Art (Life is Love)

Exterior wall of bank, blue paint with dirt, Nairobi, Kenya

“Memento Vivere (remember to live).

Van Gogh loves the sky, and has to paint it. 

We love beauty, then we create it, in music, in painting, in ourselves. 

Artists are lovers, and critics are haters.

Artists see the bright, imagined thing to do, the vision to love.

What do I believe? That love is the creative thing. That life is love. That is my belief. 

That I must love people, that I must love myself, that God is a person. 

That I must love people, that I must love myself – my reckless, arrogant, joyful self.

Memento Vivere…”

- post title and prose from the 7^th movement of Libby Larsen’s song cycle Me, 

 text excerpted from the autobiography of Brenda Ueland. 

 

 

Sophie

 

Cracks with water in Jackson Plaza, Willamette University campus

 

Sophie

Our beloved Sophie transitioned on today and our hearts feel a bit like the one pictured above. She had a wonderful 17 years, and was spunky right up until a couple of weeks ago. We will miss her, our beautiful gray cat with the pretty green eyes, soft gray fur, little white mittens and little white boots. Welcome home to the biggest field for playing tiger in the grass you've ever seen. We love you.

Fire in the Heart(h)

 

Home Fireplace

A little warmth for you on a chilly (and wet!) fall evening in Oregon. Happy weekend, everyone!

 

Uniquely You

 

Elephant, Masai Mara, Kenya

When we think of an elephant, usually the first thing to come to mind is its long and articulate trunk. The trunk is the most elephant-esque thing about an elephant! The heart at the end of this one's snout seems to bring the point home. Hi buddy!

Love is being who we were created to be. Our souls are each unique expressions of the one divine Source. Fully knowing and truly being yourself is one of the greatest love gifts you can give. Love on the world today by being you!

Expect Love

 

Tree bark, neighborhood dog walk

Is it God or the devil that is in the details? Old adages put it both ways. For me the proof is in the pudding, so to speak. Since beginning my journey of heart treasure hunting, I’ve watched in amazement as they show up in the most unremarkable minutia of life, like this detail of tree bark. I believe that whatever we want or expect to see will eventually come into view. This would be the nature of manifestation. Heaven is often described this way by those who have had NDE’s, or Near Death Experiences. Apparently, after leaving the body, the inter-dimensional traveler will discover whatever it is they most expect to see, whether it be pearly gates, a fathomless abyss or their favorite relative. Since we can’t know for sure while sitting at this juncture what is beyond it, whether that be the next moment or the afterlife, why not expect love?

Places of the Heart

This was such a fun one for me. It's a tiny portion of a larger picture, and the heart wasn't in my awareness at the time of the snap. I found it later after uploading the files. Any guesses? :)

I took it on the morning of my step-daughter's wedding (this past Saturday) and was actually focusing on the moon and the much larger general landscape, thinking it would make a pretty reminder of the start to the day. And then when I looked at the picture, I was so surprised by the appearance of both the heart and the way the close up looks more like a painting than a photo.

Life amazes me. When I catch sight of this much beauty, it leads me to contemplate how much more infinitely splendid creation there is out there! You, me, the world around us - it's endless. And so beautiful. 

(scroll down for the full scene.....)

Willamette River, Oregon City

Concerning matter...

 

Albert Einstein said, 

“Concerning matter, we have been all wrong. What we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. There is no matter.” 

"Nothing's really matter, anyone can see..." (Bohemian Rhapsody makes its second appearance in my awareness today!)

Matter (what we see, touch, and generally perceive with our five senses) is simply a certain range of vibration within a vast spectrum, and it is the range which we perceive as visible. Everything is energy. You are vibration, and your particular spectrum is an energetic signature in the universe, uniquely you, like a vibrational being-print. The colors of these photos represent the visible spectrum of light, and also happen to be the colors of the energy centers (or chakras) in the body. 

The pictures above: This morning around 6 AM, the full, setting moon was perfectly framed by the Dogwood leaves in my front yard, and I just had to play a little more. I think this is the last round with these little guys...until next time. :)  Love, i.e. infinitely magnificent vibration, to each of you!

Heart of the Night

The Dogwood tree talks heart to heart with the full moon. I'm captivated again. Woof!

Love Drops

 

Clouds over the Astoria bridge, Astoria, OR

“Love is something like the clouds that were in the sky, before the sun came out. You cannot touch the clouds, you know; but you feel the rain and know how glad the flowers and the thirsty earth are to have it after a hot day. You cannot touch love either, but you feel the sweetness that it pours into everything.” – Annie Sullivan

Yellow Monday

Sidewalk chalk

I always smile when I pass neighborhood sidewalk chalk art - it's so cheerful! This small, crushed blob of chalk was the happy little heart remains of someone's play.

One of the music students at Willamette always wears yellow on Mondays because, well, it's Monday, and who doesn't need a little cheer at the top of the week? She often chimes out, "Happy Yellow Monday!" when we pass. Sometimes I join her in wearing yellow on Mondays, just because. I did today. :) Happy Yellow Monday, everyone.

A Little is a Lot

Pebble in sand with sea shell, Oregon coast

“Who is bigger, Mr. Bigger, or Mr. Bigger’s baby? Mr. Bigger’s baby, because he’s a little Bigger.”
                                                                   – family joke

Love is not measured by size or quantity. It is equally potent at the power of 1 or 10 to the nth degree. This little pebble is about ½ inch across, and still it is a perfectly formed heart. The tiniest amount of love can make an immeasurable difference in someone’s life. We don’t need to be saints or save the world. We just need to fully participate wherever we are, with whatever we bring to the game. Bring your love to the table today, even if it’s only a teaspoonful, and watch the world transform.

                                                   “Hope can live on one calorie a day.” 

                                                                  – Frederick Buechner

I Spy

 

Tree outside my office window, Willamette University campus

One of my favorite things about photographing hearts is the surprise factor. My inner help nudges me, saying, "There's one over here!" so I slow down and take a look, and I'm always delighted when I find it. It's like getting a little birthday present out of the blue when it isn't my birthday, over and over. Such extravagance takes our family saying of "a birthday is a season" to a whole new level!  This little beauty was hiding on the middle of the trunk with it's point upside down-ish at 10:30. Kind of sneaky...

My office is on the second floor, so this tree's upper branches and leaves are at eye level, right next to my windows. Once while a student was singing an aria called "Fair Robin, I Love" during her lesson, a sweet robin landed in the branches and sang its little heart out along with her for 15 minutes or so. I love this tree.

The Center of All Things

New Guinea Impatiens blossom with sepal

The center of everything is Love. It is at the center of each of us - vibrant and glorious, soft and yielding, strong, warm and infinite. Look deep into this center of Love, into the center of you, which is the center of all that is, the very heart of God.

Light of Day

 

Dogwood leaves, afternoon, sunset, moonrise, and night

Everything looks different with light, or lack thereof. Lately I've noticed again how when we bring things into the light, into the open, they lose their power over us. What we keep hidden wields control as the powerful shadow, and what we see in the light of truth becomes simple information. I love how each of these hearts is revealed differently in the light, and none would show without it. Maybe tomorrow I'll see if I can catch a heart in the morning light. Early? Could be...

Sunset

 

Dogwood leaves with sunset clouds, home garden

What are three words or impressions that come to your mind when you see this picture? I'll give you a second... :)

For me: Beautiful. Grateful. Nourishing. And a recollection of a pink, pearlescent light I experience as the love of the Divine. Ok, I cheated.. I did four.

Today I wish you a world full of grace, possibility, healing and laughter. You are loved!

filling in the blanks

   

 

Rusted frame of 1930's Ford, sky heart, and grass heart

Lately I have been captivated by partial hearts. My imagination forms the rest of the shape, completing the image. I experience them both as missing something and also not missing anything at all. Hm. Maybe we don't need the whole package to have the complete experience. Maybe whatever is, is the complete experience. What do you think?

Labor of Love

 

 Paint with sawdust on plastic dropcloth, staff flats construction,

 Maua Methodist Hospital, Maua, Kenya

I remember an adolescent who would always answer the question, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” with, “I think anyone can make money, but not everyone can make money doing something they love. That’s what I want to do. Make money doing something I love.” Kahlil Gibran, in his writing on work in the book The Prophet, puts it simply: “Work is love made visible.” He goes on to say, “When you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God,” and “If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.” Find work you love. If you don’t love it, find something else.