February 23 , 2007 |
Volume 3 - Number 15 |
Over 100 photos, plus healing music
"Endless Beauty"
for Nurturing, Relaxation and Balance
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IMPORTANT: If these photos inspire writing or anything else that has you share it and the photo, please be certain to credit the source, including the URL of this issue, http://www.eteletours.com/v3-issue15.html |
Today's Picture to Ponder Photos
Pineapple in the Refrigerator
Yesterday, our visiting granddaughter did a double-take when she opened the refrigerator and saw the pineapple sitting amidst the bottles and container on the top shelf. She immediately said, "You should take a picture." She was impacted with the pineapple, a natural object, being almost out of place in the middle of all the other items.
For me there was neither a visual or visceral response, so I did not go for my camera. Then last night I was reading a comment that subscriber Alison James wrote some time ago regarding an image that had been in an issue of Picture to Ponder. She stated, "It was less picturesque than the flowers. It took something truly special in your seeing to notice it and capture it on film and offer it."
After reading this I decided to pay attention to Kaitlyn's "noticing" and I went for my camera and took the first photograph above. As I started paying attention to it on my monitor, I began to appreciate the repetition of colors and shapes.
In looking more closely, I also got caught up in the play of light, as well as in the reflections along the refrigerator's ceiling and wall of the pineapple and the apple juice bottle. I therefore focused in on the picture and cropped it with Photoshop Elements.
Self-Reflecting Queries
In the story above I ultimately attempted putting myself in my granddaughter's shoes, seeing through her eyes, and new things opened up for me. Are there places in your life where you can pause, reconsider, and look at situations through another person(s) eyes and/or perspective?
I also invite you, in the next day or two, to visually discover one or two things that you may consider mundane or less than picturesque. In paying attention and looking from different angles, what new opens up for you?
Lastly, for me this has been a week of reflections on how we make differences in people's lives. Earlier this week, I received an email from an artist who was a 5th grade student during my first year of teaching art in the Elementary School, more than 30 years ago.
The email moved me to tears as Denise shared the difference I made in her life, how she always refers to me when people ask her how she became an artist. In a follow-up email she also spoke of the teaching she is doing now with high school special needs students. The difference she is making is quite obvious.
We chuckled (virtually) as she wrote that she now regularly tells her students, "Feel the texture," the statement that she and a few others from her class had put on a Carvel cake they brought to my home at the end of the school year.
To read this amazing correspondence, check out Testimonials on sheilafinkelstein.com.
So, what is the texture of your life, the touchstone for which people will remember you? I am sure that part of the reason Kaitlyn noticed the pineapple and suggested the camera comes as result of our shared experiences. Which of your behaviors and/or values would you especially like people to model?
Lastly, whom in your life can you acknowledge for a major difference they made for you? If that person is still around, I invite you to share this with them. I called Dr. Pearl Greenberg, my mentor and professor at Kean College those many years ago, to share Denise's letter and make sure she got the acknowledgment that she too is part of the cause in Denise's now being a successful artist.
I invite you to rich and rewarding experiences resulting from taking on the actions suggested in today's queries.
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Inspirationally,
Sheila
sheila[a]eteletours.com
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© 2007 Sheila Finkelstein
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