Today’s Thought

Silence feels amazing when we quiet our chattering mind and outside noises, and just be: feel a gentle breeze in the hair, a warm sun’s touch on the skin and breathe.

Today I did just that.  I sat for a couple of minutes.  I thought how to keep my already so much improved vision longer at the time.  I get periods of 20/20 vision, but as I blink, it gets a bit blurry again going into about 20/30, 20/25 field.  The answer came: instead of keeping on narrow focus got to expand my vision, and it all starts with the heart.  I opened my eyes, and I could see every blade of the grass and every leaf on the tree.  It felt amazing.  The perfect vision stayed with me longer than usual.  Then, all of the sudden I saw a seemingly lifeless dragonfly in the water.  I touched it and to my surprise, he moved his wings desperately trying to escape.  Unfortunately, the wings were already submerged and the weight of water did not let it to fly.

I gently picked it up on my finger and wanted to put on the branch to dry it out.  He fought to stay on my finger, so I let it stay, and I chased off the wasp who tried to get him.  As his wings dried out, he started to move them in the breeze little by little.  When he got stronger, I put him on the branch.  He stayed there for a little bit and flew away…

So this is what I learned:

Narrow Focus => Expanded Vision = Seeing things that otherwise are easily missed.

With expanded vision and using our love, we can see more and hear more and feel more, and make a huge difference.  It might start with a dragonfly at first.  Then it might go to other things.  Small as a dragonfly and big as the world.  It is only a matter of perception.

Can you imagine how world would be if we would move ourselves from a narrow focus of everyday life to an expanded worldly vision and do everything from the heart?

Tags: dragonfly, dragonfly whisperer, expanded vision, helping nature, how to see better, inspiration, journal, life, love, me, narrow focus, nature, philosophy, photo, picture, random thoughts, seeing without contacts, seeing without glasses, stories, story, thoughts, vision, wonderocity

What is a True Art?

Art is our expression of love, passions, imagination.  It is a language of our heart and soul.  What we cannot express in simple words, we express it in a visual sense.  Through art, we touch other people’s hearts who speak our language; we inspire them; we lighten their world; we lift them to reach their full potential.

Art comes in different shapes and forms: paintings, drawings, statues, photography, movies, writing and even jewelry, clothes, shoes we wear.  We do not need to be artists to be creative.  In everyday lives, we create in unexpected ways:  the way we dress, cook, walk, the way we present ourselves.  We are creators of our lives.  We are masters of our destiny.

There is so much art everywhere if we look more closely.  Nature is the best example.  The sky is ever-changing masterpiece.  The way sunlight hits the water can take our breath away.  Even a simple leaf has so much detail, patterns and structures in it – it’s nature’s true design.  The key to art is to see what is around us, to be a seer, a feeler, to have an expanded vision.

A true art, whether seen or created, has to be felt within the heart.  It is a major first ingredient that textbooks or instruction manuals never tell.  We can have the state of the art equipment.  If we will not follow our hearts in creating, if we will not put our feelings in it, the work will be mediocre and unaffecting.

The second ingredient to a true art is imagination.  Seeing art in unexpected places takes a broad vision.  This capture above is taken on the rainy day.  It is reflection of traffic lights on the street.  Below are the shadow of blinds in the room.  Seeing ordinary in extraordinary ways can make the whole world of difference.  Art can be captured in unusual angle, in a special light, in details easily missed.

It might take a special eye and imagination to put an exquisite design together, or to dress according the personality and mood.  We are all artists in different ways.  It is an expression for who we are and wish to be.

The third ingredient to a true art is a meaning.  It might be something from our past experiences, something we imagine, something we wish that grabs our hearts and souls.  It gives a sparkle in our eyes.  It makes our souls sing and inspires us.  It might be something simple as capturing a certain movement, a special Aha moment, a wondrous look.  It is a picture of  life the way we see it.

A heart, imagination and meaning are the three major ingredients in creating and seeing a true art.  Having this magical formula, what can we create and see for ourselves?  Using our expanded vision, what can we make out of our lives?  What in it that we can touch, see, smell, feel?  Life is our creative process.  What is our inner vision?

For artistic inspiration, unusual imagination, and exquisite design, you can visit these sites:

Unusual Shoes,

exquisite jewelry design,

lifestyle like nothing like it,

paintings from the heart.

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How to see like a cat?

Do you ever wonder how cats see everything?   Every single movement does not go undetected.  They stalk, they wait…  The timing is everything…

I always thought I have a cat’s vision.  When I am out in nature, I see many things that people easily miss.  That helps me with my photography.  I love to capture the moments, the beauty, simple things that turn extraordinary when you look at them at different angle.

Here are excerpts that I found interesting from the book The Vision.  The Dramatic True Story of One Man’s Profound Relationship with Nature by Tom Brown, JR.  It sums up the way I see the world.

“Break the routine of everyday living.  Look at the world in a new way.  Instead of focusing on one point in the landscape, take in the entire picture while remaining aware of all its elements.  This technique of extending our visual reach to the limits of our peripheral vision opened up the sensory world.  By taking in the grand picture, our ability to pick up movement increases.  This is the vision of animals and people attuned to the earth, and accounts for why they see us before we see them.  Using the grand vision, picture at night also opens a better night vision.”

“Avoid automatic vision.  When looking at area for second time, focus on different points missed previously (the blind spots).  Look around, even to the obscure areas.  Always look at life as if you have never seen it before, using all your senses as if for the first time.”

It’s amazing how the world opens up when you see it in different way.

Tags: cat's vision, inspiration, life, me, nature, personal, photo, photography, picture, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, quotes, random thoughts, reflections, see, seeing, the way to see, thoughts, training in seeing, vision, wonderocity