DAY 243

the afternoon snack

was a daily routine throughout my childhood years. When I was a child,

every time I came back home from school my mother was waiting for me with my afternoon snack prepared. It could be just a tiny bread with an ounce of chocolate and half glass of milk; a sandwich, some biscuits or a piece of cake and my milk with a dash of coffee; a piece of fruit or even a French toast, it depended on the day but I never came home and didn´t find my afternoon snack served on the kitchen table

No matter how chaotic our lives could be, my mother was there, day after day trying to create room for peace and happy memories with her pretty plates and lovely tablecloths

Of course, this is supposed to be what a mother have to do, and this is what every child expects, but life can be complicated and now I understand that the caring attitude of my mother made a great difference in my life. Amid all the confusion created by my early experiences, it was a permanent point of reference that added some emotional stability which worked as a sort of counterweight and gave me balance

Even during my worst moments, when I wasn´t understanding at all the purpose of the life I was living and why I had to live it, or when I started to acknowledged the deep impact that my life was having on me and I decided to mend it or later on, when I put myself in a new place inside my family and I began this healing journey, till today, my mother´s love has been beyond all doubt

Maybe, because she was there those afternoon, awaiting, folding a serviette, ready to listen... because she was brave enough, strong enough, to stay



this photo is part of the 52 weeks project I am sharing with this group, the theme of this week is "white"

DAY 236

ups and downs

Much inner work has been done, but I am still fighting for understanding and compassion and against my prejudices about life cycles. I am dealing with it and I truly believe that I am mastering the art of being present, but from time to time I escape from reality and I find myself in a not so sweet place, slipping into negation... again 

When I am too tired and busy, or I am too concerned by problems related to some important issues, I am not able to keep in time with my soul and my restless mind starts to go through the old files and to behaves the old way. It´s hard to wake up one day and discover that suddenly I am unwilling to fully accept life as it is and have the feeling that my heart has been seized by doubt

I know well that resistance is not the answer, it makes peace vanishes. I know that there is beauty in every bend of my path, even in the most painful ones. I know that I have to permit life to unfold freely and let go my need of control. And even so, sometimes I find difficult to bow down to my destiny 

When this happens I return to nature, to the tiny and simple, things, to the basic practices. I focus on my everydayness with gentleness and I connect with the gracious harmony that pervades this existence from which any quietness comes... once again

here: diptych made for the 52 weeks projects that I am sharing with this group. These photos were taking while I was in search for some peace of mind

DAY 229

looking for homeliness

This week´s theme of the 52 weeks project I am sharing with this group is number 3 with reference to its importance in composition. This is related to the "rule of odds" which states that we should frame the object of interest in the photo with an even number of surrounding objects, because this way it becomes more comforting to the eye.

This made me think about the reason why certain images create a feeling of ease and pleasure and others don´t do it. Of course, is all about composition, but mainly about how images are processed and how they are woven together with our psychological fabric and our social environment, because both can attribute new meanings to what we are looking at

So the way we derive meaning from images are determined by the image itself, and by our perceptual process which helps us to discriminate and understand but also by our own experiences, and who we are. This creates a sort of personal "visual logic" which works to create meaning

This has led me to think of what can happen when we are beholders and creators and the important role that the images we create can have. Indeed, we could use our gift for capturing our reality through photos, to take an obvious example, to create images which could impact our lives and create desired effects regarding self-exploration and personal fulfillment

When we create visual images, we create a language with profound psychological meaning, and even when we consider them to be "neutral", we are dealing with abstract concepts expressed in concrete visual terms that can change us. What could happen if we use it on purpose?

We could heal our emotions, we could grow up and evolve, we could know ourselves much better, we could deepen our connection, we could appreciate better what surrounds us... and so on.



I know it well. After all, this blog -explicitly or implicitly- is about this issue and often I create images that represent what I am searching for

DAY 214

we are never too old to play


Never too old to dance, to joke and fantasize 

Never too old to imagine, to develop our curiosity and sing a song loudly 

Never too old to blow bubbles, laugh and feel free

Never too old to have fun, feel a sense of amazement and be carefree 

Never too old to dream, to be creative and use our senses 

Never too old to believe in magic, to have a lighthearted mood and a vivacious mind 

Never too old to let our most fanciful side in charge of our life 

Never too old to use cheerfully our whole self as we engage in the world each day 

I am sharing a 52 weeks projects with this group, this week´s theme is toys. Since I read the group assignment I realized that I didn´t feel like taking just a photo of an object. I wanted to be part of it as I´ve been exploring my own playfulness and spontaneity as part of my inner work lately. So this has been also a sort of practical exercise, so to say, and it did me a lot of good 

DAY 207

morning mandala

This photo is part of the 52 project I am sharing with this group, whose week´s theme is fruit. I´ve been dreaming all week long about how to compose a beautiful photo using different fruits, playing with colors and shapes... but finally I decided to "stay true to my reality"

I´ve never been good at eating fruits  (yes, I know...), so I´ve ended up looking for a fruit that makes it less complicated to me, and apart from bananas, I´ve found the kiwifruit

It is not my favorite fruit, it´s not even one of the fruits I like best: I love strawberries and figs and watermelon, and I like cherries and mangoes, but it´s the one I eat more and easily. Don´t ask me why.

Maybe this happens because they are usually available throughout most of the year or because I can cut them in half and I can scoop the flesh out with a spoon. Maybe because its wonderful visual appeal and its invigorating taste...  but the thing is that I´ve got used to eat them on regular basis and they are helping me to want to enjoy other fruits now that my daily fruit intake is well settled (baby steps usually work!) 

So today I pay tribute to kiwifruit. It´s healthy and delicious, it´s nutritious and versatile and really, really beautiful. My mornings are much better since I started to eat them... 

DAY 193

allegedly imperfect

As I´ve already said I am developing a 52 weeks project. I am sharing this project with a group and this week´s theme is flowers. This group challenges us to upload new photos and not to use only pictures from our archives. As I don´t want to be overburdened with a very complicated task, I want to publish only one original picture every week, not more. However, I have to take many of them to select just one. To tell you the truth, I am not sure that this really simplifies the process (I can be so very indecisive!), but certainly, this is making it more interesting.

I´ve been paying attention to the flowers all week long (another benefit of this project), trying to capture what I see and mainly, enjoying their beauty. I have now lots of them: they are either tiny and modest or exuberant; bright and colorful or subtle and pure; exotic or humble and shy. I don´t even know the name of some of them, and I have a few nice takes, but finally, I decided to edit and publish this one. And of course, my selection speaks volumes about who I am... and not only about my aesthetic orientation

And what does it say? Let me tell you:

I truly believe that beauty is an inner quality that has nothing to do with age, shape, or any other preconceived characteristic. It´s all about the combination of some unforeseen elements that create a pleasing and charming effect

I have struggled hard to see perfection in things that are allegedly imperfect, and I have discovered that this is a source of the constant amazement which precedes joy

I have come to terms with myself: I am going to try to walk with ease my own path, living in harmony with what it is

No matter if I would imagined this moment was going to be more easy, less painful, different... I am determined to live it anyway, I won´t escape. I will accept the inevitable and -depending on circumstances- I will fight if necessary. But in any case, I´ll try to keep my dignity

Life unfolds freely and beautifully from a stage to the following. I am sure that every one contains a treasure, a gift, an opportunity even when any of them can be potentially adverse or delightful. Indeed, I have realized that it´s like a never ending (and awesome) sequence of steps and movements and the only thing I can do is dance in unison with the stunning energy which goes through everything

DAY 185

my camera and me (a love story)

When I look around through the lens of my camera, I find things that usually go unnoticed, things that I am not able to perceive sometimes because my everyday life is too hectic, so I can´t take time to notice subtle details, and often, because my mind is not only busy, but also filled with preconceptions about what is important and what is not.

So, it allows me to:

find beauty in the ordinary things

realize the magnificence of life itself without additives or adornments

marvel at the unexpected appearance of things

become immerse in unknown places of my inner scenery

become aware of my uniqueness

claim my feelings

develop reverence

In short, it helps me to stay in touch with the present moment, to keep things in perspective and also, to represent them in a way that is true to my inner self

Somehow, my camera mends my vision and makes it wider and due to this reason, it complements my inner work. I had started a healing process which included changing the way I look to world and life before I started to take photos, but I have discovered that this is an awesome way to go into it in deep and reinforcing its results. So now photography is part of my daily practice, indeed is a sort of meditation

And as any other form of meditation, it helps me to look at things carefully and also, to focus my mind for self-consciousness purposes; it enhances my energy, develops my intuition and provides a sense of peace and joy. How couldn´t I love my camera?...

I am starting a 52 weeks project with a flickr group. This means I will taking a weekly photo with them, sharing a common theme. This my contribution to the first week