Moon

Photography Credit:   Reena of Missing Moments

moon-lit night,

dazzling symphony

of light and shadows  

~0~0~ 

concert park 
echoed the soulful strings,   

the moon wept

~0~0~


she adores the sun
swaying yellow petals in wind,  
the blue moon

Posted for Haiku Heights:  Moon - This is part of the September Challenge in HH ~

Shadorma poems

                                                                "Bougainvillean Dreams"

you hold me

pale as crushed petals

paper dry

fading, but   

on pink bed of your soft hands, 

my dreams bloom, bold red

~0~0~0~

                                                                              "Growth"

tiny leaf 

awakens, pulsing, 

growing faith

uplifting

face to the sun, shoulders straight, 

  an oak tree rises 

~0~0~0~

"Bee in a Bottlebrush"

Drink from me

deep to my marrow

where the seeds

flaming red

scatter the fragrance and tears  

of a wounded heart

Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads:  OpenLinkNight - Monday
and D'verse Poets Pub:  OpenLinkNight - Tuesday
Poetry Form:  Shadorma

The Shadorma is:
1. a hexastich, a poem in 6 lines
2. syllabic, 3-5-3-3-7-5 syllables per line.
3. unrhymed.

Photography credit:   Jamie Clark

Bridge

i burned a bridge a long time ago


it was made of wrinkled steel, pearl dust marble, and 
tainted silver to hold trailer trucks, coast to coast


grizzled drivers kept their eyes on the mirror, cautious
while some young guns weaved in and out of the lanes


unaware of mortality by the next curve, or pain
from a missed turn, it always happen everyday


i heard it on the radio, a collision or an accident,
or i passed by along, coldly detached, shaking my head


at my high car insurance premium bill,  price of gas, price of living 
in this city of cement, where a second or seconds too late


may mean a difference of going to my office on time, or
getting crushed by fast lane, fast food and endless lists 


of things to do, whistling car noises cut my reverie of words
rolling from my tongue, i kept trying to remember their taste 


did i give you a good-bye morning kiss, or said i love you 
yesterday or maybe the week before, i don't recall anymore  


while running after work deadlines, striving to earn points,
pacing my goals one green light at a time, i 


turn to look at my blind spots, before I switch lanes
to another bridge,  I see, I see

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub- Awareness of the Experience , hosted by Sheila Moore. 
Roads and bridges speak to me as I drive to my office morning and afternoon.


Photography by:   Walter W Smith

Phone: 864 – 569 – 6533
Email address: seeartrun@yahoo.com
Artist website: www.newdigitalscapes.com
Art blog: www.walterwsmith.wordpress.com
Online store: www.newdigitalscapes.imagekind.com 

Thoughts on the sea

thoughts on white paper

 coasting along the blue sea,

    mudsrocks and shales break    

~0~0~

broken shell,   

sea

 unforgiving 

Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads:   Photography by Richard Schear


I am part of the Few Miles Haiku Challenge for 2012:
Day 6 – February 6th – Theme or Word: Think Form: Haiku & Pi-Ku - Pi-Ku, is a derived form with syllable structure 3-1-4.

Footprints in the sand

I came across this poem when I was a young girl.    I thought then that when God carries me, that he will magically solve all my problems and all my cares will be gone.   Now that I have a family and daily challenges to cope, both at home and at work, I know realize how fortunate I am to have a Divine Hand to guide me, comfort me and hold me close to His Bosom.   Not that all my problems will disappear like magic, but it is comforting to know that there is someone helping me carry my burdens and cares.   Through the kindness and good deeds of loved ones, friends, and even strangers, we can feel His comforting and merciful Hand. 

One night I had a dream.


I dreamed I was walking along the beach


with the Lord.


Across the sky flashed scenes from my life..


For each scene, I noticed two sets of


footprints in the sand,


one belonging to me, and the other to the Lord..

When the last scene of my life flashed before me,


I looked back at the footprints in the sand.


I noticed that many times along the path of my life


there was only one set of footprints.


I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest


and saddest times in my life.


This really bothered me


and I questioned the Lord about it:


"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,


you'd walk with me all the way.


But I have noticed that during the most


troublesome times in my life


there is only one set of footprints.


I don't understand why


when I need you most you would leave me."


The Lord replied:


"My precious child, I love you and would


never leave you.


During your times of trial and suffering,


when you see only one set of footprints, it was then


that I carried you."



poem by Mary Stevenson


Picture credit:   Luke Tscharke

http://www.luketscharke.com/index.php?showimage=14

Go with your heart

We visited our friends yesterday and had a wonderful time walking in their new town (the weather was cool) while catching up with news and updates.   Both our families have migrated to Canada and had our own share of challenges while taking care of our children.   We agreed that the future belongs to our sons and daughters.   We, as parents and older professionals, will just have to make the best of our lot, and move forward.

My musing after our visit:

Your choices and decisions determine your path in life.  Be brave to spread your wings and see what lies ahead and beyond.  It doesn't matter if you eventually discovered it is not for you.   At least now you know better.    Don't regret your decisions because you are always a better person and a stronger individual in making a firm stand.   For me, what is pitiful is for someone to go through life, with half their eyes closed, afraid and fearful of the unknown and never experiencing nor having their heart touched by deep passions or emotions.   Live life to the fullest.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart." -Confucius

Picture credit: http://www.pyranha.ch/index.php?showimage=28

The same tree, the same humanity

Since I live in a multi cultural city in Canada, I am always amaze of how different people are and yet are also alike in a lot of ways. Sure, we originally came from different countries, race and upbringing, and it is reflected in our food and clothing, and also religious faith, if any.  But once you get to know individuals and families, you discover that you share the same values, and appreciation for life and your country.    As a mom, I share the same concerns with any mom with a growing teen daughter.    As a working professional, I share the same health and family concerns like other working women.  In the broader context, I believe in freedom of expression so I sympathize with other people in other countries who want to break away from political tyranny and oppression.   It is heartening to realize that you and other individuals share the same compassion and sadness when others are hurt and suffering, and happiness, when families, teams and countries come together for peace and understanding.

Also, because I believe that despite our external differences, sometime back in ancient times, all of us are connected or related in one way or another.   If we can appreciate this, then perhaps we can be more tolerant of each other's differences and learn to co-exist more peacefully.

Do you agree that at one time, we all came from the same tree?

Picture Credit:  Luke Tscharke

http://www.luketscharke.com/index.php?showimage=80

The world’s end is coming ?

If one reads the headlines in the news today (Japan's earthquake and nuclear crisis, unrest in Libya and Syria), you would think that the naysayers are right - world's end is coming soon.   I read it might come in 2012?

Well, I actually have heard about the world's doom and gloom prediction every few years, beginning when I heard it from my grandma when I was in my teens.  I was so scared then, and started praying so hard.   It also spooked out my family that we had a rosary, holy water and candles in the rooms in case the earth is covered in total darkness.  Well, I now have a family of my own and world is still spinning day in and day out.   I mean, who can really tell when the world will end?

We can live in fear and get paralyzed into inaction and negative end-of-the-world-thoughts, if we allow gloom and doom predictions to prevail our life.    I am amuse to read that business is brisk with survival kits and things in preparation for next year.   The funniest I have heard is someone building an ark like what Noah did to survive the 2012 end of the world event. 

For me, end of the world or not, we live each day to the best that we can, and leave our worries and cares to the God Above.

"Every evening I turn my worries over to God. He's going to be up all night anyway." 

-Mary C. Crowley

Tell me if you guys believe that the world is coming to an end by 2012 and I am crazy not to believe it.  

Photo credit:   http://www.drg-photography.com/2009/08/11/a-black-rock/

360 Panoramic View

Don't you wish you have no blind spots specially when you are driving, and can have a wider perspective of where you are going? Unfortunately in life, we view situations and events thru a prism or paradigm, usually from our vantage point. It may be right or wrong, depending on how we see it and based on the limited information we have. It would be ideal to get different perspectives on things so we can see the whole picture before we make our decision. Sometimes seeing things or situations from another angle, can change our opinion or mind. Maybe this is the reason why hindsight is perfect 20/20 vision - we gain insights after it has happened. What may seem to be a negative situation, might turn out to be positive if we saw it differently or with a panoramic view.

Fortunately, in photography, there is a technology where we can view pictures in 360, up or down, sideways, and whichever way we want to see it. It is called panoramic photography or wide format photography.

As you know, I love looking at pictures specially landscapes and seascapes. A friend send me the link for viewing pictures at 360 angle, at all sides, up and down. It is really cool.

Now, it would be perfect if everything can be viewed this way.

http://www.photojpl.com/cities/

Hope everyone is having a good day ~

Math and love

I see that a lot of my readers search for love and quotes about love.   Here is an original composition on love by a young man ~

You plus me equals forever, so I plucked a thousand feathers to make up this quill that I used to tranquilize my thoughts to make my will, so I spill, a thousand hearts, a thousands roads, crying to the skies hoping to evoke, trying to promote to the heavens, pleading god for us to remain together, so we remain together, add us up to forever, subtract all the mistakes, integrate all the great moments, divide all the pride and break it down, turn the X's into hearts, it's dark when I shout at you, but it is the spark of your smile that makes me go through, the rainy days, the tears of pain, the joyful glee you and me, hopefully the universe can see,

that we remain together infinitely...

Credit to:   http://poetarch.blogspot.com/2011/03/math-and-love.html


Picture credit:  victoria6277.tumblr.

Life is like riding a bicycle

March is finally here! Hopefully spring is just around the corner.

In the first 2 months of this year, we had 4 people leaving our office for opportunities elsewhere. Resignations (including terminations) in our office are done very quickly. One moment, you are greeting your officemates good morning, and the next moment, they are bringing out their stuff from their work station. These changes meant reorganization, rescheduling and reshuffling the workload.

My hubby was also telling me how quickly their office environment changed. One day, their boss was telling them what to do, the next day, he was resigning, and being replaced by another one. For them, under new management, this meant reshaping their product lines, retraining and updating their marketing strategies.

The changes in our office are just a small subset of changes happening around world, even quicker than we can count from 1 to 10. Much as we love things to stay the way they are or for people to remain the the way they are, we can't control changes and decisions made by other people.

To move forward, the best we can do, is to pedal our way through the changes, rely on ourselves (not others) and keep our eyes focus on the road ahead. Some changes may knock us off our seat, and drive us off our path. But if we persevere and and make the best of our lot, we can dust off the dirt from our clothes, and get back on the road. Where will it lead us? Who knows? I think this is where the adventure starts.

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." - Albert Einstein

Photo credit: Mahbubur Rahman

http://www.mrahmanphoto.com/blog/?p=522

Living in a "livable city"

What am I most thankful for today???

According to the recent Economist Intellegience Unit survey, I am living (beside it actually) in one of the top 10 most livable city in the world.   The city that  I am referring to is Toronto, ranked 4th in the list.   Two other Canadian cities were in the top 10, Vancouver is ranked No. 1 (for the past 5 years) and Calgary is 5th.

This survey just validates what every immigrant family know - that Canada is a good country to live and raise children.   It is peaceful and relatively stable without the unrest and troubles of other countries (Turkey, Libya, etc).    We do have access to health care, education, clean water and the basic government services.

You would think that Canadians are generally a happy people because of our blessings.   Some are, but some are complainers. People here gripe about taxes, roads, traffic, garbage, budget and a whole lot of other domestic issues, that gives  Toronto City, a not so picture perfect city to live.

Some of you might even be surprised to know that some Canadians suffer from depression due to work and stress.   I personally find this a paradox considering the relative wealth and stability of Canada compared to other countries.  Consider the global snapshot:

*1/3 of the world population live in extreme poverty with no access to basic needs like clean water


* almost half the world - over three billion people - live on less than $US 2.50 a day.

When one considers what most people don't even have, we are indeed blessed that we have the freedom and peace and even prosperity to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

So, when I hear people here complaining or getting depressed about their situation, I think of people in much worse situation than we are.    I just shrug away the negative comments and accept it as part of my decision to live in this city.   From the way I see it,  things don't look so bad after all.

Here is beautiful picture of Toronto city by night ~

Picture credit:  http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/10/09/02/

Article credit:   http://ca.news.yahoo.com/vancouver-remains-worlds-most-livable-city-survey-20110220-160000-051.html

On Communication: Let's chat~

I was attending a party with friends when I noticed two young teens seated beside each other.

You would think they would be talking to each other.   Well the adults were.  

The teens were looking and playing with their phones, and their gadgets.

I was thinking - what happened to old fashioned talking ???  

Is face to face conversation a losing art among the young people, and maybe the not so young, with the prevalence of modern communication gadgets? 

Ironically, the modern communication tools were created in the first place to bridge the distance and time when personal face to face communication is not possible.   The phones,internet and other tools are secondary communication devices.    No matter how convenient it is, nothing  can still replace the personal touch and response that comes with having a face to face conversation.  Issues and misunderstandings are resolved and worked out during face to face encounters.   Emails, texts do not.

So, let's chat.    

~ We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak. ~ Epictetus

Photo credit:   Nikos Zacharoulis

http://www.nikzach.gr/p/20

On staying positive: develop habits and interests that make you happy

One of my friends asked me how I can stay positive when confronted with rumors or negative talk from other people including those we read and hear about, including the internet chatter.


I have a simple solution - I tuned out the rumors and negative talk including “negative” internet sites. I don’t visit them because it’s a waste of my time, and not worth the aggravation or my emotional welfare. I want to have control over my thoughts and actions, so choosing which people, group or team or even internet site or forum, I want to be affiliated with, needs my careful consideration.   Just like choosing who to hang out with,  I like the company of people who are encouraging, positive and make me happy.



Since I use the computer a lot of the time (at work and at home specially now that it is winter), I avoid gossip blogs and sites that thrive in negative chatter or discussion. In my desire to learn about blogging, I have come across some good and entertaining blogs. The case in point is the photography community. I love landscape photography and beautiful pictures so joining the community of photographers is really heaven to me.  Here are some sites:


http://photoblogs.com/


http://www.coolphotoblogs.com/


I would like to think that the way we see the world is a matter of perspective… it depends on where your eyes are looking at. Just like a photographer taking pictures,  we decide what images we want to capture with our camera.    Not that we should close our eyes to the other images in the background or not listen to a contrary opinion.   It is good to get a different perspective on things but it should be based on factual information and careful deliberation, not on idle chat and malice.   At the end, it all boils down to who you are listening to, and who you are believing.


What can you do to keep yourself positive and happy? Develop a habit or interest that keeps you happily absorbed in and makes you feel good about yourself for the next 30 days. Keep yourself busy  - learn or take up something new like a hobby or a skill or an exercise program like yoga or read articles from blogs that positively impacts you.  Before you know it, you will spend more and more time with the "new" habit or interest, just as you would with a friend who is great to be with.   I took up blogging and writing for my distractions and my cyber life is so exciting now.


The world is such a big place… there are still so many things to learn and discover. 


As for me, I am checking out the newest pics and blogs over at Cool Photography.


What about you?



picture credit: happythings.tumblr