Tag Archives: connections

Weekly Photo Challenge: Create

When I was in college I became enamored with the concept of liminality.  Liminality is an anthropological and folkloric concept that helps us understand the importance of ritual and transitional space.  A wedding is a liminal event because it facilitates the transition from two separate individuals to one unified household; a beach is liminal because it is the border place between water and land; midnight is liminal because it is that spot between one day and the next.  Since a liminal space or event is by definition neither one set thing or another, it holds a vast amount of potential–anything can happen during the witching hour, and who wants to step inside a fairy ring and take a chance on what happens?

And so I’m looking more at the metaphor–and, esoterically, the process–of “create”.  I took this picture while vacationing at an adorable cabin on Keuka Lake.  We had kind of terrible weather for most of the trip; it was rainy and grey, not a good time for novice canoers like my boyfriend and I to get into the boat that came with the rental, but it was a great time to completely slow down and look at what was around.  When we could, we wandered down the hill and onto our dock.  When I snapped this picture I thought it was kind of cool, when I saw how it turned out I was struck by how liminally symbolic it is.  There’s George, at the edge of the dock (a border space), looking into the fog (which is inherently liminal; is it air or water?).

For me, this image captures what you do before you create something–you stand at the vast edge of your imagination, wide open and full of potential, and determine which way to go next.  Do you dive in?  If so, then whatever happens?  Happens.

Check out the other participants in the Weekly Photo Challenge here.

And below are some of my particular favorites, thus far:

http://joycannis.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/weekly-photo-challenge-create/

http://marantophotography.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/weekly-photo-challenge-create/

http://annarashbrook.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/weekly-photo-challenge-create/

http://justfletcher.wordpress.com/

http://iaggelidaki.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/weekly-photo-challenge-make-art/

http://disorderlychickadee.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/weekly-photo-challenge-create/

http://beeblu.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/weekly-photo-challenge-create/

http://berkshireviews.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/weekly-photo-challenge-create-2/

http://seraphim6.me/2012/06/24/weekly-photo-challenge-create/

http://cocomino.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/weekly-photo-challenge-create-making-bamboo-chopsticks/

You can check out more of my writing at http://beyondpaisley.net/

Full, Empty, or Lifegiving?

I don’t like the is the glass half empty or full kinda questions. I confess they make me feel stumped… and somewhat stupified, if not downright lackwit. I’m terrible at games and rarely think creatively in the midst of them — unless I’m trying to connect people. Then I do better.

So it’s always surprising when I decide to write on something like the oh-so-important glass level question to work my way through to the fact that I think the water rather than the level is what matters. Once we realize it’s a precious resource we’re dealing with, all the questions change.

odd, eh?

a

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Nurturing Friendships

Relationship is at the core of my belief system. I am filled with wonder at the ways we connect and how connections deepen and change our lives. What touches me, what inspires me, what calls me is either the longing for connection or the actuality of it. From wriggling pup to august Divinity, it is the intimacy that ensnares me. If I don’t tend and nurture those relationships, I am not true to my belief system.

And… I seem to be writing one of my next poems… yep, this is how it starts!

Ah… you guys make me think! Thanks.

Living the good life

I understand, believe me I do, that our differing beliefs lead us to different conclusions about what happens at the end of what we know as life.

Having written that sentence, I’m a bit stymied about how to phrase the but… and i don’t know that it is a but. Maybe it’s just a different sentence altogether.

Life is meant to be lived to the fullest. Enjoyed. Cared for. And by living to the fullest, I don’t mean lived at someone else’s expense, or even at the expense of your own sense of self or spiritual well-being. I mean experienced, embraced. I mean using our passions to change the world into a paradise on earth. Not by your rules but by Love’s.

Friends, Glorious Friends

OK, I admit it. I’m a friend addict. I have a dazzling array of wonderful friends. Each of you brings something different and wonderful to my life. Today’s technology means that I have tiny glimpses into so many of your lives, it gives us a dailiness that distance and time don’t permit.

Facebook doesn’t lend itself to long luxurious conversations, but it does allow you to know that if you haven’t picked up the phone regularly or scheduled that long luxurious lunch or the short intense cup of tea, when you need to do that.

Friends and friendships need tending. They take work. But the dividends? My sister Deb and I were talking the other day about a Girl Scout song. Trite? You betcha! True? Bingo.

C’mon, all together now: Make new friends, and keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.

And there’s your earworm for today! Enjoy it. Call a friend.