and fluttering. And in the middle of it all, the curtain, which resembles a low-cost indoor version of Christo and Jean-Claude’s 1972 land art piece “Valley Curtain,” was doing its silent, discombobulated dance. In addition, if you paused in your swinging, you could feel the rest of the interconnected system pulse and gyrate, a momentary demonstration — at once silly and profound — that we are, indeed, all connected.”
Here’s a short and wonderful video clip that makes it all come alive…
the event of a thread from Paul Octavious on Vimeo.
Related Posts: Be sure to check out Olivia’s terrific post on the same event at Your Effect on Me Is Incredible
5:28 am. And inspired.
January 23, 2013 By 11 Comments
Thank you David Tribby for the inspiring panoramic shot of the City of Chicago. And, now, on to the inspiring posts of the week:
James Altucher, pro blogger, @ The Altucher Confidential with his post on his morning ritual titled The Six People You Must Find Today: …Once you do this, oxytocin will explode through your body, lighting up all of your pleasure centers. (1) Someone to love. Write the name and why you love this person. (2) Someone to thank. You must call them and thank them. If you can’t call them, just write their name down. (3) Someone to be grateful for…Read entire post at this link.
Judy @ petit4chocolatier with her post: Chocolate Cupcakes with Soft Blue Butter-Cream Icing with Little Chocolate Sprinkles. She had me at her post title. And then she stole my stomach with wave upon wave of delectable cupcake photos. I wanted to come through the screen to get at these. Pan through Judy’s other posts. Amazing.
David Byrne: Hidden Roots
January 21, 2013 By 15 Comments
David Byrne, 60, is a Scottish musician permanently residing in the United States. He is best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the American New Wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1975 and 1991. He has received Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe awards and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Brainpickings.org describes Byrne “as also one of the sharpest thinkers of our time and a kind of visual philosopher. About a decade ago, Byrne began making ‘mental maps of imaginary territory’ in a little notebook based on self-directed instructions to draw anything from a Venn diagram about relationships to an evolutionary tree of pleasure yet wholly unlike anything else. In 2006, Byrne released Arboretum, a collection of these thoughtful, funny, cynical, poetic, and altogether brilliant pencil sketches — some very abstract, some very concrete — drawn in the style of evolutionary diagrams and mapping everything from the roots of philosophy to the tangles of romantic destiny to the ecosystem of the performing arts.”
Bottom line: Brilliant.
Sources: Brainpickings.org and Wiki
Voting Booths Are Re-Open!
January 19, 2013 By 33 Comments
My voting booths are opening again to rename my blog. (Just kidding!) Yet, if you missed this huge event (hyperbole squared) and can’t wait to learn more, you can find details here and here.
Anake Goodall shared this new Gapingvoid post with me and said that someone is sending me a message…and I need to listen up.
Disclosure: I have blocked my family members from commenting on this post.
Related Posts:
Breakfast? No. Beauty.
January 17, 2013 By 8 Comments
4:02 am. And inspired.
January 16, 2013 By 27 Comments
Thank you Sandy @ Another Lovely Day for the amazing photo share of the Egyptian sunrise over the Red Sea.
And, now, on to the inspiring posts of the week:
Julie @ jmgoyder – Wings & Things from a retired dairy farm in Western Australia…with her series of posts on Gutsy9, an abandoned baby peacock that was adopted by Julie. Start at this post: Tips on Raising a Baby Peacock and then pan forward to the photos and updates. I look forward with anticipation to Julie’s updates on Gutsy9. Here’s an excerpt: So I have been raising Gutsy9 myself and he and I are totally imprinted on each other now. He is a pied, so half white and half blue so it will be interesting to watch him grow up. At night he sleeps in a box in the veranda and during the day he sits on my shoulder. Read on for the 6 tips at this link. And, don’t miss Julie’s Bio/About page. You won’t be disappointed.
Linda Petersen @ Raising 5 Kids With Disabilities And Remaining Sane Blog rings the bell again with a wonderful post titled Life Is Like A Tiny Bag of Jelly Bellies. Linda shares a number of little events that give “her a boost and make her happy.” Here’s a few of her Jelly Bellies…”(1) seeing a grandfather walking along, holding the hand of his joyous granddaughter, all dressed up with coat and fancy hat, skipping happily along, ribbons trailing, (2) hanging a picture on the wall and having it come out straight the first time, (3) finding a $10 bill in the pocket of a coat I haven’t worn in a long time, (4) a hug from a child, especially if it is accompanied by and “I love you.” Hit this link to read more.
Path of Beauty
January 11, 2013 By 40 Comments
A woman walks in the Musée du Louvre, alone.
The museum is completely empty.
We follow this young woman in her dreamlike journey through the different rooms of the museum, between amazement and beauty, art and poetry.
I’ve never been to the Louvre. Or to Paris. (I know. I know. You’ve tiring of this rant.)
I’d like to take this walk to end a long week (and esp. when the museum is completely empty).
Wonderful two minute clip. And paired with sweet, dreamlike-fitting music by Sigur Ros.
Related Posts:
5:03 am. And, Inspired…
January 2, 2013 By 18 Comments
Good Wednesday morning. The peaceful, easy feeling photo above of the Alouette River, Pitt Meadows, British Columbia was taken by Kevin van der Leek.
Paulette Mahurin @ The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap with her post The Touch That Changed My Life: “While in grad school at UCLA, I had a clinical rotation at a VA outpatient hospital, when a homeless man was brought in to the emergency room. He was filthy with a foul odor, as if he hadn’t changed his clothes in days nor took them off to go to the bathroom. I saw him come with the paramedics and the commotion that ensued with a lull before anyone started treatment, to gown and glove up, goggles over eyes, all body parts covered…Read More at this link. Inspiring. Period.
Linda Petersen @ Raising Five Kids With Disabilities and Remaining Sane Blog with her post I Have Raised My Children Right in the Most Important Area: “I am sure that every parent questions how they have raised their children. I know I have. I have not been strict enough in making them eat all of their vegetables and clean their rooms, (mainly because I don’t eat all of my vegetables and clean my room.) I know to some people this is a major parenting faux pas. However, I have raised my children right in the most important area…caring for others…” Read the rest of this inspiring story at this link. And don’t miss Linda’s ABOUT page.
Nick Chase
December 30, 2012 By 16 Comments
Nick Chase was born in Sackville, New Brunswick and now resides in Toronto where he creates his glass art. The piece below is titled “Shields” which is a Blown glass vessel with carved detail to represent the Canadian Shield.
Here’s more beauty by Nick Chase…this piece titled “Sargasso Leaf” [Read more...]
The Relentless Reviser
December 27, 2012 By 29 Comments
The path to excellence. Study the best in the field. Develop lifelong habits. Continuously revise and improve. (Kaizen.) Practice. Have a critical eye with your own work. Be sure to focus on the process as it is as important as the output. Pursue your field of passion despite the views of your critics. There are no shortcuts to excellence – it takes incredible focus and effort. Same old, same old? Yes. It worked for Matisse. And it will work for you and me.
Henri Matisse (1869-1954), along with Picasso and Duchamp, was regarded as one of three artists who helped define art and sculpture in the 20th century. There is a Matisse show on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until March 17th, 2013. There is an exceptional review of the show in wsj.com titled The Relentless Reviser. Below I share excerpts from the review that are applicable to many of us in our fields: [Read more...]
7:40 am. And, Inspired…
December 26, 2012 By 12 Comments
Good Wednesday morning. Nitzus kicks us off with a photo he titles “Land of Gold” - wheat fields and vineyards near Waikerie in the Riverland region in South Australia. Be sure to check out his blog and other great photos. And now on to my selection of the inspiring posts of the week from my favorite bloggers:
Don Carnagey~Lanier with his post Giving Gratefulness and Being Lonely: “All of our lives are a cycle and a river that we must each travel one our own. The destination is set, but the method of our journeying is up to us. We can cruise down the middle of the river at top speed, or we can hug the shore and spin around in eddies. We can crash over rapids or chart a safer path between obstacles. We can slum along the bottom in the mire and slime of sediment, or we can glide along the sparkling surface where the air is clean. The river is ours from birth to death. How we’ll navigate it is determined by the hundreds of small choices we make each day.” Read entire post at this link.
Make Believe Boutique with another of her steady stream of thought provoking posts titled The Fresh Blush of Color in the Transpersonal Soul: ”What capacities lie unrecognized within us? What currently unfathomable abilities lie dormant, and what can we do to speed their appearance? These are humbling questions that remind us that for all we know our potentials may exceed our wildest dreams. Plotinus claimed that humankind stands poised midway between the beasts and the gods. Perhaps this is another way of saying that we stand midway on our developmental and evolutionary trajectory to full human potential…” Read entire post at this link. [Read more...]
La musique nous rapproach
December 20, 2012 By 9 Comments
Loved this clip. The music. The side by side images. Have no idea what “La Musique Nous Rapproach” means (this despite four years of high school French). Linguee.com offered many potential translations including my favorites: “by design the city brings people closer” and “music brings people together“. Enjoy…
La musique nous rapproche from Gioacchino Petronicce on Vimeo.
Related Posts:
5:20 am. And, Inspired…
December 19, 2012 By 27 Comments
Good Wednesday morning. Linda @ A Nature Mom took this photo of her son at Mono Lake, Eastern Sierra California. So much seems to have happened since my last hump day post. Children are on my mind and this wonderful, peaceful (and safe) photo resonated with me. Be sure to check out Linda’s blog and her photos – wonderful, heartwarming images.
And now on to my selection of the inspiring posts of the week from my favorite bloggers:
Tony Caselli with his moving post A Night of Long Hugs: The house is quiet…On a day like today, with the tragic shooting in Connecticut, I felt fortunate to be rehearsing a play about love, and the power of family and kindness. I got home from rehearsal just before bedtime, and hugged my wife. My daughter came out in her pajamas and gave me a big, long hug, saying “I love you Dad”…10 minutes later, sitting with my 12-year old as he was about to read himself to sleep, we quietly discussed how sad those families in Connecticut must be right now. After we sat for a minute in silence he looked at me. “When I grow up and become a psychologist”, he said, “I hope I can help someone to not do stuff like that.” I hugged him close. “I think that’d be a pretty great thing, buddy.” And now I lay in bed, and I listen to the quiet of the house.” Read entire post at this link. [Read more...]
4:03 am. And, Inspired…
December 12, 2012 By 18 Comments
Good Wednesday morning. The photo above is a couple visiting the wheat fields next to Van Gogh’s grave in Auvers Sur Oise, France. Hit this link to get full impact of this shot. The full size photograph evokes many powerful emotions…
And now on to my selection of the inspiring posts of the week from my favorite bloggers:
Lvsrao @ Lvsrao’s Blog with his post The Seven Principles: Life is a struggle. Remembering 7 principles gives strength. (1) In generosity and helping others be like a river. (2) In compassion and grace be like the sun…(Read the rest of his five principles at this link. Loved it.)
Kim @ Tranquil Dreams with her post When is it OK…: ”Six years ago today, my dad (passed away)…My dad was the typical Chinese man from previous generation who didn’t show his emotions much and didn’t compliment much (or at all). …After he passed, it was when I realize that a good part of my life was spent on trying to do things to make my father proud, however it seemed that I never did actually get to that point. I was just never that perfect daughter…(Read more for the full story and conclusion. And listen to the music clip. Moving.)
How? No idea. Just wow!
December 11, 2012 By 26 Comments
This was Animated Banksy #2 and here’s Animated Banksy #9: [Read more...]
3:50 am. And, Inspired…
December 5, 2012 By 20 Comments
Good Wednesday morning. Here’s a selection of inspiring posts of the week from my favorite bloggers:
Vicki Flaherty @ Mostly My Heart Sings with her post The Survivor In Me: ”I guess you never think someone will say the words “You have cancer.” I certainly had never imagined it. It was surreal. I was home alone and scared. I remember crying like I have never cried before. I’m amazed that just days after the diagnosis, I was already moving to a place of strength and resiliency. The survivor in me, I guess. Here’s what I wrote in my journal that day, just a series of words: Strong. Resilient. Informed. Great care. Options. Choices. Fortunate. Reaching for family, friends. Being held, supported. Feeling love. Light. Healing. Growing. Path, Obstacle, Overcome, Stumbling forward with Grace. The seeds for this poem were planted on a beautiful day like today, when I was outside running with Jim, and watching the birds fly over the Iowa River. I remember thinking how awesome it would be to fly, to embrace the vast openness of the sky and float effortlessly on thermals – and wondering if I could create something like that for myself down here on the ground as a human being. The answer? Yes, for moments at a time. Read the entire post and Vicki’s poem titled Strong at this link. Inspiring.
Dr. Bill Wooten, who produces “aha” quote shares day-after-day-after-day, with a quote from Henri Nouwen titled: The Greatest Trap: “Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from the way they are part of the much larger temptation to self-rejection. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity, and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions...Read the rest of the quote at this link. [Read more...]
4:13 am. And, Inspired…
November 28, 2012 By 20 Comments
Good Wednesday morning. Here’s a selection of inspiring posts of the week from my favorite bloggers:
Kelly Harland, is an aphorist. I didn’t know what an aphorist or aphorism was. (aph·o·rism/ˈafəˌrizəm/noun/A pithy observation that contains a general truth). I know now. What talent. Here’s Kelly’s post titled: Wept on Vessel. ”What if, an aspect of faith, is embracing who I am?”
Kurt Harden @ Cultural Offering with his post: Helpful Apps. Kurt suggests that “you try one of these 9 apps and you’ll feel better.” One of his apps is the “Written Word® - Get a blank sheet of paper and write a letter to someone. Thank them for something and tell them what you have been doing. Tell them how you think about something. If necessary use the back of the paper or even a second or third sheet. Ask them to write you back. Modeled after society pre-1990.” Check out his other 8 apps…loved it. [Read more...]
4:23 am. And, Inspired…
November 21, 2012 By 13 Comments
Good Wednesday morning. Here’s a selection of inspiring posts of the week from my favorite bloggers:
Ray @ A Simple, Village Undertaker with his post Potato Chips. A story about a boy with his bag of potato chips and an old man on a bench in the park.
Ophelia @ Ophelia’s Fiction Blog with her post Life is But a Dream who is tucking her boy Will to sleep with…Baa Baa Black Sheep and Row, Row, Row Your Boat (singing it so many times that it has lost meaning): But then I look down at his lovely, golden head and I think – can I imagine anything more pure and beautiful than the love I have for this little boy? Why hurry to slip into a dream, when here is this amazing being, breathing, right up against my side as if we’re still one? There’ll plenty of time for dreaming. I don’t want to miss these moments with Will – that make me feel I’m living the most remarkable dream of all. [Read more...]
4:11 am. And, Inspired…
November 14, 2012 By 15 Comments
Good Wednesday morning. Here’s a selection of inspiring posts of the week from my favorite bloggers:
Scott Marshall @ Land-Sea-Sky-Lathail. Check out his photographs from Scotland. MUST SEE…(and btw, that’s his photograph above).
Jenny Wright @ Jennyiswright with her post: Are you?: …You’ve heard that before. Carpe diem, right? That’s not what I mean. I’m not telling you to be content with what you have, either. I’m just suggesting that you step away and look from afar. Your life may be a hell of a lot better than you think…Everything isn’t all sunshine, roses, and unicorns (though unis are totally real) every day. That’s a fact. Some days feel super bad. Chin up, buttercup. Maybe that silver lining is right in your face. Try not to hurry. You might miss it…(Read this post)
Ivon @ Teacher as Transformer with his post: The Right Moment Arrived: “It arrived– A winter storm. Unexpected, I felt unsure. Slow down. Grasping frantically, Busyness overtakes. I let go. I arrive on time. In the very moment that just arrived.” [Read more...]
You regret nothing?
November 12, 2012 By 32 Comments
“If you have no sadness or remorse, you are a liar or a denier, or worse still, you haven’t lived. No one makes it through life without words better left unsaid, poor judgments or thoughtless omissions. I can barely make it through the day without all three.”
~ Erica Brown (NY Times - A Nice Opportunity for Regret)
Image Source: Tigran
Sunday Morning: Samare
November 11, 2012 By 18 Comments
Samare from Troshinsky on Vimeo.
“Samare” is a 1 minute short film. It is a stop-motion short film that uses the flipbook illusion. Let’s me just call it magic artistry.
Related Posts:
Tchaikovsky: We must always work…
November 7, 2012 By 24 Comments
“Do not believe those who try to persuade you that composition is only a cold exercise of the intellect. The only music capable of moving and touching us is that which flows from the depths of a composer’s soul when he is stirred by inspiration. There is no doubt that even the greatest musical geniuses have sometimes worked without inspiration. This guest does not always respond to the first invitation. We must always work, and a self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood. If we wait for the mood, without endeavouring to meet it half-way, we easily become indolent and apathetic. We must be patient, and believe that inspiration will come to those who can master their disinclination.
A few days ago I told you I was working every day without any real inspiration. Had I given way to my disinclination, undoubtedly I should have drifted into a long period of idleness. But my patience and faith did not fail me, and to-day I felt that inexplicable glow of inspiration of which I told you; thanks to which I know beforehand that whatever I write to-day will have power to make an impression, and to touch the hearts of those who hear it. I hope you will not think I am indulging in self-laudation, if I tell you that I very seldom suffer from this disinclination to work. I believe the reason for this is that I am naturally patient. I have learnt to master myself, and I am glad I have not followed in the steps of some of my Russian colleagues, who have no self-confidence and are so impatient that at the least difficulty they are ready to throw up the sponge. This is why, in spite of great gifts, they accomplish so little, and that in an amateur way.”
Source: Brainpickings. Tchaikovsky, the legendary composer, wrote this in a letter to his benefactress, Nadezhda von Meck, dated March 17th, 1878. It can be found in the 1905 volumeThe Life & Letters of Pete Ilich Tchaikovsky.
Related Posts:
4:14 am. And, Inspired…
November 7, 2012 By 16 Comments
Good Wednesday morning. Here’s a selection of inspiring posts of the week from my favorite bloggers:
Vanessa @ One Thousand Single Days with her Post: My Time Is Running Out: “…From the moment we are born we have a number. It sits invisibly above our head ticking down as we saunter through life. The number is the seconds we have left, the number of breaths left in our lungs, the number of beats left in our heart. But we are not aware of it. We don’t see that number ticking backwards before us in the mirror as we brush our teeth angrily after the argument had with our spouse and we don’t see it as we close the door behind us as we face another day of work, we don’t see it as we make choices, rejected ideas or grow too shy to speak up…(Read more)
Anton Ferrie @ My Spring Awakening with his post: “The Yellow Balloon.” “I was clearing my room out the other day…and I stumbled across a small balloon that had been lying in some forgotten corner, having fallen from a bag or pocket. Normally a small piece of debris like this would hold no significance whatsoever…But this balloon symbolized something much greater…A young man had been seen wandering around the pub, evidently lost, and I approached him in the hope that I could be of assistance. I soon found out that the 23 year old American was…(Read more) [Read more...]
No Pain. No Gain?
November 5, 2012 By 28 Comments
“…maybe that’s the lesson for me today. to hold on to these simple moments. to appreciate them a little more. there’s not many of them left. i don’t ever want that for you, finding things that make you happy shouldn’t be so hard. i know you’ll face pain, suffering, hard choices, but you can’t let the weight of it choke the joy out of your life. no matter what you have to find the things that love you; run to them. there’s an old saying: that which does not kill you makes you stronger. i don’t believe that. i think the things that try to kill you make you angry and sad. strength comes from the good things: your family, your friends, the satisfaction of hard work. those are the things that keep you whole, those are the things to hold on to when you’re broken.”
~ Jax Teller, Sons of Anarchy
Image Source: Sergioalbiac. Quote Source: gene-how. Post inspired by Another Day in Paradise
Grounded.
November 4, 2012 By 21 Comments
It’s Monday, October 29th. The day that Hurricane Sandy hit the Tri-State Region.
I’m scrolling down the new WordPress posts for bloggers I follow. My fingers sliding clumsily on the touch pad. Scrolling. Scrolling. (Cursing because I haven’t figured out this d*mn touch pad. I miss the eraser thing in the middle of keyboard. Getting old. Hating change. Big clumsy fingers. I slide fingers in wrong direction and I’m taken to another website. I lose my place. Need to start back at the top. Grrrrrrr. Can this be so difficult pal? )
My eyes flitting from post to post. Scanning images and topics of interest.
My eyes land on the image on the left. I freeze. (What is it about this image? I can feel its soothing effects. The ‘Work’ clutch now slipping from OVERDRIVE to neutral.)
A few lines. Black lines. White background. A simple image. A simple, beautiful human image. (Let’s not get too carried away. It’s certainly not that simple. And nothing I could ever draw.)
I found it to be startling.
They never looked so good…
November 3, 2012 By 26 Comments
Look closely. Those are gummi bears and worms.
“Gummy Big Bang II” is an explosion composed by a light bulb and tons of red, orange and yellow candy gummi bears, worms, sharks filling a 120-square-foot space. The piece was included in the 2006 Oregon Biennial at the Portland Art Museum.
Source: Shin Sekai
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Get Up. Get Out. Don’t Sit.
November 3, 2012 By 23 Comments
“…New research this month finds that the more time someone spends sitting, the shorter and less robust his or her life may be. The findings were sobering: Every single hour of television watched after the age of 25 reduces the viewer’s life expectancy by 21.8 minutes. By comparison, smoking a single cigarette reduces life expectancy by about 11 minutes. Looking more broadly, they concluded that an adult who spends an average of six hours a day watching TV over the course of a lifetime can expect to live 4.8 years fewer than a person who does not watch TV. Those results hold true even for people who exercise regularly. It appears a person who does a lot of exercise but watches six hours of TV every night might have a similar mortality risk as someone who does not exercise and watches no TV…” [Read more...]
Sylvia Path: “I am myself. That is not enough.”
November 1, 2012 By 16 Comments
Sources: Sylvia Path quote via creatingaquietmind from larmoyante. Image: Crescentmoon
Related Sylvia Path Post: Oh, How I Ricochet Between…
4:02 am. And, Inspired…
October 31, 2012 By 25 Comments
Good Wednesday morning. And Happy Halloween.
Here’s a selection of inspiring posts of the week from my favorite bloggers:
Shawn Smucker with his post: “One Sign of a Life Well Lived“: ”Ours is a culture obsessed with sanitizing life, and not just in the physical or chemical sense. We want everything to line up with some unattainable standard, devoid of messiness or intrusion. Funeral services are to remain silent. Learning should be on point. Churches present their Statements of Faith as things which should not even be discussed. Children are expected to behave like robots. Can we become brave enough to leave room for some mess? Can we care less about modern sensitivities and more about meaning? Can we come to appreciate life in all of its unsanitized beauty?…Life = Mess.” I encourage you to read the entire post.
Tanushree Srivastava @ Charity Spring with her post: “Silence.” “Silence is underrated in today’s world. There is too much noise. Too many words and too much to say…Why do we have to fill in all the voids with words which are not needed?…Silence is often mistaken as symbol of weakness of a person, which is Wrong. I love silence and stillness…There is no greater power than silence which gives you the authority to steer anything in your favor…I personally spoke a lot and was a girl of too many words. But then realization struck me that I am losing on so much by creating my own noise and being always busy with thinking what I had to speak next. Always in a rush. I am sure many will relate to it. So change it like me. Life is amazing when you enjoy it with a calm and silent heart that is not rushing towards the next thought.”
Frightening conclusion? I am the decisive element.
October 30, 2012 By 20 Comments
“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
Credits: Quote – creatingaquietmind, Image - Artchipel
Frankenstorm
October 29, 2012 By 9 Comments
Source: TheDailyWhat. “Frankenstorm Is Coming of the Day: True story. While we wait, here’s the Hurricane Sandy meme watch.”
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Rush 匆匆
October 25, 2012 By 17 Comments
Rush 匆匆
Swallows may have gone, but there is a time of return; willow trees may have died back, but there is a time of regreening; peach blossoms may have fallen, but they will bloom again. Now, you the wise, tell me, why should our days leave us, never to return? – If they had been stolen by someone, who could it be? Where could he hide them? If they had made the escape themselves, then where could they stay at the moment?
I don’t know how many days I have been given to spend, but I do feel my hands are getting empty. Taking stock silently, I find that more than eight thousand days have already slid away from me. Like a drop of water from the point of a needle disappearing into the ocean, my days are dripping into the stream of time, soundless, traceless. Already sweat is starting on my forehead, and tears welling up in my eyes. [Read more...]
4:56 am. And, Inspired…
October 24, 2012 By 17 Comments
Good Wednesday morning.
Here’s a selection of inspiring posts of the week from my favorite bloggers:
Cristian Mihai, with over 19,000 blog followers, with his post: “The 7 Golden Rules of Blogging“: I was quite sure that I would never become a successful blogger. I created some blogs on various platforms, but I never had the patience to build an audience. The thing is that I never asked myself whether I had something worth writing about on an almost daily basis. I think this is something a lot of bloggers struggle with. What’s worth sharing? What’s considered useful information?…
Dr. James Stratford @ Beyond the Call with his post: “How do you judge your self worth?” “I formed the opinion that everyone and everything is in a constant yet constantly changing form of perfection, that we can only ever be what we are in this moment, however ignorant or foolish or amazing that might be, based on the fact that we have lived our particular experience with our particular perspective that has been influences in unique ways since the moment we were born and probably long before. It’s a rationale that demands, often against superficial likes and dislikes, that I honour and respect everyone, including myself. Most of all it demands acceptance of people and conditions as they are. You might want to change the world, but it’s actually essential to be able to accept the way things are exactly as they are before you can do so. Usually, it’s in this clear mindset that we see the seeds of growth, the bud of the lotus, in the present conditions.
