Acceptance – A Prairie Wisdom Card

Cosmos

Cosmos © 2013 Bo Mackison

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. ~ Lao Tzu

When we can’t change our reality, the key to peace and a life-long happiness is to accept that which is. Not deny what life is handing us, nor sugar coat the problems. But practice acceptance at what this moment holds. Life happens. It is hard in the present to see the gifts that a difficult or unexpected situation can offer. But challenges often gift us with new perspectives and opportunities.

Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.  ~ Søren Kierkegaard

The ACCEPTANCE card offers activities for contemplation, art, and writing and a call to action:

  • Art and contemplative activities: Arrange objects on a small altar. Include objects embody characteristics of imperfection, objects that are tarnished, rusted or frayed. Add natural items that are weathered or cracked. Notice the beauty in these imperfections. Show acceptance for the natural cycle of growth, decay and death.
  • Journal writing activity: Journal about a challenging past event in your life. Write about the lessons learned or the gifts received through your experience.
  • Call to action: Take a walk in the natural world. Pay special attention to the different cycles of nature. Notice the depth and beauty in the fading flowers and grasses, the fleeting shadows on the pavement.

————

Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  Bo is creating a set of Prairie Wisdom Cards, second in a series of cards based on natural habitats, and used for exploration and discovery.

Three Cosmos

Three Cosmos

Three Cosmos © 2011 Bo Mackison

One looks, looks long, and the world comes in. ~ Joseph Campbell

Cosmos were originally grown in Mexico and South America.

It was common for priests to grow them in their mission gardens because it was a reliable and easily tended flower. Cosmos have even petals around a crowned center, and so the priests called the flowers “Cosmos”, Greek for harmony or an ordered universe.

I love the idea that cosmos is named for its orderliness, and that such as wondrous word — cosmos — means something as simple as orderly.

I also love that a field of cosmos is anything but orderly. The many-colored flowers – hues of white, light and dark pinks, and reds – grow on very long stems. In a breeze, cosmos tumble and tangle together. I think a meadow of cosmos, swaying in a light wind, is one of the most inspiring scenes imaginable.

Plus it is almost impossible not to smile when watching the cosmos’ wave at me!

I think a waving field of cosmos is one of the prettiest late summer happenings!

Cosmos

Cosmos

Cosmos © 2011 Bo Mackison

Look at everything as if you are looking at it for the first time or the last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory. ~ Betty Smith

Cosmos are one of the first of the last flowers of the Wisconsin blooming season.

When the cosmos bloom, it is never long before the trees begin to show their autumn colors.

This is one of my favorite photographs of these cosmos, especially since they signal a change of seasons to me. I focused on the seedhead of the flower, the petals already blown away, the center shriveled and dry. But in the background, out of focus, is the fully in bloom flower, lending its summery colors to the photograph.

The cycle of life continues, the garden always a visible reminder.

 

Happy New Year 2011!

Cosmos at Sho-Low

Dancing Pink Cosmos © 2010 Bo Mackison

Here’s to endings and new beginnings.

Cosmos ( the flower’s name) is the opposite of chaos. Wishes to all for less chaos and more harmony in the coming year. So many possibilities, all waiting to unfold…

Happy New Year!

(The last two parts of my New Year alphabet will be in the next two posts…)

A Field of Cosmos

A Field of Cosmos at West Madison Test Gardens in Madison Wisconsin

A Field of Cosmos © 2010 Bo Mackison

For a wild, abandoned look of beauty, I love a field of cosmos. They crinkle and dip low to the ground, then spring back. Nothing neat and tidy about cosmos, they always remind me of the “unmade bed” portion of an otherwise well tended garden. I do love these flowers.

Photographed at the West Madison Test Gardens, the experimental garden site of the University of Wisconsin in Madison Wisconsin.