I took this picture during our camping trip this summer. I’m not a flower expert but if I see something that appeals to me I focus and shoot. However, after showing my pics to a friend who grew up in the area we were visiting, she informed me that this flower was used by the First Nations People to make red paint. Suddenly the flower looks so much more interesting!
I love this story – a story I have to read often to remind myself not to hold on to negative emotions. There are many versions of this story – Catholic, Jewish, Japanese and many more – this is my favourite version because I can relate to the younger monk being bewildered by the rude women’s behaviour. As we approach the most stressful time of the year and deal with rude people in shopping malls or on busy streets – remember to let bygones be bygones – easier said than done but not impossible.
ZEN BUDDHIST STORY
Two monks are walking along a country path. They soon are met by a caravan, a group of attendants carrying their wealthy and not-so-kindly mistress and her possessions. They come to a muddy river, and cannot cross with both mistress and packages – they must put one down and cannot figure out how to do so. So the elder monk volunteers to carry the woman across the river, on his back, allowing the attendants to carry her things, and then all can go on their way. The woman does not thank him, and rudely pushes him aside to get back to her caravan.
After traveling some way on their own, the younger monk turns to his master, and says, “I cannot believe that old woman! You kindly carried her across the muddy river, on your very own back, and not only did she not offer thanks, but she actually was quite rude to you!” The master calmly and quietly turned to his student, and offered this observation: “I put the women down some time ago. Why are you still carrying her?”
The other night my husband and I were talking about making it in this world and I reflected that at times “I feel like a small pebble amongst huge rocks all around me.” My husband looked at me and said “maybe so, but all it takes is a small pebble to start an avalanche.”
I like his way of thinking – that’s why I married him!
Begin challenging your assumptions. Your assumptions are the windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile or the light won’t come in.
Alan Alda
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alanalda457244.html#yCDrkzaSplKewmqU.99
“A GARDEN, I’VE STOLEN A GARDEN” UNKOWN
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
― Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island
My youngest son loves to draw, paint and just about anything to do with art. I think he has a good eye so I encourage him to expand his passion, after all there is more to life than hockey. Just ask our NHL guys right now! Lately he’s taken to his Ipad for art and he’s been creating art work to load to a website he’s creating for gaming. He asked me to paint something with the Ipad last night and the above picture is what I created, it’s a tree and squiggly lines and no the object on the right is not a car as my girlfriend asked me today. If you ask me why my tree has so many colours, I’ll tell you it’s my tree and I’ll do what I bloody well please! I wish I was artistic, sadly I’m not. Below is what my 11 year old came up with, much better than mine! Hey if I was famous, I’m sure someone would give me big bucks for those squiggly lines…
“Let me ask you something, what is not art? Author unknown
“A house must be built on solid foundations if it is to last. The same principle applies to man, otherwise he too will sink back into the soft ground and becomes swallowed up by the world of illusion.”
Sai Baba
Driving the boys to school the other day and came across these two heads. My son took this picture with his I-Pad.
MOMWHEARINGLOSS 