World Water Color Month 2022, Day 13 (July 13, 2022)
The way you alchemize a soulless world into a sacred world is by treating everyone as if they are sacred, until the sacred in them remembers. –Sarah Durham Wilson
World Watercolor Month 2022, Day 6 (July 6, 2022)
It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them. […] Lightly, lightly – it’s the best advice ever given me […]. So throw away your baggage and go forward. There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet, trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair. That’s why you must walk so lightly. Lightly my darling, on tiptoes and no luggage, not even a sponge bag, completely unencumbered. –Aldous Huxley, Island
World Watercolor Month 2022, Day 20 (July 20, 2022)
Always pray
to have eyes that
see the best in people,
a heart that forgives the worst,
a mind that forgets the bad,
and a heart that never loses faith
in God
The words are from a plaque given to all University employees [this week] by the chaplains to display in our offices–a daily reminder to pay attention, know that everyone has a story, and exercise compassion.
World Watercolor Month 2022, Day 31 (July 31, 2022)
In her devotional thought, which started this morning’s work session, my colleague, Dr. Sherine talked about the growth processes of a seed, reminding us about the possibilities in us and the beauty that comes through struggle. In ending that part of her discussion and driving the point of the metaphor [of a tiny, dry seed breaking to begin a transformed life], she cautioned–
Breaking happens in the right environment. Otherwise, it’s abuse.
Sit with that for a moment.
Until tomorrow…
World Water Color Month 2022, Day 27 (July 27, 2022)
I heard many beautiful statements today. Interestingly, they all focused one way or another on compassion for others. My friend Lexi posted the quote below in her Instagram/Facebook stories today, and it aligned well with discussions in our work session. Kristen Corley’s wisdom in admonishing us to extend compassion to ourselves was the icing on the cake for all I heard today.
You’ve been through a thousand things in your life people don’t even know about. You’ve experienced things that have shook you, changed you, broke you, built you and taught you to be stronger than you ever thought you had the ability to be. And you are who you are for all of it. So the next time someone judges you based on a small part of what they see and how they interpret that, remember who you are, remember how much you’ve overcome and smile and keep walking because you don’t have a single thing to prove to anyone else. You’ve already proved so much to yourself[; you] muddled through storms that people didn’t even see because of how you carried yourself. –Kirsten Corley
Happy Tuesday!
World Watercolor Month 2022, Day 1 (July 1, 2022)
The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all. –The Emperor, Mulan
Welcome to August, folks! The madness began for many of us in the academic world today, but that didn’t stop my friend Cy from challenging me to blog every day leading up to my blogiversary—which is in the middle of September.
I just might be insane because I’m thinking about accepting the challenge. Since I don’t know what obstacles I’ll face, I’m traveling this road with caution.
So, this week, I’m sharing photo art created during World Watercolor Month, a charitable event to support arts education sponsored by Doodlewash. The challenge to create art every day ended yesterday.
Throughout the month of July, I worked 31+ photos into watercolor-like photo art, at least one per day. I enjoyed taking time out from the daily grind and creating something to share with the world. I “upped my game” a bit this year by processing the photos in multiple applications to achieve unique looks. I shared [cropped to a] square versions of each piece on Instagram.
This week, I will feature seven [uncropped] personal favorites from the month. With each image, I will share something that struck me during the day–a word, a phrase, a poem, a quote. I hear or read so many beautiful things throughout the day, and I’m looking forward to sharing the tidbits with you!
Whew! The end of a grueling week! We’ve also reached the end of our tour of the photo art collection I shared for World Watercolor Month.
There is incredible truth in the quote paired with my 19th post (above):
The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see. –Mary Davis
Lately, I have been a bit more intentional about walking with gratitude. I have been amazed by how much beauty enters my space; my cameras are overflowing with so much of it that I will not be able to share all of it.
I am not only meeting beauty in the natural world but I am also discovering incredible beauty in my daily encounters with other humans. Even with difficult people, if I recast my gaze, I find the light and the splendor of their humanity.
Life can be hard and ugly at times, but there is still much for which to be grateful, much yet to celebrate. [Click an image to see posts 15-18; 20-21].
Here are the next seven photo edits for World Watercolor Month. Perfect shares for #WednesdayWisdom. 😉 [Click an image for a closer look].
Did you know July was/is World Watercolor Month? You can read all about it and its founder, Doodlewash, by clicking the links.
I am not a watercolor artist, but as I was feeding my need for pretty on Instagram, I saw my friend Sheila’s Day 9 post for World Watercolor Month. I commented that I would participate with watercolor edits of photos! She encouraged me to do just that, and I joined the fun Day 11 with the post above.
For 21 days, I enjoyed my daily art breaks; I played around with edits in Waterlogue and BeCasso App–über fun and less time consuming than PhotoShop. The brief sessions provided respite from the late summer frenzy.
To the delight of my millions of followers, I shared my “art and quote” posts via Instagram and Facebook. [Hyperbole, of course]. The Doodlewash folks “liked” many (maybe all?) my posts and the makers of Becasso App “liked” posts in which I tagged the app; they shared [at least] one in their stories. That was icing on the cake. It’s nice that they actually pay attention to the hashtags. 🙂
While I focus on all the facets of getting the academic year started this week, I leave you with a bit of eye candy and food for the soul. Rather than overwhelm you, I will give you just enough for each day–seven images in three posts. [Day 1 is above. Days 2-7 are below]. If you can’t wait till Wednesday and Friday to see the rest, you can always visit my Instagram profile. [Click an image for a closer look].
Have an artful week!
Pics and Posts 