Black and white

I will admit, I am not a big fan of black and white, figuratively or photographically.

I think figuratively I have worked so hard at finding the gray that I've learned to shy away from the extremes.  Photographically, I am just head over heels in love with color. Color is a language all its own, helping me sense and express the words and emotions that sometimes are so difficult to find. In my darkest days, all the colors in my closet were gray, black and brown. These days, I am finding pink, purple, red, blues, and patterns in my closet!! Yes I am wearing patterns now Mom!!!! To be clear though, I love my earth tones, but I am not bound by them anymore...

I do appreciate black and white though. They are, after all, just another way of looking at things, and being flexible enough to consider other perspectives is something I don't ever want to take for granted. I'd be foolish to think that black and white doesn't evoke emotion at all, oh quite the contrary....

Joining Bella for 52 Photos Project...

Happy Wednesday

xoxo

"The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." ~ Eden Philpotts

Thursday is the day where I share the discoveries I have found on the web and when I give gratitude for all that I have learned or discovered. I take so much pleasure in just finding other blogs and other people's creations that just to share it surrounds me with a feeling of abundance. That is when it dawned on me, that this entire week for me, has been about realizing abundance.

In this post only a few short days ago, I asked the simple question of how to feel abundant more often, more consistently. Since that time, I have been bombarded with messages, experiences, and moments that has given me an answer a thousand times over.  Abundance is not acquired, it already exists. Only our perspective brings abundance into awareness, with gratitude being the greatest conduit to that perspective.

There is a flipside. Feeling abundant all the time, is not possible. The awareness of abundance is not possible without the feeling of scarcity. Just as happiness is undefined without sadness, joy without pain, abundance without scarcity is unrealized. Does that mean I have to live with fear and scarcity half the time? No, but if I feel it, there must be something for me to learn. Growth only happens if you know there is something to learn, sometimes over and again. Sometimes you just have to ask the question, open and honestly, for an answer to present itself.

Paolo Coehlo said it ~ "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."
So did Ralph Waldo Emerson ~ "Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."

So here is who I need to thank this week for helping me learn and re-learn these things:

Brene Brown who wrote The Gifts of Imperfection and her blog Ordinary Courage.

John Strelecky who wrote Life Safari.

And Nicole at Garden Mama who's entire site is about giving and sharing all her special talents to all those who want to learn.

With much gratitude, MJ

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” ~ John Muir

If I need an attitude adjustment, there are two, fast, surefire ways that will do. Music and going outside. Usually, just stepping outdoors can create an amazing feeling of being uplifted, as if being connected to something natural and good.  But when I get to step outdoors in a place such as this, in the woods, the feeling that I will always be okay, even more than okay, prevails.

Recently, I have been trying to share this phenomena with my children.  We have done this at home in Florida, but the impact is different when you are surrounded by nature. They, too, can feel the connection and their entire spirit changes. When they ask me why that is. I tell them that it is simple, really. 

I tell them that we are no different from the trees, squirrels, or any other life form from this planet.  I tell them that we need air, water, and food from the earth and sun to live, breath and acquire energy.  The energy we feel is the energy this planet gives us so freely, continuously and generously. When we go outside, we are reunited, we are linked in, we are truly going home.