I still get out to walk briefly each day and the sun has done its thing for me out there also. It points itself directly at something.
It’s as if it’s tapping me on the shoulder, saying “Uh, Hellooo!”
Look up. Look around.
Nature is still here for you, unaffected by the Virus.
PS The MINUTE after I posted, I watched this little video on Greater Good Science Center’s newsletter. PERFECT timing! Short. Enjoy!
Sometimes, I’m oblivious to beauty.
It’s always there though.
It’s almost embarrassing to discover how long I might have ignored a beautiful offering from Nature, from the Universe…
But then the SUN, loudly and clearly, spotlights a thing I hadn’t noticed, something I’d been ignoring.
I can’t always capture it with my camera, but it’s usually impossible to walk by without a pause to appreciate…
You really must try it…
My FAVORITE piece of art…that I hadn’t looked at in a while
Oh I love this one. I do love Reflections so I may have to do another post on it…sharing some more recent photos.
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This is a re-blog ( I think it’s called) from LensArtistChallenge #25. I was proud of that one so I am sharing it again. Hope that’s not cheating.
I love reflections. I like to mess with photographing them because there can be surprises you don’t see when looking at something directly.
That makes me think of how different things can look, depending on where you stand, where you focus and what you are feeling.
I took these photos for the theme Blue, but discovered the trees and clouds afterward.
This is two shots of the same glass, just me deciding which perspective to focus on. (I’m sure there is a “glass half empty or full” reference here…)
I have this great photo hanging in my group therapy room that reminds me to always look at tough situations from different angles before I conclude anything.
Flipping this upside-down sure changes the feel of the photo, doesn’t it?
I’m so grateful to my Dad for teaching me that there is always, ALWAYS more than one way to look at something.
Here are some other posts I did about Reflections… Let me know what you see.
https://chosenperspectives.com/2017/05/12/reflections-for-wpc-5-12-17-series-3/
https://chosenperspectives.com/2017/05/12/reflecting-for-wpc-51017/
Not sure what could be better…..well, except world peace and a healthy planet….
Oh I SO BADLY want to explain, but the rules say not necessary…
It’s pretty creepy anyway.
I’ll let you speculate.
OK, so I’m selfish. I decided to make this post be about ME.
I’ve been curious lately about my WordPress “statistics”. In my perusal of old posts, I came across a Draft titled: 7 months, post 149, 92 followers June 13, 2016. I never finished it, I’m sure because I thought it was way too egotistical.
I have tried all these years to be fairly unconditional with myself about all things quantitative with my Blog, so I was surprised recently to see that my number of “followers” (a word I continue to feel so pressured and embarrassed by…) had ballooned to 499!
And even more shocked that I started really wanting just that ONE MORE Follower!
Come on! 500 is such a great number!!
So I’m claiming that desire and offering up a reminder of a few of the posts I feel the best about. Maybe someone will see one they missed, read it and share it? Maybe someone who is a new visitor here will become a “Follower”. (Oh my gosh, can’t we just say “reader”. Followers need a Leader and I am so much more LOST myself than most!)
I hope you will find something from this list that you enjoy, or even better, learn from.
And to the 499 of you, who clicked some box that now labels you in my blogging world as a follower, Thank You so very much for your continued visits, and for the pressure your numbers put on me to be better and better at this whole Blogging thing.
With love and gratitude,
Kathleen Kelly
This was my reader’s favorite. I was actually quite surprised by this, and very touched. I love this sculpture, by a dear artist/friend, Virginia. She made it for herself after being one of “Peggy’s” volunteer caretakers in hospice (for way longer than any of the medical staff expected.) Peggy just kept rallying, saying she was not ready because she was working on accepting her second wing. Virginia, the artist, hadn’t planned on selling the piece. but my sweet James knew how much this piece moved me and, for my birthday, surprised me with it.
https://chosenperspectives.com/2016/04/15/for-pausesandclicks-and-her-family/
The requisite “K” is in “clicks”. By the way, one of the best photography blogs EVER!!
Here are a few of my favorites.
This one is the story of why I started writing in the first place. I have 52 only slightly edited chapters that I really do want to share in a book someday.
https://chosenperspectives.com/2015/11/19/absolutely-nothing-is-absolute/
And the story I refer to with my embarrassing self photo above, and also in the above post is here:
https://chosenperspectives.com/2016/12/02/fluffy-the-house-duck/
I may write more about my Bugs than I do about my cats, or even my grandchildren for that matter. Here’s just one example:
https://chosenperspectives.com/2016/01/08/like-holding-air-in-your-hand/
The “K” here is in the fact I got more “likes” for this post than many others!!
But the whole bug story is here:
I have been glued to a camera since my little Brownie, received as a birthday gift in the 4th grade, but I have never enjoyed it as much as I do these days. The convenience and quality of photos available with my phone has been a real pleasure. I definitely have a few favorites, but truly take no credit for them. My favorite category is Accidental Photographs, those long-shot ones you think will never turn out good, show something you weren’t expecting or even that happen with the equivalent of a Butt Dial…
Here’s one of many. I do crack myself up. I think I’m funnier than anyone else thinks I am.
https://chosenperspectives.com/2019/02/24/lens-artists-photo-challenge-34-close-up/
And lastly, I loved the weekly challenge we used to have called Song Lyrics Sunday. It gave me a chance to share favorite music….a LOT of it. Here’s just one example:
Well, that’s it for this post (which will now be past due). I had fun writing it and confessing such a deep dark secret to you all….that I wanted at least one more follower!
😊
WAIT! STOP THE PRESSES!!!
(Boy, you have to be a certain age to know what THAT saying means, eh?)
Since I started writing this post, I see a new Follower has joined me!
As of this morning, I have the elusive 500!!
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Needs to have the Letter “K” anywhere in the word
“featured image” above is of Loki, 3 months old
Weekly Prompts has challenged us once again to share something inspired by their prompt. I love their weekly encouragement because they include the following:
Show us or tell us, and don’t forget there are no rules and no deadlines.
On days when I actually have the time (and energy) to post something, but my mind is empty, I go to their site for ideas.
This week’s is great for me because I have a whole category of photos for my blog called saying about “Art is in the eye of the…” . Having this category helps me include my ongoing theme of Chosen Perspectives. Today’s challenge is perfect! How I (we) look at something is everything.
For some personal historical context aesthetics (and choosing a perspective): I spent much of my early life feeling very “homely”, a conclusion I came to about myself when, at age six, I asked my grandmother if I was pretty. I was probably playing “dress-up” with her clothes and jewelry at the time. In her defense, her answer was probably based on a religious edict to prevent vanity. She said, “well…(long pregnant pause here)…you have nice hair, Dear.”
I was crushed…and you can see here why I had a tough time believing Gramma about my hair…
It wasn’t until I was about eleven years old that I began to reconsider her declaration about my looks.
I saw an episode of Twilight Zone called “Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder”. Clearly, I was impacted as it’s been 61 years since it was aired, and I still remember most of the scenes. If you’ve never seen it, it’s worth the time. Go online and watch it! If you did see it, I bet you remember it. Mind boggling for an 11 year old.
Anyway, it fit right in with my early thoughts on the lessons my Dad was covertly demonstrating about perspective.
I finally arrived at a time in my adult life when I was seeing myself as at least mildly attractive, with really great hair. My mane was apparently very appealing, even to strangers on the street or at the grocery store. Enough so that people would come right up to me to comment on my hair. Maybe Gramma was right after all?
And then…AGING hit with a vengeance!
I am currently losing the battle between a really loud cultural bias about women and choosing a healthy perspective on my own looks.
Back to the theme for today. Here’s what I came up with on what is (and isn’t) Aesthetically Appealing….for me.
The first four are random shots of things I found beautiful. You, of course, don’t have to…
Next, some comparisons…photos showing how the perspectives you choose can show you so many things…
This is a photo of the San Juan Island rock, that’s been painted over and over for 30 plus years, by anonymous “artists” . I think the first one is not very “appealing”…
But this next one…well, what do you think?
Same rock…
I really love photographing flowers. I have hundreds of shots of perfect flowers that are hard not to categorize as beautiful and aesthetically pleasing…
as long as I don’t zoom in too close. Then, they can be downright creepy! Not at all appealing.
One of my favorite flowers is the Hydrangea. It is so pretty in absolutely all of it’s stages.
Like these luscious, richly colored examples…
But Hydrangeas have taught me a lot about beauty and aging. Have you ever noticed how lovely they become, in a whole new way, as they age and even die?
You tell me, from your perspective, which photo below is more beautiful and appealing?
This?
Or these?
I really love them both.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about nature and aging and death, probably normal given my age. Why is it more difficult to see beauty in something old or dying, than in something fresh and young?
I did a post earlier this week for Wordless Wednesday, showing the dying process of a beautiful leaf from one of my favorite plants.
you can go here and see more: https://chosenperspectives.com/2020/02/06/wordlesswednesday-02-05-2020/
These are my final shots, taken just this afternoon. From my perspective, these photos are every bit as interesting, and appealing as the first ones I took.
Thanks for coming on this long journey.
I’d love to hear your perspective now.
https://weeklyprompts.com/2020/02/08/w-p-challenge-aesthetically-appealing
