Connection and Vulnerability, revisited...

Over At Virtual Photography Studios

someone just discovered Brene Brown's Ted talk.

Brene's fabulous work has been integral in my life for

the last several months.

There's a bit here.

Even before I knew of her work,

I had my own understanding and desire for

authenticity and connection.

I've shared this video on Facebook,

and now as I can see,

another photographer

shares my point of view.

For me,

connection is not just the key to photography.

It's the key to everything.

The Brene Brown video is below.

Sheeeeeeeeeeep

Hmmmm...

Sin...

“There are only three sins

- causing pain, 

causing fear, 

and causing anguish. 

The rest is window dressing.”
Roger Caras

Talk Fast

A lie can travel halfway around the world 

while the truth is putting on its shoes.

~Mark Twain

Rouse A Deaf World

Conquest

How am I supposed to take over the world 

when I can't even find my damn keys?

~Christy Angel 

 ____________________________________

Helps if they're the keys to your own personal jail.

And you find them.

Being Human

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

~ Rumi ~

Art or Crap?

and...

no,

it's not 

the art of taking a crap.

Ima enter this in a exhibition

and see whadda happens.

I've titled it

"Teeny Toilet and Toes"

Art Is What We Call...

the thing an artist does.
It's not the medium
or the oil
or the price
or whether it hangs on a wall
or you eat it.
What matters,
what makes it art,
is that the person who made it
overcame the resistance,
ignored the voice of doubt
and made something worth making.
Something risky.
Something human.
Art is not in the eye of the beholder.
It's in the soul of the artist.
~Seth Godin 

The Work We Love

Tim has beautiful things to say, beautifully.
And today they're about meeeeeeeeeeeeee,

so check out his blog!
Most days
he shares powerful thoughts on prayer
that are worth reading regularly too.

I love what I do,

and I'm blessed

that I have a way

to express love.

And I love creating,

which is really just love in action,

most of all.

---

"Art is a personal act of courage,

something one human does

to create change for another."

~Seth Godin

That's right Seth, it certainly is.

Quite Possibly The Most Beautiful Quote of The Month

The work of creating 
is an act of love. 

The God who flung 
from His fingertips 
this universe

filled with 

galaxies and stars, 

penguins and  puffins, 

gulls and gannets...

peaches and pears, 

and a world full of children 

made in His own image,

is the God 

who loves 
with magnificent monotony.
~Brennan Manning

Mother's Day... what else?

 
...there is, within me, a softening agent, 

a centering presence, 

and it dwells deep within my heart.
There, 

it mediates in my life 

between what I would try to accomplish 

and my quiet sense of just being.
This is my Divine Mother within, 

and I am 

nurtured, 

softened, 

healed 

and blessed 

in her light. 

And so it is.

~Renaissance Unity Meditation, May 8

CityScapes

Received special recognition over at 

LightSpaceTime Online Art Gallery last week.

Austin is the coolest place to live.

Here's a bit of the skyline.

"Town Lake At Dusk"

(I know, it's Lady Bird Lake, but I'm a native)

The judges at LightSpaceTime liked this.

I'm glad they did!

Creativity

Some weeks I spend many of my waking hours 

in conversation with Tina.

She knows so much more than I do.

Cocky, self assured, and smart,

(it's all in the pig tails)

she is a Sunny Girl.

And no, there's none of that Avenue Q stuff goin' on here.

Sorry...

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Creativity, originality and realism

are reliable qualities in a changing world.

These qualities exist in every person

but they must usually be obtained

by a deliberate confrontation.

~www.astro.com

A Valid Question

 

What hurts you so bad that

you feel you have to hurt me in order to heal it?

Conversations With God says, 

"No one does anything inappropriate, 

given their model of the world." 

Embracing the wisdom 

in those eleven words 

could change the course of human history.

~Neale Donald Walsh