Joy to the World!

Joy is a feeling that is only captured if we keep our hearts open.  Christmas brings joy when we are viewing it through our hearts, having fun, and (en) joying the now.  If only it could be Christmas all year long?  I heard this Christmas Carol and thought, why can't it be?  If we were to live our lives with our hearts and find joy each day, would that not be a celebration!  It is really up to us to capture the joy, feel joy and emanate those feelings to others.

Enjoy the winter beauty.

Christmas is a reminder of our capacity to feel joy, it is always there, we just get too busy most of the year to en...joy it.  A great way to open your heart is to listen to children.  They speak from the heart; innocent and unbiased.  Try to play without competition, dance, sing at the top of your lungs...with your heart wide open. Don't worry if you're off key, or think you can't dance, do it alone if you like, just have fun.

Sing to your heart's content!

Associating Christmas with presents has always been a struggle for me as I hate to shop.  I am the polar opposite of materialistic, my clothes could all fit in one piece of luggage.  We would still have a microwave from 1980 if it didn't start smelling like it was burning.  Shopping does not bring me joy, I might go as far as saying that it ignites feelings of nausea for me, I have to force myself to buy things.



Back to basics...enjoy!

My fondest memories of Christmas were the get togethers at our house with friends and family.  We would listen to music, someone would play the guitar or piano and we would sing.  In my young adult years, I remember rushing back to Coquitlam after work parties to be with my family and to see my grandma who brought great joy to my life.

 

Focus on Nature's gift.

This Christmas I am going to practise giving the gift of joy so that it may become a habit that I carry throughout the year...Joy to the World!

Acceptance

Accepting things as they are is a difficult balance. Your mind, (ego) wants to change things; it thinks it knows what is best.  The dilemma is that every one's mind is unique, everyone has a different perspective and everyone thinks their way is the best!  You may win the battle but lose your mind. 

The overload of resistance in your mind to 'what is' creates stress. Where do you draw the line between action and inaction?  Choose your battles and learn to accept things as they are.  Logic and intuition are tools that you have to determine what to accept and what to do something about.  They are both valuable, but should be used one at a time.  Logic may take you down a path that determines that no matter what you do, nothing will change the situation.  The mind can then accept 'what is'.  At other times, your intuition may tell you that something needs to be done.  Your intuition pushes the action button.  Logic can then take over and determine if you should continue with the action or stop and accept 'what is'.

Acceptance is especially challenging as a parent.  When do we take action and when do we remain silent and allow them to make their own choices?  Logic and intuition are again the tools we use, however, I think we tend to error on the cautious side as their well-being becomes more important in our mind than our own.  Kids are stressful, that I am afraid is a fact that we just have to accept!

Grateful for what is.

Sunsets are one of the most photographed scenes, each one is unique and changes by the minute.  It is the end of a day and truly one of life's greatest gifts.  Surprise sunsets are the best, ones you're not expecting seem to be even more spectacular.  I recently experienced a sunset that was looming behind a crowded stadium, the rain was drizzling to the east while the sun broke through the clouds to the west.

The beauty that is offered to us in life can be so easily missed.  I'm sure there were many people in the crowded stadium who remained seated with there eyes focussed on the grey eastern skies.  Perhaps we should think about this in our everyday lives and try to change our view, try something different, go somewhere new, you never know what you're missing until you see it. 

 

Focus on the positive that life offers you and you will attract more positive situations.  Accept that every situation will not be perfect and be grateful for what is.

Silence is Golden

Keeping quiet in life's situations is a very difficult task for many people.  I know it is difficult for me, I am not adverse to giving an opinion, to making a comment, even when it is not asked.  How do you stay silent?  How do you trust that all will be fine even if you don't contribute your two cents?  How do you balance your worthwhile contributions with silence.  We need to speak-up at times and listen at other times.  Can we offer an opinion and still remain humble?

Like the seasons change our external landscape, our energy flow also changes effecting our moods and inner beings.  We must embrace all that we are, the good and the bad, the strengths and the weaknesses.  Experience the differences with appreciation, learn from life's seasons and practise silence especially when the wind is blowing all around us.

Let it go

The cluttered mind obstructs energy.  If you carry too much stuff in your mind you will create a blockage and stop energy from flowing.  Visualize a flowing stream, throw some sand into the stream and it will continue to flow quite nicely.  If you start piling up boulders, more and more, you will create a dam and the flow will be blocked.  We need to learn to let go of stuff that really doesn't matter, if its done or you have no control over the matter, then let it go.

My own mind has been more cluttered these days with back to school, back to business and routine stuff.  I have not been writing in this blog or doing any photography.  I feel blocked and it made me wonder if most people feel this way all the time with their busy lives.  Finding a balance is difficult, we need to give ourselves the gift of time to enjoy life.  One thing we all have control over is the amount of stuff we hang on to, so throw those boulders to the shore and free-up the flow of energy for yourself to enjoy.

"Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else;  you are the one who gets burned".    - the Buddha.

Holding onto to problems or situations will add to the pile of stuff gathering in your mind.  Try to turn your problems into lessons, learn from the experience, and move on.  Hold onto the lesson to avoid repeating the situation, but throw out the details along with the energy sucking anger, judgement, regret ect.

Focusing your attention on the lesson will "empower" you, rather than "trap" you into a habitual pattern that ends up repeating the same mistake.



Bliss - Unobstructed Energy.



 

Peace

It amazes me to think that the baby-boom generation has not brought their ideals to light.  Have the peace loving hippies changed their attitude or have they become silent?  Has technology taken us too far, have we lost the connectivity that we had with face-to-face gatherings?  Yes, I know, there are plenty of people doing good things to help feed the hungry, help with the environment, voices against war and violence.  Why is this never enough?  What are we missing?  "To bring peace to Earth, strive to make your own life peaceful."






















"Want peace for others."  My teenage son uses the phrase, "peace", when he starts and ends a conversation.  I found it kind-of refreshing, actually it was nice to hear a word I could actually understand, compared with the new teen language  which needs translation. 

We were recently at a camp-site where there was 300-400 people living side-by-side like sardines for a week.  It was a zoo!  But it was a peaceful zoo.  Let me explain.  All of these people cared about their neighbour, they concerned themselves with how they might disturb them, how they could co-exist peacefully.  It is also unique to camping that you can leave bikes unlocked, the tent zipped-up with valuables, the electronic gadgets we can't live without, and there is an unspoken truth that campers don't steal.  There is peace amongst campers...want peace for others.

 Thoughts become energy...think peace, send peace, advocate peace and strive to make your own life peaceful.

Thoughts become energy

Negative thoughts feed the energy that you create and attract more negativity into your life.  It becomes a bottom-less pit.  Thinking negative is a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Attack your negative thoughts; disprove them, argue against them, and then throw them out!  Search for a positive angle, don't let negative thoughts multiply and manifest into future problems. 

Choose your path by focusing on the beauty all around us, everyday; it is always there if your mind is open to it.

You have control over your thoughts.  Concentrate on all the good memories from the past, use your thoughts to create positive energy and a great future.  You will feel better and inadvertently you will stop the cycle of "bad occurrences".

 

Perspective

Photography can reveal a unique perspective, it can highlight the beauty of our surroundings and bring awareness to our senses.  Change your perspective and you will change your experiences in life.

It has been raining a lot in the month of June, I decided to use that to my advantage.  Instead of dwelling on the rain and immobilizing myself, I changed my perspective and decided to capture the rain in photography.  I put on a rain jacket and hat and went on a walk to experience the beauty of nature.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself, I felt invigorated, happy and not hot!

What a Difference a Day Makes!

One of the advantages of getting old is that it comes with wisdom.  "Knowledge, intuition and experience combine to guide us in our everyday decisions and choices".  After 50 years of living I/we have accumulated an abundance of knowledge and experience, good and bad decisions have been made, consequences suffered and lessons learned.  Our short-term memories may be fading but our brains maintain the intuitive power to provide wisdom if we give it some time.

A face full of Wisdom!

Taking out time and being patience is not a skill that comes naturally to me.  I want answers to problems and I want them now! I feel the need to figure out and clearly understand all the details and then find a solution.  We are all busy and it is human nature to react quickly and many times to over-react or react in an inappropriate manner.  In this next stage of life I am going to start practising patience, listening more and giving myself time to reflect.  I have spent 50 years without this skill so I will need to be patient with myself in practising patience before it will become a habit; awareness is the first step.  What I am learning is that sometimes less is more...listen, wait and have faith in other people to solve their own problems.  Be humble, you don't always know what's best.

Sunrise in my tree house abode, Bali.

"Sleep on it", as the saying goes, this is an easy way to practise patience.  Let your mind rest and retrieve the wisdom that is buried to come to the surface.  You may choose to meditate and ask the question for which you are searching an answer, or perhaps you could pray if that is your belief, but what ever method you choose, rest your mind so that it can do its job.

Turning 50 and life takes a full circle

Photography was my first love, my passion, the career I wanted when I still had a choice! It seems that life just takes over, the "how" question continuously restrains us and creates invisible boundaries. We live day by day, making choices to survive, but we must always remember that the path can change and the journey is ours to create.

I turned 50 this year, a milestone I wasn't too concerned about, but somehow lead me to a path that re-awakened an old passion...photography. I am not at all sure "how" this passion will evolve, but guess what, "I don't care!" I am just going to do it. So here is a step, learning to blog and share some photographs and ...well, again, I'm not sure what else, but it is a start.

I invite all my old friends from Centennial High School in Coquitlam, friends from Langara College, friends from my numerous places of employment, and of course my family to reply, send me their story, ideas, thoughts and comments. Send me all your positive energy and live life to its fullest!