Living an “Enough” Life

Orchids

click here Orchids © 2012 Bo Mackison

go to site To do the useful thing,
to say the courageous thing,
to contemplate the beautiful thing,
that is enough for any man’s life.
~ T.S. Eliot

enter Do you ever find a few words of a poem or a quotation that speaks loudly to you? When I read the above lines, I was impressed by the simplicity of the verse, by the truth of those few words, and how difficult it would be to live life by this recipe. The paradox – too simple and too difficult, so I stored the quote in my notebook and moved on.

http://lisapriceblog.com/fov552l But what is the benefit of writing down quotations that speak to you if you refuse to listen? I found the quote again yesterday when I was preparing for this post. Again, the few words and the big message fascinated me. And this time, instead of turning the page, I wrote the lines on an index card and stuck the card in my pocket. And whenever I became aware of the card, I pulled it out and re-read the words.

Order Tramadol 50Mg Online Although I will deny it, I am often a perfectionist. Especially when it comes to reading great words of wisdom, and then avoiding the message because  I say to myself  “too hard” and “impossible” and “I could never do that.” If I could not always do the useful thing, nor say the courageous thing, nor see the beauty in everything around me, then there was no reason to try.

Buy Diazepam Online Cheap After I had pulled the card out of my pocket a half-dozen times, pondering its message each time, shrugging away the message, and returning the card to my pocket, I had a new insight. Eliot did not write the word always in his words. There was no always or never, can or cannot, do or do not. I realized that there was a middle way.

go to site What if my goal was to do one useful thing each day, say one courageous thing (even silently to myself counted) each day, and contemplated one beautiful thing each day? That would be a great beginning. And, most important, it would be something I could do, something I could commit to, and something I could easily evaluate. A brief check-in in my journal each night would take only moments, but would give me a way of tracking my commitment, my progress.

https://www.amyglaze.com/zgqy9410oxz So I have added T.S. Eliot’s advice for living an “enough” life to my to-do list. I find having an easy to follow guide, and an awareness of a plan, makes it possible for me to achieve goals like this.

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https://opponix.com/6jeg6u0 Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She contemplated the beautiful during the portrait session she did with these orchids, a gift she received from her daughter last Christmas.

Orchid in Profile

Orchid in Profile

https://bettierose.co.uk/qb0anad Orchid in Profile © 2012 Bo Mackison

enter Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Do not claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent. ~ Rumi

https://www.pslra.org/qs1s5sj This is an indeed an excellent day to simply observe the world around me, notice the artistry in nature, and be silent. Some days it is wise to be the observer, not the speaker.

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follow site Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.

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Awakening the Senses – A Photo-Heart Connection

Tucson Reflections

https://thelowegroupltd.com/1uyusxzgr8u Tucson Reflection © 2012 Bo Mackison

see url Happy are they who see beauty in modest places. ~ Camille Pissarro

Online Tramadol Mastercard Beauty in modest places? Yes.

https://www.saiidzeidan.com/29m7niw599 I went for an early evening walk in downtown Tucson just before I left Arizona to return to the Midwest. I was in a strolling mood, noticing architecture instead of desert scenes, and enjoying the many sights, the people leaving their workplaces, but with no rush to get anywhere. Rushing isn’t such a great idea when the thermometer hovers near the century mark.

Where To Get Tramadol Online I found beauty in the deep color of a textured wall, a red-earth color so appealing, I had to stop and not only photograph it, but touch it. Run my hands along the roughness, the ridges. That red, to my Midwestern trained eyes, was a Red Rock color, one of those desert colors that sang songs of the Southwest to me.

enter And then there was the purple-gray of the wooden window sill. So purple, I wanted to inhale its purple-ness, a purple so perfectly etched in my past that it grabbed a memory from my youth and held on tight.  It was the purple-gray of grapes fully ripe, grapes hanging in the arbor in my grandmother’s back garden. It was the dusty purple of grapes waiting to be plucked from the vine.

https://www.acp-online.org/image/buy-real-diazepam.php As I studied the contrasting colors, the memories came visiting. I was in the arbor, picking grapes just like my grandmother picked grapes — a handful for the pail and one to pop in my mouth and savor. I looked at the window frame and imagined my grandmother’s presence in the reflection, picking grapes just a few steps from where I stood.

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Discount Valium Online When I went through my May photographs, I stopped as soon as I saw this photograph. The day I took this photo was etched in my mind. All of my senses were on alert that day, intent on remembering a city that I would soon be leaving. The touch of the red-rock walls. The song of the Southwest. The scent of ripened grapes on the vine and the taste of sweet juice. And a sense of connection with loved ones, long gone.

Photo. Heart. Connection. Oh, yes!

I’ve long understood that when I carry a camera, that mere act heightens my sense of seeing. And now I’ve come to realize that my camera and photography can offer me another gift – the awakening my other senses, too.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. During the first week of each month, she re-visits her photographs taken the previous month, searching for THE photograph to post as the photo-heart-connection photo. Bo is always quite thrilled when that special photograph finds her.

Making Memories

A Place to Rest

Green Chair on a Porch © 2012 Bo Mackison

“You get to know the worth of a neighborhood by saying ‘howdy’ to the people who sit on their front porches on a summer’s evening. It’s all told in the ‘howdy’ you get back.”

– adapted from a frequent comment from my grandfather, Harry S. Wood, who spent many a summer evening sitting on his front porch.

This past weekend I was in the 57th Street Art Fair in Hyde Park.

President Obama was in Chicago for part of the weekend – his family home is only a few blocks from the art fair area. The University of Chicago is a few blocks the other way and it was alumni weekend. Plus, it was one of those gorgeous Chicago weekends in early summer blessed by the weather gods – sunny, a few clouds to make the sky interesting, mid 70s, no humidity, a sweet breeze off Lake Michigan.

Combine POTUS and his accompanying entourage, the requisite dozens of motorcycle cop and siren duos, a huge U of C alumni party for multiple class years, the oldest juried art fair in Chicago, and perfect weather. You have a recipe for one hectic, but fun-filled weekend.

The show was grand. Big crowds from the neighborhood, the university, the city. Smiling people, excited kids.

The 57th Street Art Fair seems to attract those who love their art. When I took a break to stretch my legs, and look at the other art, I visited booth after booth where artists and customers were in deep discussions about art, techniques, the state of the art world, the state of the art fair world. Truly amazing!

When the show ended each evening, I walked the neighborhood, still bubbling with excitement from the day’s show. There were so many conversations I wanted to hold on to, and remember. They were the stuff that makes being an artist on the art fair circuit a meaningful experience – the conversations, the real discussions about real art with so many age groups – from tweens on up, and sure, the sales were fun, too.

That is the beauty of art fairs, why I do them – the interactions and conversations between the artist and the client are true memory makers.

Thanks, 57th Street…

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  Bo so enjoyed her trip to the 57th Street Art Fair. The art and artists, the neighborhood and architecture, the friendly atmosphere and friendly people! What a great weekend.

So You Walk

Forest Path

The Path © 2012 Bo Mackison

How can you explain that you need to know that the trees are still there, and the hills and the sky? 

Anyone knows they are. 

How can you say it is time your pulse responded to another rhythm,

the rhythm of the day and the season instead of the hour and the minute? 

No, you cannot explain. 

So you walk. 

~ Author unknown, from New York Times editorial, “The Walk,” 25 October 1965

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  Since Bo is in the big city at an art fair, she is visualizing this lovely walk int he woods.