White-breasted Nuthatch. Portal, AZ.
Try to see things differently – It’s the only way to get a clearer perspective on the world and on your life. ~ Neal Shusterman
An upside down perspective
quotations
The specificity of an iris bloom
The more specific we are, the more universal something can become.
Life is in the details. If you generalize, it doesn’t resonate.
The specificity of it is what resonates.
~ Jacqueline Woodson
As I revise a young adult novel written years ago, I’m adding specific details in hopes of creating a resonance. May my story bloom as specifically and beautifully as this iris from my garden!
Poetry in motion
The world is full of poetry. The air is living with its spirit; and the waves dance to the music of its melodies, and sparkle in its brightness.
~ James Gates Percival
Kissed by time
The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Something magical
There’s something just magical about flight. Period.
~ Graham Hawkes
Sycamore wonder
Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore.
There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf.
~ Albert Schweitzer
The fighting artist
Photo by Heloisa Freitas from Pexels
If you are born an artist,
you have no choice but to fight to stay an artist.
~ Lana Del Rey
Per my experience, this feels like a true sentiment. There’s an inner urge/drive/motivation that doesn’t seem to ever go away. No matter what.
However, some days it’s harder than others to put on those boxing gloves and assume the fighting stance.
Definitely a duck
If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands.
~ Douglas Adams
Wood Duck paddling about in the irrigation ditch.
Adopting a new outlook
Image by Jose Antonio Alba from Pixabay
I travel light. I think the most important thing is to be in a good mood and enjoy life, wherever you are. ~ Diane von Furstenberg
Okay, my suitcase is a wee bit larger than the one in the photo but I am determined to be in a good mood and enjoy myself on my upcoming trip.
In fact, Ms. von Furstenberg’s outlook is very sound and I’d like to adopt it every day, no matter where I roam. Look out world, well-adjusted adult coming through!
Ready, set, jump
Sometimes, if you aren’t sure about something, you just have to jump off the bridge and grow your wings on the way down. ~ Danielle Steel
Give in to the joy
“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it.”
~ Mary Oliver
Can I get an amen?
I am a glutton for tranquility.
~ Wole Soyinka
Art and science
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
It is the source of all true art and science.
~ Albert Einstein
Otherwise you’re just a lizard
You’ve got to get out and pray to the sky to appreciate the sunshine; otherwise you’re just a lizard standing there with the sun shining on you.
~ Ken Kesey
No disrespect to Kesey’s sun-worshipping philosophy, but I think lizards have pretty much mastered the art of basking in the sun.
A direct reflection
I believe carrying a camera helps me see what I might otherwise overlook. Yesterday I spotted a mighty oak tree, blue sky, and clouds reflected in a puddle and now I can’t stop looking at this photo.
The way we experience the world around us is a direct reflection of the world within us.
~ Gabrielle Bernstein
Watching you watching me
The universe as we know it is a joint product of the observer and the observed.
~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
I took this photo over two months ago and still feel such a connection to the osprey who patiently endured my presence as I snapped multiple photos and then came back to shoot some more. But the tilt of its head tells me the osprey wasn’t merely the observed, but was also an observer.
However, it’d probably be a stretch to say we formed a mutual admiration society.
This hell beats the alternative hell
Today as I do research for the work-for-hire book assignment I’ve accepted, I’m trying to keep this quote in mind:
Image by cocoparisienne from Pixabay
Regret of neglected opportunity is the worst hell that a living soul can inhabit.
~ Rafael Sabatini
I hope ol’ Rafael was right, because I’m currently experiencing some hefty regret over taking this assignment. There’s a slight comfort in thinking the alternative may have resulted in an even worse hell.
Patio snow sculptures
Photo taken March 27, 2018
Even in winter an isolated patch of snow has a special quality. ~ Andy Goldsworthy
Wading through the revision muck
When you’re in the muck you can only see muck.
If you somehow manage to float above it,
you still see the muck but you see it from a different perspective.
~ David Cronenberg
Today as I work to revise my contemporary young adult novel that’s been in my life for what seems like FOREVER, I send prayers that the goddesses will grant me a different perspective on these pages and pages of muck. While an ibis thrives on muck, this writer does not. I’m ready for wings to help me float above it all and see this manuscript differently.
Butterfly secrets?
Camouflage is a game we all like to play, but our secrets are as surely revealed by what we want to seem to be as by what we want to conceal. ~ Russell Lynes
Today I imagine the poppies in my future
The February sunshine steeps your boughs
and tints the buds
and swells the leaves within.
~ William Cullen Bryant
#Caturday with Marcel
Marcel on Halloween 2015
I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat. ~Unknown
Will we betray nature?
Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.
~ William Wordsworth
I just called my Democratic Senator and Representative in Washington, D.C. to tell their staffers I absolutely support Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey’s twin resolutions for a #GreenNewDeal. Neither staffer could tell me how my so-called representatives felt about this bold plan for stabilizing the climate via jobs and economic/social/environmental justice. We’re headed for a fiery, hot crash and many of the people in power don’t seem to care. I’m exhausted by their willful ignorance, but at the same time I believe we-the-people can and must rise up to protect our natural home. We cannot betray her.
I hope you’ll join me in fighting for the planet. Please call your Representatives and Senators today to urge them to support the Resolution for a Green New Deal.
House (Finch) party!
It’s 21 degrees right now and I’m happy to be inside where it’s warm and dry. Meanwhile, these House Finches are busy outside my window with the task of staying alive, somehow almost making it look like fun.
Party on, Garth.
Focusing on the light
It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.
~ Aristotle
