Tag Archives: Gratitude

Dancing In The Moment

Nov
09
2012
by IBK | 2 Comments

© IBKimage 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are most anxious it seems when we think back to what was or forward to what will be.  Regrets  for actions taken or not taken;  fearful for actions to be taken and so on.  I’ve been reflecting a bit this week about why I love photography.  When I raise my camera to my eye and look through the view-finder I find that I enter a world of the present moment.  All yesterdays and tomorrows disappear and the focus is to capture ever so briefly a moment in time that allows me to repent of my  own efforts and be “graced” and humbled by what has been provided.  Many years ago I read a book entitled:  “Everyday Sacred” by Sue Bender.  In short, her thesis was to be open to the holiness of living in the everyday moments.  Seeing the familiar in a new light and searching for the beauty of the common is certainly one  way  that I love dancing.

 

Today’s image was discovered during a walk,  near a 400 year old house in Meldorf, Germany.  On my recent trip there I looked up to see the dancer in the side window of an artist’s residence and studio.

What music calls you to dance in the moment?  What might you let go off to start or continue dancing?

IBK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Sep
21
2012
by IBK | 3 Comments

©IBKimage 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nebraska author Willa Cather once said: “Some things you learn in calm, some things in storm…”  The last two weeks I’ve had the privilege and pain to learn in both conditions. In the calm of this week, the storm of vertigo and pulsatile tinnitus have suddenly, after a three month fury,  thankfully blown out to sea. Turns out that it might have been too high a dose of my thyroid medicine which under different conditions was just right. A dear friend’s visit brought delightful hours of conversation and laughter and comfort when recounting incidents of a broken heart.  Finishing a project after weeks of interviews, listening, editing and learning, preparation for sharing, provided a time of calmness tonight, after a  storm of self-doubt, anxiety of wondering  why I had any credentials to do this, and so on.

Like the lighthouse on Nantucket Island surrounded by a morning fog, we often can’t see clearly what it is that is directly in front of us and instead work so hard to see or engage in activity to clear the fog, often resulting in a stormy tempest in our soul or less dramatic, fatigue.   And then … the fog rolls out to sea without our effort.  We can stop filling in the blanks and things are clearer.

Next week I’ll be traveling to Germany with my family to spread my late mother’s ashes on the North Sea near where she lived before being emigrating to America ; it is also the place where I was born.  In the intervening years since my last visit to our hometown, on the occasion of her 80th birthday, much has been revealed in calm and storm.

I wish you shelter and companions in your calms and storms.

IBK

 

Posted in Courage, Letting Go Also tagged , , |

Waiting

Sep
07
2012
by IBK | 2 Comments

IBKimage©2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m up late tonight or early,eagerly waiting for the outside temperature to drop by at least 40 degrees from its high of 94 earlier this afternoon.  The windows are open … ahhh here comes the north wind blowing in the cooler air. It’s been a long summer of waiting for the temperatures to drop below 90 during the day  and  then it does.

We spend a lot of time waiting for:  answers, test results, hearing back  so that we can proceed , in line,on hold,apologies,a call,an offer, a loan,an acceptance,a letter,family coming for a visit, traffic, stop lights to change,proposals, news from the front,rides ,resolutions and so on. Some of us wait well, others not so well  and perhaps what waiting generally  implies is that we cannot control the outcome of what we’re waiting for. And then the waiting stops and there are answers, resolutions,  tears, joys, disappointments, anger,babies born,forgiveness given, jobs offered, jobs lost, votes tallied,lives significantly changed and so on.

I was blessed this week by an abundance of “waitings” that offered up hope for the future: a new son born to dear friends, a generous offer to take over a care ministry that I was covering until we found someone; wonderful news from a young man who is healing after months of debilitating cancer treatments and complications; neighbors’ 2  1/2 year old son surgically relieved of his liver tumor; news of progress and healing of a friend’s broken heart, my  own positive results from some medical tests and some rest and renewal  in the mountains courtesy of a generous friend’s invitation over the holiday weekend.

Thankfully, we rarely have to wait alone.

Today’s image is of my host’s dog Tink, who waited patiently in a tree along the trail while we , like paparazzi photographed him from every angle.

IBK

 

Posted in Seasons, Uncategorized Also tagged , , , |

Take Me Back

Aug
09
2012
by IBK | 1 Comment

©IBKimage2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Dear Readers:

After a two week hiatus or possibly three I’m back at it and delighted to be.  I’ve had visits from friends; our almost 9 year old grand nephew flew in for a visit; and tomorrow our younger son returns to D.C. after a delightful  time with us and other family members.  As grand as it’s been we all are ready to get back to our normal normals.   Watching the olympics and hearing the backstories before the ascent to the medal podium, reminds us again that the steps we take every day are the ones that will come to fruition in some way or other in the next week,month or four years. The time we invest with others, or to learn a new skill or overcome a prejudice or accept a health challenge, etc. does start with just one step.

I remember the exact moment I was finally relieved of the burden of believing that when everything is right and I had  the right tools, and I’d learned enough and I had enough money and …. then I would do x.  Now I know that as I begin somewhere the joy comes from the result of the discipline of using the tools, learning from doing the thing, budgeting money for my choices and by “doing x” I’m actually  able to look back with satisfaction that where I had been was not where I was now.  One of my late mother’s gifts was the phrase: “Every age is interesting and has its own blessings.

As this very active summer begins to wind down and my body is needing to be back in touch with a new normal, I’m reminded of a commercial from my childhood for a bath salt product called © Calgon.  A tired beautiful woman in the city would get into the back of a limousine equipped with a bathtub.  After a long soak (60 second commercial) she would step out of the vehicle dressed in evening clothes and ready for a night on the town with a waiting beau.

The tagline for the commercial: ” Calgon, take me away.”  It was my fantasy for a long time to take a bath in a moving car.  Fortunately, I took up photography a few years ago and can be “taken away” by todays image in Acadia National Park in Maine.  When I need a rest from the busy the sea serves me well.

Thanks for letting me meander and offer two blogs in one.

Joy,

IBK

 

 

 

 

Posted in Aging, Blessings, Insight, Seasons Also tagged , , , , |

Looking at Something Familiar in a New Way

Jan
13
2012
by IBK | 5 Comments

©IBKimage 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We often think of the sacred as something that has to do with religious practice or activity. Yes it does, but I’d like to offer that the sacred is everywhere present in our ordinary lives, but to see it  it we have to slow down to experience it.  It isn’t visible in the fast lane or our autopilot activities. It comes by reflection and intention and being grateful that we have been given this day and this moment to receive or shine light and love on something or someone.

 

The image today is from the Nantucket Whaling Museum.  In the lobby is a lamp from a lighthouse beacon.  Many of us have seen a lighthouse and delight in the light coming around in its cycle to provide a guiding beam to ships at sea.  While looking closely at this beautiful lamp on a ground floor location, I turned to see a reflection on the wall.

 

My wish for all of us today is that we turn off our distracting devices for a bit and find at least one thing to reflect on with intention and gratitude.

IBK

 

Posted in Seeing In New Ways Also tagged , |