Day 5: After the Rain

After the Rain, Böblingen, Germany, August 2010,

Panasonic DMC-ZS7, 35mm focal length equiv. 25mm, Exposure 1/125 sec @ f4, ISO 80, no flash

© Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Don't like the weather today?

What's not to like?  It just is.  Not good or bad.

It's so easy to say, "Oh, it is too hot (or rainy or muggy)."

Followed a few months later by "OMG, it's too damn cold (or snowy or icy)."

But that's not really a recipe for happiness, now is it?  Kinda the opposite.

Look for acceptance of "what is," and find the beauty in "just this moment."

It's there if you look for it with eyes (and heart) wide open.   Promise.

• Donation:  Appalachian Mountain Club (suggested by my wife, Carol)
• Exercise:  Vinyasa Yoga class (it's harder than you think ;-)

What's the buzz?

What's the buzz?, Garden patio, Böblingen, Germany, August 2010,
Panasonic DMC-ZS7, Focal length 4.1mm, Exposure 1/640 sec @ f5.4, ISO 100, with flash
© Steven Crisp  [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Are you keeping up? You know, all that buzzing sound you hear? Are you plugged into it? You wouldn't want to miss a beat, right?

Well, here's the thing. When you step back, and see where all that buzzing is coming from, it's not from our friend here, but rather from the media, social networking, and good old-fashioned gossiping. Talking up who's right and who's wrong. Making sure you are suitably outraged by the talking-point that someone created that morning. Or, sadly, perhaps just giving into our fears and propagating their "advertisement".

You know that's what it is, and also what it is not. It's not deep understanding, calm reflection, or diving below the surface to find the substance of the story. Instead, it's superficial, here today / gone tomorrow, emotion-provoking, lizard-brain reactivity.

So choose your sources wisely. Tune out any that are not adding to the depths of your own personal insights. If you have begun to find that ever-present wisdom, and these hot-topics and themes are not resonating, trust your instincts. Tune them out, turn them off, and unsubscribe from those that do not have your sincere interests at heart.

And then you will be able to tune into the beauty and wonder of the everyday just this-ness of our world.

And that is something that will give you a very nice buzz.