TODAY'S PHOTOS -
sunset at Wakodahatchee Wetlands.
I chose the one above for the beauty and serenity of the scene and the texture of the water. I offer the one below for today's Self-Reflecting Queries.
SELF-REFLECTING QUERIES -
A few weeks ago I posted the clouds photo on FlickR (mentioned in Friday's issue - www.flickr.com) and Blaise Allen, who also lives in Florida commented, "I have been taking pix of the sly for 2 years down here."
I immediately jumped to the conclusion that the grey, almost horizontal band across the large white cloud at the top, must be the "sly" to which she referred. It was a new term, or concept, for me and so I went to Google to check it out. Not finding anything I decided to admit my ignorance and reply to ask her the definition. As I was writing, I had an "a-ha," "She must have meant 'sky' and simply made a typographical error," which was, in fact, what happened.
I realized how quick I had been to respond to a "word" and to make it "mean something." I also allowed it to be an opportunity to make a judgment call, in this case on myself. I had considered writing about it here and then last night I had a somewhat similar, though very different experience.
In our Through the Lens course, participants were asked to choose a color to explore with the camera during the past week. One of the participants uploaded a few wonderful, digitally-enhanced compositions
each labeled with a different art element, none of which said anything about color. So caught up was I with the titles, I TOTALLY missed that each of the photos was in the same color range!
Once again "judgment" kicked in and I assumed that the "color" exercise was yet to be done. A couple of e-mails went back and forth and in my head, I added a lot more "meaning" to the whole thing, including some assumptions on negatives about me. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the participant had actually discussed her happy experience on her blog. (See Eva Macie's The Creative Life).
Bottom line, here in our SRQ's, I invite you to look into your own life. Where have you been stopped my labels, or titles? Do you find yourself making judgments based on your interpretation of them without exploring beyond the initial tags? Is there anything that you can put into place that might shift these experiences for you - a trigger perhaps to serve as a reminder for transforming the thoughts, should you wish that?
Conversely, knowing how people respond to labels and titles, I invite you to be aware of this next time you name something. Keep in mind that you are more than likely setting up
how it will be perceived, so make certain that you are clear on your end as to what you would like the experience to be.
As always, have fun.
NEW IN THE GIFT SHOP -
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Lighting up my experience, when I pass my refrigerator, or go to it, are two arrangements of an assortment of the more than 20 magnets that are now featured in our Gift Shop. I absolutely LOVE the Picture to Ponder art in my kitchen and invite you to check them out. See MAGNETS. |
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are welcome on the BLOG.
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ENLARGED, at the same size you see it here, simply click
on it.
If posting on a blog is not your style, please continue to send your comments directly to me . Learning what you are experiencing means a lot. It is part of the reward of Picture to Ponder for me.
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Inspirationally,
Sheila
sheila@eteletours.com
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© 2006 Sheila Finkelstein
http://www.eteletours.com/ptpintro.html
©2005 - 2006 Sheila
Finkelstein - All photos and written content are copyright and, unless
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