Tag: Microblog Mondays

NPM | Black and White | Joyful, Faithful, Patient

5 Comments

butterfly joyful in hope

For this third week of National Photography Month (NPM), I am sharing some of the monochrome photo inspiration “cards” I made during Sheila D’s September 2021 Creative Gathering. I divided the month of creativity into thirds—days 1-10, abstract photo art; days 11-20, doodle art; days 21-30 black and white photography. The common thread was scripture. I shared one of the photos for a #ThursdayTreeLove in January.

In light of the recent racial violence committed by one individual against Black citizens in Buffalo, New York, I am sharing images that feature Bible verses that can provide solace and hope. I will not comment (much?) on them. Sometimes the world is so absolutely crazy that I am convinced we need only the voice of God. Everything else is just…noise.

 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. –Romans 12:12

National Photography Month | May Flowers | Petit Pink Roses

2 Comments

Petit Rose

It is now May . . . It is the month wherein Nature hath her fill of mirth, and the senses are filled with delights. I conclude, it is from the Heavens a grace, and to Earth a gladness. —Nicholas Breton

May is National Photography Month (NPM), so this month offers the perfect opportunity to unload the camera and share some of the shots that hide there. You’d be amazed how many photographs I manage to take in one week and how little of the beauty I encounter in my daily life makes it beyond the camera. 

Is there a magic tool that would allow the shot to go straight from camera to blog? No? Maybe, those of you who find the energy to post daily can show me your ways. For now, I’ll make life a easy for myself.

Since May is about the photograph, I’ll share a photo or two (or maybe, three) in wordless or nearly wordless posts. You’ll get a bit of eye candy, and I’ll get to focus all the wordy energy where I need to at the moment—in year-end reports, presentations, and scholarly writing. 

April showers certainly bring May flowers, so for the first few “blog days” of NPM, you’ll get some of the blooms that catch my eye this week. Today’s shot features “petit pink roses.” I snapped these yesterday in my friend Colleen’s garden, which explodes with color for more than half the year. I’ll be sure to posts more of her happy blooms soon!

Happy May!

Sunflowers and Poetry | Meet Me Halfway

7 Comments

Photo_2022-04-25_143631_1

Since we are in the final week of National Poetry Month, I decided to share poetry and sunflowers all week long. This month–with all its busyness–tried to rob me of poetry, but I persisted. I wrote and read poetry daily and even managed to plan and host another successful [annual] poetry event.

This weekend I “rediscovered” Javan, a poet I enjoyed as a teen. I [probably] purchased the two books I own while perusing shops on Canal Street in New Orleans–Meet Me Halfway and Something to Someone. I have not read these books in decades, but thought about them a couple of days ago and luckily found them with ease in my home library.

After reading through selections, I see why I loved his works way back then. His poetry is uncomplicated and speaks to our yearnings and all the things that cause teenage angst.  

Here are two poems from Meet Me Halfway to start you work week. I plan to share another one of his poems Thursday.

By Javan

I’ve learned
That Life offers much more
Than most people take

I’ve learned
That many people live their life
Within small circles
Afraid to go out
Afraid to let others in

And I’ve also learned
That at the end of Life’s game
Most people wish
That somehow
They could have played it differently

By Javan

Many people complain
Life never gave them any chances

We are given Life
We must take the Chances

About the Image: Today’s tiny art is brought to you by none other than Sheila Delgado of Sheila’s Corner Studio. She sent this gem to me in late October and I have been looking forward to sharing it with you. It kicks off “Sunflowers and Poetry Week” perfectly! You can view a better scan of the sunflower and read about her creative process in Smooth the Way. Oh, why sunflowers with poetry? “Just because,” of course!

Purple | “Bump Up the Color”

12 Comments

Purple 8

I read the few words [below] by poet Yrsa Daley-Ward a week ago, and they have been an answer to the chaos and noise of the world, noise I do not want to be a part of.

Life is beautiful. Live it. Bump up the colour of the moment. Bright things can be found everywhere – in the undergrowth, in the unexpected, in the calm following something significant, in the pure thought inside a meditation.

There are things that I will hold forever. I have to turn over the soil each day. There is beauty everywhere. Often, I miss it.  –Yrsa Daley-Ward, the utter

I’m convinced it was her words that led me to all the purple this weekend.

Purple 1
Purple 11
Purple 2
Purple 3
Purple 5
Purple 10

Two Poems for Your Monday

10 Comments

Agape Review published two of my poems last week (yay!), so I’m dropping in to share them with a just little background on both.

Unlike the Musings from My Younger Self I share far too infrequently, these poems were written in my adult years.

I wrote “Word Made Flesh” in 2017 after an exchange with a student in which we talked through the intense grief of losing our sisters. A third student entered the conversation halfway through and offered comfort and her own insights on life and grief. Though the interaction occurred four years after my sister [Karlette’s] death, it was the first time I had ever expressed my feelings over the loss so vulnerably. The title of the poem comes from John 1:14:

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The second poem, “God, You Are,” was written about 20 years ago. I scribbled it on a notecard and tucked it inside one of my journals. I rediscovered it a year or two ago, typed it, and added it to my “works in progress” poetry folder with the intention to tweak it. However, I made a split second decision to submit the unpolished version of the poem because that raw expression felt poignant in the moment.

Click the links below to read each poem:

Feel free to leave a comment there or come back here and comment. I look forward to your feedback!

About the Image: The photo art above features a moment of solitude and reflection at Green Mountain this past weekend. If time and energy permit, I’ll share more photos later in this week.

“No Justice, No Peace”

2 Comments

Martin Luther King, Jr. photographed by Marion S. Trikosko, 1964. [Public Domain]

If peace means a willingness to be exploited economically, dominated politically, humiliated and segregated, I don’t want peace. If peace means being complacently adjusted to a deadening status quo, I don’t want peace. If peace means keeping my mouth shut in the midst of injustice and evil, I don’t want it. Peace is not simply the absence of conflict, but the existence of justice for all people. —Martin Luther King, Jr., Three Major Evils

The Burnout Grinch

16 Comments

Tinsel Trail, Huntsville, Alabama, 2019

Forgive me. I did not intend to miss a whole week of blogging. After too many meetings, the usual post-semester mayhem, and life in general, all I wanted to do by the time I left work is…nothing.

The struggle is real. So is burnout.

There’s nothing worse than burnout 12 days before Christmas. Scratch that. Actually, there are a lot of things far worse.

But.

Tired is tired. And being in the middle of a pandemic makes regular tired feel like extra, extra tired–like a giant weight of exhaustion around one’s neck.

That unforgiving weight makes it difficult to push through or even move toward the things I actually want to do. :-/

And, I want Christmas. The tree, the lights, the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping, the movies, (vegan) egg nog, and too many sweets. To make up for the big family Christmas we need but can’t have because of COVID-19, we need as many bells and whistles as my guys and I can manage.

Don’t let the “Burnout Grinch” steal my Christmas. If you have any out-of-the-ordinary suggestions for overcoming pandemic burnout, please drop them in the comments.

The Masters | John Bratby’s Sunflowers

2 Comments

John Bratby, Sunflowers I, Oil on Canvas

For our final week of Sunflower Month we will survey a few sunflower masterpieces–works of the sunflower masters that leave us in awe. We cannot possibly feature all the masters, so we will focus on [some of] those who are featured in my personal “sunflower collection.”

The sunflower art above is featured on the cover of Book of the Heart, so it is perfect for our first post of the week. The oil painting was one of many sunflower paintings by English artist John Bratby (1928-1992), best known for his central role in the Kitchen Sink School of Art, a style of realism active in London between 1952 and 1957.

We have reached the point in the pandemic at which we are all overwhelmed, anxious, and restless, so I will be sharing with this week’s sunnies selections from Meister Eckhart’s Book of the Heart: Meditations for a Restless Soul. In this collection Jon M. Sweeney and Mark S. Burrows “attempt to [re]voice” the mystic’s thoughts. I hope the posts brighten your days (sunflowers) and stills your soul (Eckhart).

“Sometimes You Have to Break Things”
Meister Eckhart | Sweeney and Burrows

It’s true:
Sometimes you have
to break things
if you want
to grasp God in them.
In the breaking,
we allow what is holy
to take form
in us.  

Be sure to click the links to learn more about Bratby and his art and be sure to join us for more, more, more brilliant masterpieces!

1LW: Shake Off the Dust and Rise Up

14 Comments

Tree Pic1

Shake off your dust;
    rise up, sit enthroned, Jerusalem.
Free yourself from the chains on your neck,
    Daughter Zion, now a captive.

Isaiah 52:2 NIV

If I had the skills of some of my talented artist friends I would illustrate the Bible verse above. There is amazing beauty in the images of shaking off the dust of grief and fear, of rising up from the muck and mire, of breaking psychological and circumstantial chains and walking in freedom to our rightful throne as a daughter [or son] of the Most High.

I’m thinking of this verse today because I am [finally] starting to put together my one little word (1LW) journal, and it is the key scripture for my current word—RISE.

I have had little motivation to grapple with my 1LW, so my friend Cy of Pink Nabi and I challenged each other to work with our words this week. I’ve been randomly collecting [my own] thoughts, artwork, and poems, but have not pulled anything together. Despite my lack of intentionality in this regard, I see how God has been working in me all along—healing, loosening the chains, and providing the strength for me to “rise up” from the dust.

Out of all the “rise” scriptures, I’m most drawn to Isaiah 52:2. I understand the historical context of the scripture and its call to ancient Israel, but I find its message applicable for us: It reminds us that we have already been set free from everything that binds us. When we act on the decision to rise, we’ll find the chains have already been loosened—and our throne awaiting.

Vote for Mono Lake!

20 Comments

Dennis Mono Lake

Not every lake dreams to be an ocean. Blessed are the ones who are happy with who they are. —Mehmet Murat ildan

I am finally on vacation, so I am taking a day off from life and imagining being in the presence of this peaceful scene at Mono Lake, an ancient saline lake located at the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada in California.

My brother, Dennis, entered the photograph above in Outdoor Photography’s Water Photo Contest, and you can help him win! All you have to do is click the photo or the link below and vote for “Mono Lake.”  Easy-peasy!

You can see more of Dennis’s work by checking out his website,  his Facebook page, or his Instagram. If you’re looking for seriously reasonably priced fine art photography for your home or office, take a look at the Print Shop and send him an email.

The contest closes June 30, so [pretty] please [with sugar on top] click the link for a better look and to vote: Mono Lake by Dennis Tyler Photography.

Thanks for voting!!!