You may have noticed that the skywatch images above all contain trees (my photos often do-I LOVE trees...and I live in NH, so we have a lot of them...plus they tend to poke into the sky, like that child in 5th grade with his hand up "me, me teacher, I KNOW the answer, pick me, see me, notice me"...how can I NOT notice the trees and include them in the sky shots? You might also notice those pesky telephone poles and wires. Often in editing photos, I will crop out telephone poles and wires...I enjoy the pure, holy, serenity of the natural world, without the "messiness" of humanity's technological foot prints (or raised arms) interrupting the view. Today I decided, you know what? The sacred and mundane are always interacting...co-mingling, dancing, entwining...this is the nature of living...discovering the sacred within the mundane...like taking photos through the windows of our car on the way home from a doctor's appointment (mundane) and being awed by the beauty of the sky (sacred)...while the mundane (telephone wires) are scattered across the skyscape (sacred).
Perhaps this could be called a dance with the wholeness of reality...co-mingling, entwining, embracing everything.
gentle steps everyone,
Laura
PS...I seem to have developed tendonitis or some kind of over use injury in my left wrist and hand...making typing painful for me...so I might not be blogging as much for a while... this includes commenting on all of your amazingly inspiring blogs ☹ But I think I can still read them as I can click my mouse button just fine with my right hand so far, but it is a little bit tender too, so we'll see. Meanwhile, I will be present to you in a quiet way-reading and viewing you words and images. I need to be attentive and compassionate to my wrist and hand. I will try to continue posting images...that's not as much physical work...but I will miss writing, it gives me so much pleasure. Oh well. One day at a time and all that.
Thank you Laura for giving me pause to think and to absorb all that you have said...esp. your last post which was so amazing..Greet with awareness...and open our hearts, and fully feel like you said...Your photos are beautiful Laura and so full of soul...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful images that work for me. Somehow those wires symbolize more than technology. They bring us light and communication into our homes, somehow connected to the sky images beyond.
ReplyDeleteI also thank you for this perspective. In the Awakening Joy book I am reading, the author talks about how we live for the next high, and fail to appreciate the joy in the mundane.
ReplyDeleteHere's to telephone wires, to electricity, to cell phones, to the internet, to blogging with you.
Gentle steps indeed.
Heavenly skies.
ReplyDeleteSydney - City and Suburbs
A cute photos!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post Laura. I love the photos and the reminder about the intermingling of the sacred and mundane. I will be watching for that today. :) I'm glad you're being gentle with your wrist. I hope it heals soon. ♥
ReplyDeleteI also love silhouetts in my sky pictures. Trees and plants are always great additions.
ReplyDeleteThe rays of sun that shine through storm clouds "get" me every time. The light and the dark, like the sacred and the mundane, are opposites that go together.
ReplyDeleteTake gentle care of yourself, Laura. We will be here when you get back. Breathe, believe, and be well.
Lovely images and thoughts
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures. I hope you will feel beter soon. Have a nice Weekend, Inge
ReplyDeleteI love it when there are birds on the wire with the heavens bursting thru behind them. Rest well!
ReplyDeleteah, my dear do take care. hands in pain are horrible, we take them for granted too often and miss them very easily.
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking yesterday that I have not taken a sky photo in a while. Perhaps I'll step out now
:-)
Be well.
ReplyDeleteJudy
Laura, I am so sorry that your hands and wrists are bothering you...I shall cherish your smiley face as much as a million words from anyone else...I know you will be writing in your mind which is so full of life and wonderful ideas...Bless and keep you safe dear one...as you say and perhaps I will carry on your message for you while you are resting... Gentle Steps, Cynthia
ReplyDeleteLaura! Take care. The better care you take, the sooner you'll be back to happily writing! :)
ReplyDeleteMuch peace and bliss and health.
Discovering the sacred within the mundane .... I like that. Your skyscapes are beautiful as always. Please be kind to yourself Laura and rest those precious hands.
ReplyDeleteI love what you say about the sacred and mundane and their dance. I always thought of it as a jarring juxtaposition thing - but I will look more closely for their co-dependency - for want of a better word :)
ReplyDeleteI hope hope your wrist heals quickly ..... let it rest and heal
What a wonderful gift to be able to see the sacred in the mundane, the blessings in the simple things!
ReplyDeleteYour photos of the sky and tree-tops are gorgeous. The sky and trees are two of the simple things I love most, too.
:0)
I wish you the very best as you take all the time you need for your wrist to heal. I hope you won't have to be away from your keyboard too long, since writing brings you so much pleasure.
Hugs and love,
xo
Angela
Oh my friend, I too love trees and I love your cloud smile/face shot too!
ReplyDeleteWe do dance a dance of life, of illness and health, poverty and wealth, sadness and Joy, fear and Faith, anger and Love... we dance everyday, toe to toe, face to face... intertwined at times and flying separate, yet, each step has its place, each step follows Gods plan, each step is a step towards the unknown and unimaginable... So Dance the dance of Life... negatives will try to lead, but we must allow the positives to lead the dance and all will be well...
May God Bless you my friend and may you be filled with Divine Healing, Power and Grace and may your spirit soar as you dance your inner dance and sing your soulful song. Blessings to you dear soul. Love and Light, Nina P
Hello Laura
ReplyDeleteI too love nature with all my heart and get annoyed by the pesky telephone poles and wires when taking photos. But they do co-exist as you have so well described.
What a great post you have written with the beautiful photos...definitely food for thought especially your words "embracing everything". :)
I am sending tons of light and love to you for a rapid recovery from the tendonitis, hope you can feel it now.
Hugs
Peggy xxx
Oh yes, do rest your hand and wrist! I had tendonitis or carpal tunnel or something from overuse a few years ago, so I know how painful it is. Rest is the cure and there's no substitute for it! Blogging should be a pleasure, not a pain!
ReplyDeleteOh how I too love trees. I so enjoy your photo's especially the one where the sky itself is smiling! The dance of Life... illness to health, poverty to wealth, barrenness of spirit to uplifting wings of spirit soaring, fear to Faith, anger to Love... A dace sometimes intertwined, a dance where negative patterns try to take the lead for a while but the positive always leads the way towards the climax of the dance. Allowing God to lead our dance we are in the most Gracious and Gentle hands. We may stumble to an unfamiliar tune or step, but God is there teaching us each new dance that comes our way. May you find Comfort and Joy in Gods Healing Power and Grace. And may you continue to Bless us with your talented voice and eyes. You see Life as no one else can, no one else does... it is your life... May you be forever Blessed and may God grant you His healing Grace and you feel better soon. Blessings to you and yours. Love and Light, Nina P
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the tendonitis, that is hard.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about slowing down and noticing the little joys that surround us in the process of going about our every day lives.
This dance...blends the sacred and mundane into something quite other and extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura,
ReplyDeleteI was reading your profile (who writes this stuff), I love your blessing. May you also be blessed with kindness, compassion, joy and health.
Your post is lovely, both the photos and what you say about them. It is hard to take photos of trees with out wires and more in the photo. Lovely that you are accepting of the mundane and sacred today, such a perfect marriage.
wishing you well.
T
spectacular sky images!
ReplyDeleteloved the commentary too! beautiful
you take care of your wrist..
Beautiful shots and I also liked your description. I try to avoid wires but sometimes I think they work out well in shots and I think these do. It is a dance of sorts.
ReplyDeleteYour gentle spirit and positive energy comes through your pictures and your writing. Take care, have courage and faith, and keep on enjoying life in whichever way you can.
ReplyDeleteLaura, your lovely images and words share great wisdom. It is so hard to accept what is ...
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing such a beautiful series of skywatch photos! Love the first one. It's amazing with the rays of sun coming out of the clouds!
ReplyDeletePixellicious Photos
Hope your hand gets better soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks for these heavenly images! Just superb!
Oh, Laura, sorry to hear about your tendonitis.
ReplyDeleteThe top photo is so dramatic. The glow seeping thru the clouds is so magical!
Take it easy and take care!
Spectacular views of the sky.
ReplyDeleteBeauiful skies, I love the first one.
ReplyDeleteWish you a blessed weekend and hope go be good in your hand soon:-)
Hugs from Norway!
I love trees too - they are SO important to me.
ReplyDeleteLovely, serene photos-- even with the wires! It is a good contrast between the natural world and the man-made one. I suppose we need to find peace in living in our man-made world, rather than trying to escape from it. I hope you feel better soon!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, brilliant prose, just like their author. Be well Laura. I will keep you in my heart and prayers.
ReplyDeleteLaura: What neat sky shots you have shared. I'm sorry to hear of the typing problem, definitely bad for a blogger.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. NH really does have glorious trees, and I do like the way you've mixed the sublime and the mundane here.
ReplyDeleteI hope your hand is improving with rest by now.
Wonderful series!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite picture taking is of the sky/trees..I am always looking up..One day my husband will find me in a hole, for not paying attention to where I am walking.
ReplyDeleteanother tree lover/hugger here too :) and your pics are gorgeous.. more so for the mundane! heal well hun x
ReplyDeleteI love trees too. Sky, tress and water is a superb combination I think.
ReplyDelete