Tag Archives: Choices

Revisiting Part 2

Oct
19
2018
by IBK | 1 Comment
IBK Maine 10-19-2011

IBK Taking A Closer Look

Last month when I shared about revisiting as a part of transition, I sensed from my own experience that there was a summary, a wrapping up of a time of specific actions leading to a new now “revisited” place … a launching place for a new season. Instead it seems it was more of a rest area by the roadside on a continuing journey. Revisiting gives one lots of information and can lead to new actions, but … those new actions then lead to new commitments and finding a way to incorporate the new into the old routines takes some work.

Case in point; In my months of revisiting I had chosen to upgrade my computer versions to better support my blogging and photography. My old ™I Pad was no longer upgradable which also meant less secure. It was however still usable for storing photos, watching movies and general writing, note taking and so on … however before I could “wipe the data” and give it away to my non-cable watching relatives, I had to check and move a lot of data between old and new devices and versions. Little did I know that I would be in a bootcamp computer workshop/training with my own “look up how to do this curriculum” for over two weeks.

There were several other focused choices and everyday pieces of business and daily routines, which then turned into today October, 19th, six weeks after revisiting and committing to start putting out a blog every two weeks. 🙂

So the point is, like in this picture of your blogger and photographer, take a closer look, say yes to what is yours to choose, and give yourself time to travel on your journeys, while continuing to lighten the load. IBK

Posted in Cropping, Insight, Letting Go, Reframe, Road Trip, Seeing In New Ways, Waiting Also tagged , , , , , |

Move On

Jul
20
2018
by IBK | 1 Comment

©2018IBKimage

In 2003 Roger von Oech created a set of cards called: “Innovative Whack Pack … 60 Creativity Strategies to Provoke and Inspire Your Thinking.” On one side of the card is an insight from Heraclitus, who according to von Oesch was “the world’s first creativity teacher … on the other side a strategy “inspired by each insight” and enriched by the author in a clever way to “whack you” out of old thought patterns.

On card # 43, this Insight: “A thing rests by changing” and then an explanation: “This paradox assumes that everything is always changing and that”it often takes less energy to move on to the next phase than fighting to stay in the current one.” Going with the flow in the river is suggested vs. swimming against the current. And then this: “If you allow yourself to let go of a cherished position, strategy, or belief – especially one that takes increasingly more effort to hold on to – you are more easily able to discover new alternatives.”

So today’s question: “where would your energy be better focussed: on where you’ve been or on where you’re going? Is it time …to move on to the next phase? Only you can answer that. Hint: think of  several applications e.g.  If I continue to keep track of ways that didn’t work will that allow me to take a next step? … and so on.

Today’s image from a stairway between floors at the Denver Art Museum is perhaps an illustration of this issue. If at the bottom I move up the stairs I’m moving to the next phase(exhibition) to discover a new offering. If I’m at the top looking back I can remind myself where I’ve been but not stay there since it could “increasingly take more effort” …
IBK

Posted in Courage, Insight, Letting Go, New Beginning, Reframe, Uncategorized Also tagged , , , |

It’s Not ‘PERRRRfect’

Jun
02
2017
by IBK | 3 Comments

 

©2010IBKimage

 

 

 

No matter where we go today we encounter the world of the perpetual “perfect” as spoken in cliche in many interactions.  I don’t think ‘perfect’ gives us enough vocabulary to describe a current situation and/or an often challenging transition that one might be in the midst of.  So today I encourage you to embrace the freedom of the imperfect …whatever that means for you.

 Today’s image breaks a lot of the ‘rules’ of photography but in the course of several gloomy days in a wet 2010 spring, it was an imperfect image that captured a beautiful moment of grace  as I walked my neighborhood that day.

IBK

Posted in Authenticity, Imperfect, Reframe Also tagged , , |

Shift Happens

Jul
31
2015
by IBK | 0 Comments

We’ve heard the term  ” ***t happens” … a deadline looms ; health issues change our routines; a new job requires re-orientation from familiar patterns; the dog dies; the old arguments resurface; you live with a two year old; and so on. It is  easy in these times to quickly seek an answer,to work at a solution, to make our case, and to do more, and seek what will bring everything back in balance.

 

Having recently experienced several non routine events in some areas of my life, I’d like to offer an insight.  Instead of spending so much energy trying to work to keep it all under control,I wondered what I might need for myself during a time that required more of me than I might have.  Paradoxically by shifting my focus to a series of small 30 minute diversions, I discovered an easier way to deal with the challenging.   In photography you often achieve focus by shifting your position vs. changing the lens.

 

On of my diversions is the greenhouse at the Denver Botanic Garden, today’s featured image.

Where is a place that you can take yourself too to find a renewed perspective?

 

©IBKimage2015

©IBKimage2015

Posted in Reframe, Seasons Also tagged , |

It’s Your Turn Update.

Jul
17
2015
by IBK | 1 Comment
©IBKimage2012

©IBKimage2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my last blog I supplied the image, and I asked you dear readers to supply the words in response to this question. What thoughts about transition come to mind for you as you reflect on this image?

 

Here are some of your thoughts.

“Some images bright, still central. Others are fading or emerging. Discerning which are trying to emerge requires time, prayer and a community with which to discern.”

 

… the path is not always straight or easy to decipher.

 

“Life is the interplay between light and darkness, sunshine and shadow, and hinges on our interpretation of what we see and experience. Just when we think we have something figured out and labeled, we might take another look to see that it has shifted and our perception has changed. What seems good or positive at first glance may not be for our highest good, and what seems evil or negative may be a gift in disguise. That is why it is good to give thanks in all things and not judge by appearances.”

 

Reading these and other responses made me think of the word shift as integral to transition. A shift in focus,attitude,perception, thinking and so on … thanks for participating and now a little shift of my own.  The original image actually looked like this.

 

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Best, IBK

Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged , |

Stopping

Feb
27
2015
by IBK | 3 Comments

©2014 IBKimage

 

On a recent trip to Brooklyn, NY this family of “parts” caught my eye while walking briskly down the sidewalk , arm in arm with two my own family members.  The middle child up in dad’s arms wears a ®Meineke Care Care Center shirt to let us know that …yes you’ve arrived at the place to have your car fixed. The clever metal sculptures comprised of old mufflers and other under-the- car parts, offered great delight and a pause on a windy cold November morning.

 

Often we’re so distracted with our lists, and goals or pleasing others that we  spend our energy on a busy life vs. a chosen life. I first heard the phrase a ‘stop doing list’ in a a newspaper article written by Jim Collins, author of Good to Great . In a course on creativity and innovation at Stanford Graduate School of Business, he was challenged by the teachers in what he called the “20-10 assignment”. You receive 2 phone calls: 1.”You’ve inherited $20 million no strings attached; 2.You have a terminal disease and have no more than 10 years to live. What would do do differently and, in particular, what would you stop doing? ” This was a major turning point in his life. The ‘stop doing list’ became … “a mechanism for disciplined thought about how to allocate the most precious of all resources: time.”

 

So what does this have to do with  today’s image?  Perhaps someone decided to stop throwing old parts away when they were fixing cars and start reassembling the parts to finally realize a dream of creating something. What do you want to stop that will release energy for starting or rediscovering something that is  authentically you.

 

My ‘stopping’ list in this new year included not judging myself for needing to pause after numerous transitions and several losses, including friends dying. Happily by ‘stopping’ I’m now ready to re-engage in one of my passions … offering insight and encouragement through life’s transitions…

IBK

Posted in Cropping, New Beginning, Seasons, Stopping, Waiting Also tagged , , |

Changes

Oct
10
2014
by IBK | 1 Comment

 

©IBKimage@2013

 

 

Hello.  It’s been a couple of months since I’ve shared a word and image to offer insight and encouragement for life’s transitions.  I’ve actually had to learn to speak some of those words to myself as I’ve worked through some challenges regarding my health.  As I was making a routine left turn on a Sunday afternoon, my world started spinning…literally and now after a couple of months of vertigo incidents I am learning to live with the after affects of an acute vestibular event (probably a virus) that has damaged my left inner ear – the part dealing with balance.

 

It’s been a humbling experience to not be in control of your body movements; or to walk down the sidewalk looking as though one was inebriated; to realize that once again there is another loss to adjust to… and then you begin to understand – too slowly sadly – that there are all kinds provisions given that enter into this time of transition.  Family and friends providing comfort, encouragement, rides and arms for stability; a deeper prayer life not only for wellness but a deeper compassion for those who’ve lived with or are currently living with the reality of acute or chronic health challenges;  digging deep for a sense of humor in all of this; but mainly accepting that this is a new normal, and I will receive what I need when I need it and don’t have to force the timing.

 

Today’s image is usually seen as a  clear night shot of the colored lights in the fountains located at City Park with the downtown Denver skyline as a background.

After weeks of pushing myself to restart my blog, I realize that an abstract of reality  can be a gift to remind one of the essentials.

IBK

Posted in Blessings, Courage, New Beginning, Seasons Also tagged , , |

Crossing Another Bridge

Aug
15
2014
by IBK | 2 Comments

©2014IBKimage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s image is near the west entrance gate of the Denver Botanic Garden.  I have spent the last 3 months crossing this bridge as I enter and depart  during my frequent visits to the garden.  I have also been blessed to live in a 9th floor apartment this summer, overlooking the garden.  At the beginning of the summer my husband and I rented this apartment, in anticipation of our house, in Denver, selling.  We would then continue to spend time in the city in the coming year, but also gradually make a location change to Lincoln, NE where we originally came from 6 years ago.

 

Well things didn’t happen that way.  The house didn’t sell;  my husband whose visual situation has progressed from impairment to blindness felt more secure in a place he had visual memory and experience  for so he moved back into the house; and I’ve spent some time in retreat in the apartment . Graciously our landlord released us from a year’s lease and so next week this chapter ends as the movers move the remaining furniture back home. Things seem about right for now and we’ve both learned that you can’t cross a bridge until you come to it … and it’s important to cross when you do, trusting the future in the present and trading anxieties and over-functioning for gratitude.

Joy!

IBK

Posted in Aging, Courage, Letting Go Also tagged |

Balls in the Air … Balls on the Ground

Jun
20
2014
by IBK | 1 Comment

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We continue to be in transition as our house is still on the market in one location and we’re almost finished with a remodeling project in another one 500 miles away. On a recent walk with an old friend in the new location I was able to speak out loud so many of the challenges, joys, griefs, and pain of this particular transition.  She held a space for me to “put it all out there” without judgment or a need to fix things. Sometimes we just need someone to “hear our hearts.”  As we came to the end of our time together, she reminded me that I had a “lot of balls in the air” and perhaps I could let some of them bounce to the ground for now so that I would be able to focus on the “ones that could break …”  A phrase of encouragement and affirmation offered a new perspective and way of thinking about my situation. Sadly, it reminded me also that some of the balls had already broken.

 

As I’ve lived with this phrase for the past several days, I couldn’t wait to share today’s image with you.  It comes from the Chihuly Glass Exhibition, which opened this week at the Denver Botanic Gardens. At the end of my walk on a day when they were assembling some of the exhibits (which continue until November 2014),I came upon this amazing boat filled with beautiful balls of glass …  Just think if we keep juggling and trying to make  everything fit into our timeline, we might miss the boat and what’s inside.

What balls can you let “bounce?”

IBK

 

 

Posted in Letting Go, New Beginning, Seeing In New Ways Also tagged , , , , , |

Re-Entry

Jun
06
2014
by IBK | 1 Comment

©2014 IBKimage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello dear readers. It’s been a while but somehow today seems to be the end of something and a gradual re-entry into something else.  After weeks of pitching, condensing and packing to put our house on the market here in Denver, and partially moving into a rental apartment on the 9th floor overlooking the Denver Botanic Garden, I needed renewal.  My camera parts were still in the case and I was too fatigued to lug anything else around, so on a late afternoon visit the other day, I grabbed my cell-phone and took a quick walk to the garden before closing.

Surprise, surprise, the new Chihuly glass sculpture exhibit which opens on June 14 and continues into November, was starting to appear in the garden pools and paths. For the next hour I forgot all but the beauty in front of me .  I got out my cell-phone camera and took a few pictures to map  shots for a more detailed shoot at a later date.  It was at that moment that I realized that during one of the most stressful times and transitions in my adult life, I had forgotten to do what brings me great joy and peace as a counter- balance to all of the chaos. And so it goes.

Hoping that as you continue with transitions in your own life, that you remember to include what brings you joy and renewal on your list of many tasks.

I’d also like to encourage you to check out more about Dale Chihuly at www.chihuly.com

IBK

Posted in Seasons, Seeing In New Ways Also tagged , , |