Welcome to Mirth and Motivation!
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Photo Challenge: Uncommon = Unusual
“Everything that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and gives it an idea of which it was not before possessed.” Joseph Addison
Photo Challenge: Uncommon = Unusual Aurora Clock
Kirsch-Hamilton Aurora Clock
Definitely Unusual and Not so Common – For this week’s challenge on – Unusual – I dug back to some old treasures and this popped up at me. It’s a novelty Kirsch Hamilton Aurora clock that I bought on sale a few years ago. It is quite old and not the remakes that showed up in the 1990s. Because it offers a unique approach to reading the time, I added the YouTube video to help you understand the beauty and magical quality of the clock. It does remind one of the psychedelic lava lamps of the 1960s; remember what they looked like? They had swirling colors and a kaleidoscopic effect that was meant to draw attention; the changing colors of this time piece is in the same vein.
If you look closely, at the face of the Aurora clock, there is a moon shape within the clock and it moves around to the minute, as the glowing hands identify what hour of the day the clock is going to show next. The colors change throughout the day and it has one of those Jetsons in outer-space with a new-fangled toy feel. It’s old, it works and I like it. In case you are wondering about all the color effects, I used a photo-editing feature to create more colors for my collage. I figured the effect will somehow mirror what one might see if they stood by the clock every hour of the day as it seamlessly changed into beautiful colors. PS. The original photo of my clock is in the middle.
“Today is a most unusual day, because we have never lived it before; we will never live it again; it is the only day we have.” William Arthur Ward
Photo Challenge: Uncommon = Unusual Octagon House
Photo Challenge: Uncommon = Unusual
The home, the Octagon House (Armour-Stiner House), is on the National Registry of Historic Places. It is a popular 8 sided, pink colored historic home in Irvington, NY. Known locally as the Octagon House, it sits on lovely landscaped grounds that border the walking path/Aqueduct. I walk by it on my Aqueduct jaunts and, one fall day, I took the photo you see above. Because it is a historic landmark, the owner allows occasional tours of the property. Some years ago, I took a tour with the local Historical Society and was surprised to find the rooms were unusual in size and the ceilings somewhat low. What struck me most was that once I stepped inside, the sense of it being 8 sided disappeared.
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Motivation Mondays: ANGER
“Anger is like a storm rising up from the bottom of your consciousness. When you feel it coming, turn your focus to your breath.” Thich Nhat Hanh
Motivation Mondays: ANGER – Let it go!
Motivation Mondays: ANGER – Let it go!
My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world. Jack Layton
Anger ventilated often hurries towards forgiveness; anger concealed often hardens into revenge. Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
It is wise to direct your anger towards problems – not people; to focus your energies on answers – not excuses. William Arthur Ward
What triggers your Anger? How do you contain it? Anger is a very powerful emotion and it can be used in both constructive and destructive ways. When we take time to reflect on our anger triggers, it becomes clear that our anger is a response to an old memory of an unresolved issue that needs to be addressed and dissolved. Usually, the underlying cause of our anger is probably something else that is begging to be addressed. So, address it, as soon as possible and move on. Don’t let your anger stifle other areas of your life. Sure, there are things that annoy us but, see them for what they are – temporary distractions – then move on. If there are things that linger, surrender them to a higher power and trust that eventually they will dissipate. There is much in the world to make many of us furious on a daily basis, but we can counter it by choosing to take actions that lead to change, that invoke our higher calling and that focuses on the good in humanity. Sometimes, we hold onto anger because we are afraid to discuss it with the other person because we think it will lead to another confrontation. This is where timeout and reflection can be our best guide. With some distance from the issue, we can think it through and then follow up in a calm and rational manner; a bit of diplomacy helps us broach difficult subjects, but we must look at the original cause of our anger. We owe it to ourselves and our peace of mind to do so.
A Story: The Fence ~ by Anon
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally, the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one.” You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. But it won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound will still be there.
“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Motivation Mondays: ANGER – Let it go!
Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten.” Gautama Buddha
Holding on to anger, resentment and hurt only gives you tense muscles, a headache and a sore jaw from clenching your teeth. Forgiveness gives you back the laughter and the lightness in your life. Joan Lunden
When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred. Thomas Jefferson
Tomorrow is Nelson Mandela Day and he is a great example of someone who chose to rise above the rage and anger that could have annihilated him while he was in prison under the Apartheid regime. Instead, he focused his time and energy on doing mental work that kept him alive and his spirits up and eventually became a leading light of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that investigated the atrocities of the system and encouraged forgiveness as a road to healing in South Africa. Over the years, many of us have raged about injustice, inequities, all the isms, prejudice, betrayals, deceptions and denials. We even raged about the sanctimonious, the self serving, and despots who lead their countries to ruin. But with time and reflection, I came to the realization that we all have to learn to let stuff go. We must come to terms with the fact that countering hate with hate is self defeating; only evil will prevail from such an approach and when we become blinded by hate and rage, what good would we serve? If we wish to live in a just world, we must make equanimity paramount in our lives. It is not an easy to achieve, but it is worth the effort.
Anger can be used in both a productive and disruptive way, but we must be clear about the difference. When we stand up against oppression and vote our conscience, or speak out against injustice and put our money where our heart knows it will do the best work against evil, our anger is well served. Allowing others to trigger rage and anger in us over petty squabbles or inaccurate information is a waste of time. Any time we find ourselves getting furious over the actions of or perceived insults from others, it would help to stop and consider, for a moment, that the slight might not be about us…
A Story: The Angry Train Rider
Several years ago, as I boarded a subway train in Manhattan, a face caught my attention; it was the face of a woman seated at the far left corner of the subway car. She was perched half off her seat; wearing a black coat with a colorful paisley scarf around her neck. But what caught my attention? Her face was permanently etched in an angry scowl; her mouth turned down in a pout, her eyes set in a glare and forehead furrowed from years of fury. She was not angry at that moment for she gave me a quick smile when she noticed I was staring at her. What struck me was the memory of my grandmother’s words, something she said whenever any of the kids were furious, “Wipe that anger off your face, for angry people end up with a permanent scowl on their faces.” If we harbor anger towards another person and make no attempt to resolve it, it also manifests in other ways; sarcasm, bitter humor, scathing remarks and even hypocrisy. It etches itself on our faces and in our bodies so we walk around with that energy in us. Countering our anger through Awareness and self-effort is key…
The details for Motivation Mondays are below. Join in! The themes for June/July 2017 are:
06/05 – World Environment Day, 08 National Best Friend Day, 08 World Oceans Day
06/11 – 11 Trinity Sunday, 14 Flag Day
06/18 – 18 Father’s Day, 19 Juneteeth, 20 World Refugee Day, 21 Summer Solstice/International Yoga Day, 23 Intn’l Widow’s Day, 24 Ramadan Ends
06/25 – 25 Eid al Fitr, 26 Against Drug Abuse Day,
07/04 – Independence Day,
07/11 – World Population Day, 14 Bastille Day
07/16 – National Ice Cream Day, 18 Nelson Mandela Day
07/23 – Parents Day, 28 World Hepatitis Day
07/30 – International Friendship Day
Are You Looking for Ways to Stay Creative in 2017?
– Join the Daily Post Post-a-day or Post-a-week Challenge.
— Join the BlogHer Writing Lab
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Photo Challenge: COLLAGE Is ART
Collage Is Art – “Collage is not a kitchen sink; it’s not a refuge for the compositionally disabled.” David Shields
Photo Challenge: COLLAGE Is ART
Photo Challenge: FOOD COLLAGE Is ART Too
And for every project, because it takes years, you can see the early drawings and collages as just a simple, vague idea, and through the years and through the negotiations of getting the permit, you see that every detail is now clarified. Christo
But when I worked on a painting I would do it from a drawing but I would put certain things I was fairly sure I wanted in the painting, and then collage on the painting with printed dots or painted paper or something before I really committed it. Roy Lichtenstein
What is a Collage? Did you know that the “term collage was coined by both Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso in the beginning of the 20th century when collage became a distinctive part of modern art.”? A Collage is simply a way of creating artistic pieces by gluing together ideas, photos, drawings, and even materials/objects into shapes or a frame that represents a final creative expression we want. As far back as I can remember, I’ve always loved to create collages. They are a way to pull together ideas and photos that strike me as symbolic of the work at hand and to mix them up in color schemes and themes. So you can imagine my delight and surprise to see the photo challenge this week is about – Collage. My collages are rarely accidental and I doubt anyone who takes the medium seriously would see them as a hodgepodge of photos or paintings. They are not. Each one is created with great care and consideration for related imagery and relevance. Come back and see other collages I created for this assignment. I love David Shield’s perspective on the creation of collages because it is painstaking in any form you create it; be it in art, music, film or writing.
READ: David Shields on the Painstaking Work of Collage
“I don’t see myself as a photographer. I still see the photographs and collages as a resource for the painting.” Mickalene Thomas
Photo Challenge: COLLAGE Is ART
Photo Challenge: COLLAGE Is ART
Photo Challenge: COLLAGE Is ART
I stick the collages on the wall and, if I still like them after a month or two, I make a painting. James Rosenquist
All my paintings are usually done in drawing form, very small. I make notations in drawings first, and then I make a collage for color. But drawing is always my notation. Ellsworth Kelly
I do think the challenge, in a way for me, is to write a narrative film and when you finish watching it you feel like it’s a collage. You tell the narrative, you tell the story, but you feel like you’ve created this tapestry. But it also has a shape, a story. Shane Black
Do you ever create collages? What is your process? Before I create a collage, I make sure I have an idea or blog post theme that I want to focus on. Then I gather all the photographs I need for the project ( mine, great public domain photos from Pixabay and Wikipedia), and start playing around with form and color. Typically, I create between 10-15 collages for each post and discard most of them once I’ve selected the few I believe will convey the message of the post best. Then I revisit the collection again to find ways to make them better. Of course, I frame my collages like photos but that is not the only way to present them. You can create collages that look like other objects and there are all sorts of wonderful expressions of them on Google images. I use Pixlr Express, PicMonkey and occasionally Canva to create mine. Plus, I recently discovered another collage creator BeFunky. I try to vary my work by reaching for any photo editing tool available to me; you don’t have to be limited by one choice. WP has a tiled gallery tool that helps showcase your photos like a collage so that is another option.
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