Inspiration is Everywhere

...if you're looking.

I came across a quote today, "You may ask:  If God is more powerful than Satan, why doesn't God stop this foolishness?

Because the negative power is an agent for God.  His job is to act as the schoolmaster, following God's will.  God said, 'I've got a schoolroom of children here.  Make sure these Souls get enough of an education so that when they graduate, they can go into the spiritual worlds and stand on their own two feet.  Their destiny is to become Co-workers with God, helping me in the administration of my worlds.' "

--  Harold Klemp, "Touching the Face of God

It inspired me to sort through my photographs to make a new image, possibly a new series, "Earth is a Classroom."  After looking through a few dozen pictures, I settled on these two:

A photo of one of my nephews taken by his mom on his first day of kindergarten.

and....

Frontier Village, North Dakota

 I took the second photo myself a number of years ago and thought it had potential, although I was not sure how it would all come together.

After merging the two, making some refinements, and playing with the painting design, I finally arrived at this:

"Earth is a Classroom"  # 1 in my possible new series.  I chose to blur out my nephew's face in this image because I didn't want his personal identity attached to it, it wasn't about him.    

Never underestimate the power of creativity or in your ability to make old things new or even in bringing more light, love, and understanding into your life, the lives of others, and through your medium of choice.  Anything is possible!

Are We There Yet? The Art of Timing

A few fortunate beings on this planet have an innate ability to know when to act and when to wait. Many others are like the child in the back seat of the car with whisperings of "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" as little Susie kicks the back of your seat to a beat only she can hear, only to ask more insistently five minutes later when a whisper becomes a shout and then a shout becomes a whining plea of "Are we there yet?"  

Most parents will start with a patient, "No, not yet" but as you up the ante may soon come back with a frazzled, "Does it look like we're there yet?!" Not to be outdone, the child now recruits her siblings in a chorus of "Are we there yet?" to which the only decent reply is, "Who wants to play the quiet game?" and suddenly the parent is not above bribing their dearest offsprings with a monetary reward for who can stay silent the longest.  

Not only is there unreasonable expectations about the destination itself, and God forbid it doesn't meet our ideas of where we are supposed to be, but there is a whole lot of disillusionment about how long or short it should take us to get there, wherever that may be, whether it be a physical destination or a goal.  

Now add timing into the mix.  If timing is everything then when do you act and when do you wait?  I, myself, have certainly had times when I have pushed, pulled, stood on my head, did back flips, and nothing has come of it, except the thumping of my own head from banging it against a wall (silly me), until one day it happened on its own accord with no assistance from me at all.  

On the other hand, there have been times when I felt as if I was procrastinating only to find that the timing couldn't have been better.  It was as if the stars had aligned perfectly for my very own benefit! What gives?  How do we know the difference?  How do we know when to take action and when to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride?

In photography, especially with action photos or images dealing with people or animals, if you hesitate, you miss the shot.  A person may have walked in or out of the frame, the perfect expression was suddenly replaced with a frown, or any number of things varying from subtle to very obvious can happen. I expect this is much like life.  

If we get a nudge to act on something and we sit on it, we may lose it or it may change in some way. This is not to say the opportunity may not come again or that it may not come in another disguise, but why take the chance?

Is it always going to be appropriate to act immediately?  Maybe not so perhaps it comes down to intuition and discrimination.  Experience will teach us better.  If we missed it one time, we may gain it another and so on and on it goes.  Besides, who says you won't gain something better by taking that detour?

What does this all have to do with photography and your Etsy business or with any business? Many of us give up before we begin.  We have a few false starts or nothing seems to be working so we sit back and wait when we need to take another step.  Or we take many more steps when a little patience may have gone a long way.  

Sometimes we have to do all we can do and then let go of our ideas of how it's supposed to go.  We have to leave room for God or the Universe or whatever or whomever you believe in to do Its part and if you think it's going to come easy, well, you may want to reconsider.  It may but chances are it's another way for the universe to see how serious you are about attaining whatever goal you are striving for.  

In the end, everything is in its rightful place.  It just may be different from where you thought so if there is something you can do and it feels right then act.  If not wait but whatever you decide, don't give up!  

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out."  - Robert Collier

Be flexible!  Allow for transformation.  There may be a worthier plan than the one you have in mind but if you are too attached to what your own vision may be, there won't be any room for anything else and you might miss out on something better.

Lastly when in doubt, take it moment to moment, love what you do and do what you love because as Elizabeth Kubler-Ross says, “It is only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth – and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up – that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.” 

Remember, there is always another mountain to climb, another level to go so listen.

Exploring Pet Photography

Pets are wonderfully therapeutic!  I have known the value of this since I was a child and even before as they have been my partners in life.  We have had everything from turtles, birds, rabbits, cats, dogs, and even farm animals like horses, goats, turkeys, geese, etc.  An intimate relationship between us formed and now I consider them part of my family no matter who they belong to, and I greet them in that way like a long lost friend or sibling.

It's hard to believe I found this scrawny guy (um, or more appropriately he found me!) in the pouring rain, clinging to my ankle, as I loaded up my boys for school.  He was missing an eye and need of some serious love and care.  He is one of my success stories as he still lives in his happy home (about 14 years now?).

If you have any sort of kinship with the animal kingdom, you are going to want to photograph them; and, as I have advised previously with taking portraiture of children, the best and easiest way, for me, has been capturing them in their own element.  When we force things to happen or try to set up our own expectations of how we think it should go then we are also setting ourselves up for a bit of a tumble or a learning experience.  Pet portraits are no different!  Besides, when you don't force things and allow them the space to happen, the results can often be much better than you expected!

These photos that I share today have not all been personally my pets, although they have all been a valued aspect of my life or contributed to it in some small or big way.  These are a few I have rescued and placed in loving homes over the years.  It seems if you help one, the word goes out and suddenly more come your way in need of assistance!  It was my honor and joy to do so!

Help!  I'm being abducted!

Found with a momma cat who had a litter with her and was pregnant again.

I always did love a good book, especially one with a happy ending!