Hopi Proverb

The one who tells the stories ~ rules the world.

If I give this proverb some thought ~truth or fiction~ I just walk away knowing there is power in words and leave it at that.

I have read some of the posts by My Manic Moments. I have commented on one or two. I am impressed by the clarity of her language. Viewing other’s comments, it’s obvious that people interact with Manic, according to their own experiences and imaginations.

Kudos to you Manic, Happy Mother’s Day.

Hopi Proverb.

Good Dog ~ Bad Dog

My anxieties really took off in the first grade. I guess we all have to be socialized sooner or later. In some form or fashion, according to who we are, what region of the country we live in, and what religion we might be. I was raised in the country and bused in to a private, Parochial school. I’m from North Florida, which is the deep south and I was born Catholic.

In Catechism classes I liked the stories about Jesus, but everything else was terrifying. Sr. John Helene kept telling me that I had to be right with God and Jesus. Then she would tell me that the closer that I was to God and Jesus, the more that the devil would chase me. He would make me do bad things. I had to keep my fingers together at all times, because if I didn’t the devil could weave in and out of the space that was created.

If that’s not a recipe for neurosis, I don’t know what is. Continue reading Good Dog ~ Bad Dog

I Shoot People Too ~ Ten

Patience and perseverance is the key to all success.

I once worked as a fine art framer. In a tiny room, in the back of an antique shop; I framed a David Hockney drawing. That was the highlight of my framing career. My boss was an ex-marine officer, artist and scholar. Working for this man was as much an education as the degree I was aiming towards. He repeated that line about patience and perseverance all the time. It is engrained in me. Life is about the seconds that we breathe, no doubt; and over time, they create the long haul.

My friend and employer was also a weight lifter and runner. He taught me to run. I’ve done five Jacksonville River Runs,  one Cooper River Bridge Run, in Charleston, South Carolina and the Outback Half Marathon, also in Jacksonville. I can’t begin to tell you all the people ~nay sayers~ on the sidelines that told me I was going to hurt myself, and running was bad for me. I had to train myself to ignore negativity as much as I prepared my muscles and lungs.

I have put running on the back burner for the past few years. I  traded that in for hiking and surfing. I went running on a bike trail in Fort Clinch National Park the other day and had a great time. Miles and days add up. So do the people who you spend them with.

Make good choices and enjoy life, unless you have other plans.

I summarize this series with a picture of my friend Nick, who I admire for his never-ending ability to do the right thing.

When asked is my glass half full or half empty I must reply, neither.

My glass is always full.

It is full of the seen and the unseen.

I Shoot People Too ~ 9

A big smile and a good attitude will take you a long way in life.

I took this picture at a service in Costa Rica. It was a humble get together. We sang to music, played on an out of tune guitar. We ate food. The pastor shared from scriptures. It was all in Spanish, but I could follow along; kind of. At the time, my husband was very ill and we prayed for his healing. He’s better now, but I face more unusual circumstances. That’s why it’s been a few days since I’ve written.

I just want to say the if you feel fear in your life, you can be sure that it is not from God.

This is not an original thought, but one I like to remind myself of; the good and bad travel side by side like rail road tracks. How you fare will depend on which one you focus on.

Focus on the Good.

Look for the good in everyone

and you will find the God in you.

I Shoot People Too ~ 8

Beauty

is in the eye.

Each person’s eye ~ I ~ is their personal vision to God. It cannot be shared. It is singular.

If a person does not have God at their center, they will be blown across the earth like an empty seed. But if you do have God at the center of your life, you will grow like a tree, by a river, with strong roots.  This is not scripture, verbatim, but a concept, painted from the words in the first Psalm. The first line is a mantra to me.

At one time, I didn’t know what a mantra was. I was stuck with my obsessive thinking and compulsive behavior. At seventeen, I once again tried to leave home. This time by marrying.

I had stepped off a cliff and I fell, til I hit the bottom.

Then I fell again and again and again.

With no education, no money, no nothing; life was not easy.

It whirled and swirled. The days were colorful, but eventually it was all night, no sunrise. My colors blended; thrown together. Overlapping ~ Boundriless.  BLACK.

That’s when I turned to God.

Like only the dying can.







The world turned.

I saw beautiful.

I Shoot People Too ~7

Imagine all the people

Then imagine all of their imaginations.

I had this idea rattling around in my head, since I wrote last. I kept remembering being on trips with my parents. I would be in the backseat of the car, heading down a state road and passing all the people. I would wonder, who are they and where are they going? What do they do? What do they think? What goes on in their lives?

I’ve always enjoyed traveling and people watching. Rarely do I feel the need to talk to anyone. It might destroy my image of them. Just imagine, all the thoughts people have in their heads, as you’re passing them in the street. That’s a lot of words and ideas. Delusional snapshots of life, firing through everyone’s brains. And you’re left in your own silent, talkie, until you decide to say something.

And I did.





In the sea of people~

See the beautiful.

I Shoot People Too ~ 6

This set of ten portraits makes a total of sixty. Today’s cover shot is my brother; the one and only. My siblings consist of one brother and three sisters. He is the second oldest. After my mother had her first two offspring, she said she had achieved her quota. That concerned the responsibilities of children and school. According to him, it was after the firstborn. We have our varied perspectives on life in general, and our histories together.

I have come to believe that the devil IS in the details. When I use to share with my friend, stories about my family, he said, “That sounds like a Pat Conroy novel”.  So, I read Pat Conroy. The father in the Prince of Tides was a mild mannered, southern gentleman compared to our Dad. Our family life took it’s toll on my brother, as it did all of us, in our own ways.

At one time, I adored my brother. In 1968, he had a green Road Runner. He took me to my first concert, The Allman Brothers at Jacksonville Beach. We went 110 miles an hour on I-10. I was use to fast cars. I  can remember my him driving a white station wagon of my father’s. He would practicing spinning it around to go in the other direction. He would pick up speed, hit the brakes and turn the wheel.  Those were the days, full of danger.

I always drove his motorcycles, including his Harley Low Rider. Women didn’t ride back then. I once heard him tell someone, “If it’s got wheels, she can drive it!” That was a proud moment for me. I always wanted to please him.

Here and there, he let me be his pool shooting partner. He’s always been a gambler. After work one Friday, he took me to shoot dice out behind Ardsley’s Liquor Store on Beaver St. It was by default really. I just happened to be in the car. It was probably dangerous, but back then, without danger I wouldn’t have known how to act.

68′ was quite a year for me. I was twelve. I can remember looking in the mirror and teaching myself to cuss. I got pretty good at it. I was trying to survive; but I was still the Catholic School girl that wouldn’t walk on the grass.

It was a year that my life soared in a direction that had been a long time coming. It would have been really weird, if it had been any other way. There was no one there to save me. I was on my own.

The wild and crazy stories seem endless if I start telling them.

Here are some more people


I see people~beautiful!

I Shoot People Too ~ 5

This is set 5 of 10. These are some of my favorite portraits that I am sharing. I have ten more days until I fly out of here, destination, Costa Rica. I have hopes for my life there. I thought I was going to be an ex-pat and live there full-time, but none of that worked out. I still keep allowing my life to unfold; I go where I’m lead. God’s plan always seems to be better than mine.

Let Me Show You

 

 




Look closely~see people~beautiful!