Sacred Sight - A Midsummer Daydream...

I had the opportunity to attend a celebration of Aboriginal dance and visual storytelling today.  

When I arrived at the Aboriginal Day presentation, I was captivated by these dancer's physical commentary on the environment.  

Harmony comes through humility.
"Be like water..." it says in the Tao te Ching.

Today is Midsummer 

The end of the pendulum swinging toward light (for this year).  

It feels like more than a seasonal turning point...the flooding in southern Alberta, oil gushing into the the Gulf of Mexico, the European economy on the rocks...

  

...Who knows what is going to happen...therefore I return focus on what I can do, right here, right now.  Take pictures.  

As I watched the women's shawl dance, i was struck by the similarity of the ribbons to hanging feathers...to Isis with her sheltering wings.

  

I have wanted to take photos of dancers in regalia for a long time, so this was exciting for me.  I'd have changed the backgrounds to something more natural and regal...but that's where photoshop comes in.

  

People in the community joined the dancers in sign language, clapping, dancing and song (about SpongeBob...).

  

Are there wings sheltering us? 

The feather and/or eagle motif are presented in so many reverent cultural activities.  Have birds achieved harmony in this world?  

In the world and yet above it?

  

How do we live in harmony?? For real --- Between; men and women, adults and children, human beings and nature?  AND individually; between our physical, emotional and spiritual bodies???

How will it all come together?

It starts with each of us achieving equilibrium within...which, from what I have experienced, will take a lifetime to work out.

But as all the parts of me come together; woman, mother, artist, student, teacher --- A ripple effect continues to infinity...We never really know who -- or how -- we affect change, but somewhere, sometimes along the journey...

We reach out and...

    

...Someone else reaches back.  

The light lingers now

It is post thunderstorm, dark clouds circle my place, but above there is a break in the darkening sky...I'm glad the rains cooled the air.  

I am also thankful for heat and the sun, photography, bright dancers, drum beats, spray parks, ice cream, and now...bed.

Happy Solstice!

All Dancers are with the group "Red Thunder - The Next Generation" and are members of the Crowchild family (siblings and cousins).

Sacred Sight - The Tao of Giggling...

Verse 65 in the Tao Te Ching talks about living simple-hearted.

Yesterday I had a great afternoon, chatting with my Mom.  We talked about many things.  Both of my Grandmothers are transitioning out of lives that could be over in a heart-beat.

Any of ours could be.  Life is such a strange and beautiful journey and sometimes more beautiful in death...

I think that is why I'm fascinated by this gnarly tree in Hawaii...The photo was taken a long time ago.  I was a different woman and she, who snapped the picture, is dead.  Naivete is gone, but the child within flourishes.  

I still love this crazy photo and the antics involved.  It was taken before I knew much about "serious" photography, with a crappy little camera...which I dunked in the seven sacred pools a few hours later, after slipping on a rock.  

Would have been more funny if it didn't hurt so much, pride mostly.

This shot wasn't on the roll of film that went for a dip...

The thing about experience and education, is that you eventually learn "why" things are good.  Exposure, framing, color temperature, lines..

I love the universality of this windswept tree, weathered to a point of organic purity.

Simple-Hearted 


I can also see what is good about life, having lived for a while.  I know why life is good.

I also continue to consider, IF I died in this moment -- What would I be most grateful for?  It sounds cliche, definitely family, friends and me.

Now I'm going "back to the very beginning, a very good place to start" -- so I can know it for the first time.

Then, in the now.

"I love to laugh.  Ha ha ha ha...Loud and long and clear....I love to laugh...Ha ha ha ha...it's getting worse every year."

Is it possible that Julie Andrews really has solved this anti-gravity issue way back???  But we were to serious about taking ourselves seriously?

I love to giggle (see below).  It's my first night in St Thomas, I was giddy and sis was fatigued.  My adrenals really came through for me...my toes were energized by sand and surf!

So...laughing with self...I took a picture of our polarities...Tee hee...She was so NOT humouring me...as in the case below.

The HaHa Treatment:

Humour is the new-old approach I will take with writing, creation and well, anything.

There are so many ways to be inspired or burn off steam; food, exercise, sex, travel...all good -- but there is something about a sustained belly laugh...

Universal archetype stories, even the most serious ones, can eventually elicit a few giggles.  Sometimes, however inappropriate, even more so.

Here are some of my life favorites!

Life is an opportunity to Laugh:)!