From Hence I Came. . .

Tags

change, choices, graditude, health, healthy, passion, peaceful, personal growth, present, thankful

The aw-ha moment came with a moment of self-realization.  I had fallen into a dark place with major life changes and the death of my mom.  It was easier not to remember who I was, and pretend that the world was different from it was.

Those dark places eat at the very essence of our souls, and crush every ounce of creativity in our being.  It’s easy to get lost in the darkness, and buy into the pictures of fear.  I fell very deeply into this great abyss.

A couple of days ago, the light came back on.  It has been a few years, and I’ve struggled every moment of every day.  Now, I can say, “I’m back.”

I’ve started a new project titled “From Hence I Came.”  It is a short video and book.  The video is complete, and posted on Youtube.com (at PhotoKLU).  The book will be finished in 2012.  It’s time to live life.

I think the changes have been brought on by a decision to post a photo a day for the next 365 days on Facebook.  It keeps the creative channels open, allowing my bruised spirit to heal from the trauma of the past few years.

I am very grateful to all the people with positive words, that have found their way into my life.  I have been inspired by great photographers, such as Bryan F Peterson, Art Wolf, Dewitt Jones and Jerry Downs.  I am grateful for the incredible beauty of their work.

Gratitude creates the abundance we require to live our lives.  It brings in the people needed to move us forward to our goals. . .

Love & Light to All. . .Karen

Advertisements

Finding Self in the Modern World – Part 2

Tags

change, choices, faith, Healing, health, healthy, life, moving on, passion, personal growth, present

Wow. . .what is love.  How do we love ourselves?  Why is it easier to focus on our short-comings, instead of all of our gifts?

I think it comes down to knowing one’s self.  A discovery of what is liked, dis-liked and loved in our individual worlds.

Love is nothing more than total acceptance of who we are – the good, bad and ugly parts of self.  There are no conditions, expectations or limitations.  It simply is complete, unconditional acceptance.

Once we love ourselves, we become capable of loving other people.  Again, it is given without conditions, expectations or limitations.  There is no rule that says the other person will return love, if we love them.

Once we demand love from another, we have stopped loving ourselves. . .

Always remember, the biggest gift we can give to the world is ourselves. . .

More Later. . .

Love & Light to All. . .Karen

 

Finding Self in a Modern World

Tags

belief, change, choices, faith, family, Healing, health, healthy, life, moving on, passion, personal growth, present, spiritual

Part 1

Ever asked – “what is the meaning of life?”  Ever wonder why we are here, and what are we suppose to be doing?  It’s all tied to who we are as an individual, family, society and world community.  . . .but were to start?

It all starts with self.  Through all the noise and distractions, it comes down to finding ourself, and what makes us happy.  I’ve been told that this philosophy is selfish.  That we are supposed to give and not receive.  If we all gave, who would receive?

In truth, we need to find a balance between giving and receiving.  It’s not an easy place to find, and, after 40 some odd years, I’m still working on it.  I think that it is easier to give, because it feels good to help another.  I also think it is easy to lose ourselves by giving too much.  By being able to receive, we replenish ourselves to give more in the future, and allow others to feel good about giving to you.

So, how do we find ourselves, and true purpose in life?

It starts small.  The first step is liking ourselves, with all our perceived short-comings and mistakes we have made.  The second step is loving ourselves for who we are.

Liking self. . .what always comes to mind for me is simply “God (by which ever name you call him/her) does not make JUNK!”

Our perspective at this level is colored by all the information imparted to us by family, friends, strangers and the media.  We are constantly comparing ourselves to someone else or something else.  In truth, we have everything we need.

Liking ourselves means accepting we may have too much weight on our body, or our teeth are crooked, or our checking account does not have money in it, or the rent check was late, or the power got turned-off, or. . .

This list of short-comings is endless.  We are not defined by these events in our lives.  We learn from these events, and work on positive solutions for the next time.  With all these issues, we need to look at our self-talk.  What are we telling ourself about our looks, financial responsibility or place in the world?

This is perhaps the most difficult change that anyone can make in their life.  We build our self-talk from our first words, and experiences with the world around us.  The people who raise us and we interact with, color our perceptions of the world and our place in it.

It is difficult to overcome a poverty mentality.  Just as difficult is to change the perspective that we do not have value, and deserve to be “hurt” by others.  Or, simply we have a passion or dream, and should pursue it.

The change itself is easy.  Change your thoughts and perspective, and change your world. . .

More next time on loving ourselves for who we are. . .

Love & Light to All. . .Karen

Allow Your Dreams to Become Your Life Story. . .

Tags

belief, change, choices, Dreams, faith, Healing, life, moving on, passion, spiritual

Part 1

I always dreamed of being a professional photographer.  I knew it from the 8th grade.  I had no doubt in my mind what I was supposed to do with my life.  Those around me didn’t see it that way.  They tried to steer me in a different direction.  I complied, until the call to the camera was stronger than my will to fight against myself.  I left a nice, “safe” corporate job to chase my dream. . .that was in 1997.

In college, I wanted to pursue fine art, but was guided away.  I finished my degree in English Composition.  I think that was a good thing, as I look back.  It gives me more skills.  I do a lot of writing to go along with my photographs.

BUT, photography was my dream.  I had no concept of what it would take to become a photographer, and no family support.  It didn’t matter.  It was the only thing that made sense to me, and how my brain operated.  Yes, I can survive in the corporate world, but why be so unhappy?

So in 1997, I quit my job.  I pulled out all my investments.  I spent a month at home writing in my journal.  Then, I spent 17 days traveling and camping through the desert southwest by myself.  Armed with a journal and camera, I journeyed through the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, Arches and the Columbia River Gorge.  It was April, and I was greeted with snow storms.  It was magical. . .

More Later. . .

Love & Light to All. . .Karen