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

The Gift of Presence

Twin Island Sunrise, Lanikai, HI, February 2016,  Nikon D600 with FX 28-300mm VR lens, 

40mm, 1/2000 sec @ f4, ISO 800, -1 EV, no flash © Steven Crisp 

Happy New Year's Eve!   Let's bid an Auld Lang Syne to 2018, and get a jump start on 2019!

And look, here is a gift for you.  Who doesn't enjoy a beautiful sunrise, with colors bursting forth in a few short minutes, bringing warmth to your face.

But the real gift is Presence.  So please unwrap your presence to this very moment.  Remember that each day is a new beginning, and be grateful for each breath you take, and the fact that you are alive.  It's so amazing when we are truly aware.

Please enjoy this poem.  Namaste!

“If you love someone, the greatest gift you can give them is your presence.”

—Thich Nhat Hanh (born 1926)
Vietnamese Buddhist Monk, Teacher, Author, Peace Activist

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 --