Starfish, Coos Bay, Oregon, May 2008, Canon PowerShot SD870 IS, Exposure 1/250 sec @ f14.0, ISO 60, with flash © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]Take a close look at this picture. First, can you tell what it is? Well, I guess the title gives it away -- that's right, these are different colored starfish attached to a rock jetty along the Oregon coast.
Now go ahead a look a little closer. Examine the textures, the colors, the undulations, and then, right there, in the upper left hand quadrant. Do you see it? I didn't notice it until I was looking at the picture. It's a starfish eye! I didn't even know they had eyes. And it's looking right back at you! Wow. (You may need to enlarge the photo to see it -- just click on it.)
It is amazing to me when we stop and appreciate all that we see from moment to moment. It's hard to express just how grateful I am for this present moment.
And so I wanted to share this five minute video I just came across. I think its message is right on the mark, and its imagery is excellent, and its music soothing. Please enjoy, and I hope that you are simply grateful that you have eyes to see and ears to hear.
5 comments:
You capture the most amazing things. I am grateful that you do and share with all of us. I am grateful for all my senses...true gifts.
Thanks for the comment, Honeybee.
As Brother David says in the video ... "[this present moment] is a gift ... and the only appropriate response is gratefulness."
How true is that! Not judgment. Not desire for change. Not even happiness or sadness. Just acceptance and gratefulness.
And Brother David closes the video with my wish for you:
"That everyone whom you will meet on this day will be blessed by you. Just by your eyes; by your smile; by your touch. Just by your presence. Let the gratefulness overflow into blessings all around you."
Namaste, Honeybee
Enjoy life, it's ungrateful not to, said Ronald Reagan.
Steve, hey man! Good stuff.
Discovering how to be grateful...
Knowing how to be grateful...
One of the secrets of life.
No one can be grateful for you, we individually must find out how (if we are lucky).
It is interesting that we need to be constantly reminded of the things we know.
Thanks for the reminders. I do believe that experiencing your blog has improved my vision of life, and thanks to your blog have been able to pass that on to others.
Working together with each other to improve the world.
To both of my Anon friends ... I am most grateful for your visits ;-)
Anon 1 (aka Grasshopper, I'm guessing): Who'd have guessed ... spiritual advice from Ronald Reagan. Do you think he's on a large enough throne yet? ;-)
Anon 2 (aka Tokyo Joe, I'm guessing): You are most welcome for the "reminders". We all need them, don't we. Because the work-a-day world is constantly trying to trick us -- it is, some might say, a great liar.
Here's an idea, let me illustrate the synchronicity of your two replies. When looking for Ronald Reagan's quote, I found this recent comment on the coverage of Tim Russert's death (so sorry to no longer have his level-headed insight):
"The World Is A Great Liar
--Peggy Noonan on the Tim Russert coverage last weekend:
The beautiful thing about the coverage was that it offered extremely important information to those age 15 or 25 or 30 who may not have been told how to operate in the world beyond "Go succeed." I'm not sure we tell the young as much as we ought, as clearly as we ought, what it is the world admires, and what it is they want to emulate.
In a way, the world is a great liar. It shows you it worships and admires money, but at the end of the day it doesn't. It says it adores fame and celebrity, but it doesn't, not really. The world admires, and wants to hold on to, and not lose, goodness. It admires virtue. At the end it gives its greatest tributes to generosity, honesty, courage, mercy, talents well used, talents that, brought into the world, make it better. That's what it really admires. That's what we talk about in eulogies, because that's what's important. We don't say, "The thing about Joe was he was rich." We say, if we can, "The thing about Joe was he took care of people." . . .
After Tim's death, the entire television media for four days told you the keys to a life well lived, the things you actually need to live life well, and without which it won't be good. Among them: taking care of those you love and letting them know they're loved, which involves self-sacrifice; holding firm to God, to your religious faith, no matter how high you rise or low you fall. This involves guts, and self-discipline, and active attention to developing and refining a conscience to whose promptings you can respond. Honoring your calling or profession by trying to do within it honorable work, which takes hard effort, and a willingness to master the ethics of your field. And enjoying life. This can be hard in America, where sometimes people are rather grim in their determination to get and to have. "Enjoy life, it's ungrateful not to," said Ronald Reagan."
And that, my friends, is the power of synchronicity ;-)
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