It's time to smile, isn't it?

Sunrise Sky and Reflection, Tucker Pond, Salisbury, NH, July 2017, 
Nikon D600 with FX 16-35mm VR lens,16mm, 1/640 sec @ f10, ISO 125, -0.67 EV, no flash © Steven Crisp 

"The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell you.  Don't go back to sleep!
You must ask for what you really want.  Don't go back to sleep!

People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch.

The door is round and open.  Don't go back to sleep!"  ― Rumi

Dear friends,

I can think of no better way to kick-start the new year.

Please take time to celebrate the fact that you are alive ... Today ...  At this very moment.

Savor, savor, savor ... and smile ;-)

Will you make a date to watch the sunrise?

I can think of no better way to welcome in each new day!

And afterwards, perhaps, you will watch this:

The video is a wonderful overlay to his words of wisdom.

And it is short.  Short enough to ... watch ... every ... single ... day.

You are awake.  And you are alive!  Please smile, and just become present.  Become aware!

And then be joyful!  Namaste

Day 18: Follow your star

Follow Your Star, Rothenburg o.d.T, Germany, December 2009,

Nikon D5000, 35mm focal length equiv. 36mm, exposure 1/125 sec @ f5.6, ISO 200, no flash, exposure bias +0.33,

 © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Interesting person I met yesterday during lunch ... somone who calls herself a Messianic Jew.  Which, as I understand it, is someone who considers themselves Jewish but also believes Christ was the Messiah.  Basically, and evangelical Christian, but also a Jew.

Seems like that could be a pretty tough belief system to hold while growing up in Israel.  She said about 0.5% of the population fall into this category.

I guess you need to be able to follow your own North Star in such situations.

"I have been and still am a seeker, but I have ceased to question stars and books;

I have begun to listen to the teachings my blood whispers to me."

-- Hermann Hesse

"Let the water settle; 

you will see the moon and stars mirrored in your being." 

-- Jelaluddin Rumi

• Donation:  to YogaCaps, Inc, in Amherst, NH
• Exercise:  Another boardwalk run, this time toward Jaffa (4.5 miles, 40 mins); plus walk with Carol (60 mins)

A little mesmerizing

I thought this was a beautiful, artistic, and creative performance, and wanted to share it with you.  Indeed, when it was ending, I was wishing there was a "more" button that would allow me to see the next act.

I really find it amazing what some people can imagine, craft, perfect, and bring to life.  There is so much power in such an offering.

I hope you find this entertaining, and a little mesmerizing.

"Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent."

... Jalal ad-Din Rumi

Looking For Your Face

Sunrise, Sunset, Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, February 2002, Sony Cybershot, Exposure 1/500 sec @ f5.0, ISO 400, no flash © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Looking For Your Face

From the beginning of my life
I have been looking for your face
but today I have seen it.

Today I have seen
the charm, the beauty,
the unfathomable grace
of the face
that I was looking for.

Today I have found you
and those that laughed
and scorned me yesterday
are sorry that they were not looking
as I did.

I am bewildered by the magnificence
of your beauty
and wish to see you with a hundred eyes.

My heart has burned with passion
and has searched forever
for this wondrous beauty
that I now behold.

I am ashamed
to call this love human
and afraid of God
to call it divine.

Your fragrant breath
like the morning breeze
has come to the stillness of the garden
You have breathed new life into me
I have become your sunshine
and also your shadow.

My soul is screaming in ecstasy
Every fiber of my being
is in love with you

Your effulgence
has lit a fire in my heart
and you have made radiant
for me
the earth and sky.

My arrow of love
has arrived at the target
I am in the house of mercy
and my heart
is a place of prayer.

-- Rumi --

Heavenly Light

Heavenly Light, Inyo Mountains, CA, August 2007, Nikon D40 with 18-200mm VR lens, Focal length 26mm, Exposure 1/30 sec @ f22, ISO 500, no flash, circular polarizing filter © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

We completed our summer vacation this week. We visited my brother-in-law in Los Angeles, who took us camping up in the Ancient Bristle Cone Pine forest located in the White Mountains of California. It was a great trip, with many, many photos taken, and some great hiking to some very remote areas. After I go through them all, I’m sure more will show up here.

In the meantime, while driving back to LA, I noticed this pillar of light out the window and snapped a photo from his moving truck. And it made me think of this inspirational poem by the 12th century Sufi mystic, Rumi. I hope you enjoy his words along with this photo. Namaste.

Looking For Your Face, by Jelauddin Rumi

From the beginning of my life
I have been looking for your face
but today I have seen it.

Today I have seen
the charm, the beauty,
the unfathomable grace
of the face
that I was looking for.

Today I have found you
and those that laughed
and scorned me yesterday
are sorry that they were not looking
as I did.

I am bewildered by the magnificence
of your beauty
and wish to see you with a hundred eyes.

My heart has burned with passion
and has searched forever
for this wondrous beauty
that I now behold.

I am ashamed
to call this love human
and afraid of God
to call it divine.

Your fragrant breath
like the morning breeze
has come to the stillness of the garden
You have breathed new life into me
I have become your sunshine
and also your shadow.

My soul is screaming in ecstasy
Every fiber of my being
is in love with you

Your effulgence
has lit a fire in my heart
and you have made radiant
for me
the earth and sky.

My arrow of love
has arrived at the target
I am in the house of mercy
and my heart
is a place of prayer.