On Solid Ground

Be sure and put your feet in the right place…

…and then stand firm.

Abraham Lincoln

That’s a great quote for me today. I’m beginning to realize that sometimes “self-learning” doesn’t really teach me anything. Well, it does but it doesn’t.

It’s like that joke about men never wanting to ask for directions. I’ll spend hours on the computer—testing out tools— and never take a second to open up any form of instructional material. Obviously that joke applies to women as well. Ha!

What I’m really learning is that sometimes you learn a lot more when you look to others for guidance. That being said, I’m hoping to spend the next (school free) month looking at other blogs—and tutorials and such.

The man in this photograph is the same paddle boarder that was seen in Walking on Water —but on a different day. He was back on solid ground, and looking a little tired. That paddling must be exhausting! I gave the image a silhouette appearance because of the way he’s looking down. He seems humble.

That’s about all for now. Peace & love to you all. Life is good and God is great!

My Mind’s Eye

From where I was standing,

I saw beauty everywhere.

The gulls appeared to know me,

As if they recognized my stare.

My mind’s eye scanned the horizon,

Rousing dull shades into vibrant hues,

Melancholy grays,

Into sapphire blues.

Moving quickly,

I traversed the mud and the trash.

I saw snowflakes and crystals,

As I watched the waves crash.

The storm the eve before,

Left puddles, wind, and freezing air…

But on the coast that morning,

Not a surfer,

Nor I,

Had a single care.

—Janet

Inspired by the Word of the Day Challenge: Dream

Dreams in the Mist

I don’t know if anyone else ever falls into this trap, but I constantly find myself trying to turn my dreams—or the things I love—into some kind of product, as if they’re things I need to own. It’s like the person who loves to swim, who’ll never be satisfied until their backyard has a pool… or the occasional fisherman who believes he’ll find ultimate happiness ONLY after he buys a boat.

And you know what they say: “The happiest days of a boat owner’s life are the day they buy a boat—and the day they sell the boat.”

Well, all of my hemming and hawing over my college major came to a wonderful close recently when I considered these analogies. I realized that I’ve been too fixated on the road… or the tangible outcomes (degrees)… and somewhere in the interim I lost sight of my dreams; the things I actually LOVE to do—just for the sake of doing them.

I made a decision to venture off the pathway this spring; I’ve enrolled in Creative Writing and Photography. I’m not changing my major—or adding a second major—and I really have no destination in sight.

For now I’m just going to listen to my heart, do what I love… and enjoy my dreams in the mist.

—Janet

Nova’s Daily Random Word #39: Dream

Southern Shores

I thought I would re-do an image I posted many moons ago. This is also from the 2011 road trip, and was taken in Surfside Beach, Texas. We saw many awesome sunsets in this place!

The last time I showed this I used the deep, vibrant colors that I so frequently use, so I wanted to try the hazy look again. This looks much more natural than the prior image.

I like that you can see hints of the dark orange reflection on the water, through the misty looking air.

That’s about all for now. Still working on my new series ideas… it’s much harder than I thought!! 😉

Enjoy your day everyone!!

Some days you just gotta put on your cowboy boots and do the two step anyways. 

Stay Golden

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

-Robert Frost

I’ve definitely learned some new techniques over the course of my blogging adventure. That makes me happy! Anyway, I think the filter gives it a bit of a gold tone, so I pulled up this poem by Robert Frost. I thought it was a pretty good fit!

Have a great day tomorrow everyone… TGIF!

Pier Madness

Some people wait so long for their ship to come in, their pier collapses. -John Goddard-

I am checking another item off of the 55 things list; took a photo underneath a pier. In all honesty, it may very well be the first time that I even stood under a pier! That I can remember, anyway. We did lots of family outings at this beach when I was a kid, so it’s pretty hard to say.

What’s funny is that I took quite a few shots, but the lighting is terrible under there! This was the best I could find, but the only thing that was a little “off” about it was that it captured my friend taking her photo, too! I thought about cropping it, but it just didn’t seem right. Plus her being there is what makes it so special! A special memory indeed! So… this image is very personal to me. 🙂

Good times and crazy friends make the best memories.

There were too many straight lines for my taste, so I did a little distortion and made the colors more vibrant. I actually like this one very much.

Anyway, I’m going to slow down on the edits now. Do you know that I was looking at my numbers and in January I did 98 posts! That’s an average of 3.16 a day! No wonder I was feeling like I was in high gear!

Off to my recovery class now.

Peace and Love!!

Sweet Serenade

Life is just one grand sweet song, so start the music. Ronald Reagan

Yesterday was an absolutely wonderful day! I took this photograph from the Santa Monica Pier. Sometimes something (or someone) just captures your attention, and this was one of those moments. I saw this musician from the boardwalk and took a long distance shot.

Easy Does It

Perfectionism is man’s ultimate illusion. It simply doesn’t exist in the universe… If you are a perfectionist, you are guaranteed to be a loser in whatever you do. David Burns, MD.

I read that quote in a book I am reading about writing. The key, they say… is JUST write. Don’t think about being perfect. I love that thought. Wanting to write “perfectly” stops me in my tracks every single time.

I wanted to share that quote before I headed out the door.

The image is a beach in south Texas. It looks pretty inviting right now. 

I have some other great quotes and information I want to share… and will do that as soon as I can.

Peace and Love—
Janet

Perfectionism leads to paralysis, which leads to procrastination. Ain’t that the truth!!