Day Five of Seven

Day Five of Seven Days of Black and White

I have to say I’m very grateful to my uncle for this image. He’s the one who taught me how to use a bounce flash (and bought me my first one). This was taken with my Olympus DSLR, which is what I used the most before I purchased my Nikon. I guess you could call it my first love.

For this image, I isolated two flowers from a bouquet I bought at the store. Yes, I know you’re shaking your head, knowing that no flowers come into my home without being photographed. They make the best subjects because they don’t blink when the flash goes off. LOL.

Next, I put these up against a white backdrop, arranged them the way I wanted, used the manual mode on the camera, and positioned the bounce at different angles until I got what I wanted.  I did this on the patio, where the ceiling was lower. I found that high ceilings don’t work very well for getting this kind of effect. The light from the flash has to travel too far.

Have a great weekend, dear ones. Be good to yourself and each other. Namaste’

 

Remember

We can choose at any moment, in any situation, to see life as a gift or something to be endured.

You might be wondering what this flower has to do with that. It’s simply a reminder that nature doesn’t see life as something to endure. It has no perception of such things.

In a recent lesson from A Course in Miracles, it says that there really are no problems…it’s only our perception of life that makes us see problems.

Let’s remember that we are all children of a loving Creator and, as such, we are all entitled to miracles.

Be good to yourself and each other. Namaste’

Wild Abandon

Take your shoes off. Go outside. Feel the earth under your feet. Throw a tennis ball for your dog. Admire the trees and be thankful for the oxygen they give. Look up at the sky (not while driving … haha). Laugh uncontrollably. If there’s even the slightest chance of getting something that will make you happy, risk it.

Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, those with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world a better than you found it.

It just might be time to live with wild abandon.

Be good to yourself and each other. Namaste’

 

Pennies from Heaven

On my recent visit to Tucson, something happened that proves the Universe obliges us and that what we focus on expands.

My Mom lives in a residential care home and hates the food there so every day when I went to see her, I would stop at the grocery store to bring her some goodies.  She loves sweets and even though I know they’re not good for her, I brought them anyway. She’ll be 92 next month and I believe that she deserves to have anything that makes her happy.

One night while reading from Pam Grout’s book, E-Cubed, I decided to try one of the experiments. It’s called Pennies from Heaven and it goes like this: in the next 72 hours be aware of Pennies from Heaven. Most people discount pennies as seemingly worthless, but they represent abundance in its many forms.  So I set my intention to consciously put them on my radar.  The next day my Mom asked me bring her a Coke, among other things, from the store. When I reached into the cold case to grab the Coke, there was a penny just laying there.  I picked it up and let out a big “woo hoo!”  People stared but I didn’t care.  There was a Penny from Heaven!  Proof that the Universe obliged my intention.

After I had swiped my credit card to pay for the groceries, the clerk asked if I had a member card.  I said no, so he told me I could use his to get the discounts on the items I purchased.  OK, cool, I thought.  What happened next blew me away.  He gave me $10.20 back in cash. What???  I thanked him and put it in my pocket, still baffled by what had just happened.

Out in the parking lot I noticed there was a woman standing in front of my rental car smoking a cigarette. A homeless man walked up to her and asked if she had a cigarette he could have.  She told him she didn’t have one to spare.  So he asked her if she could spare some change because he was hungry.  She told him she couldn’t help him. Without even thinking, I blurted out “I can.”  I pulled out the $10 bill I had been given and gave it to him.  He looked me square in the eye and said, “God blesses you.”

I will never forget him or the events that took place in the space of just a few minutes … serendipity.  God put me in the right place at the right time.  A blessing for that man and me.  It wasn’t my job to know what he was going to do with the money.  But it was my job to share a blessing.  Both of us felt God’s grace.

I got in the car and looked skyward to say my thank you’s and saw the palm trees.  I love palm trees so I took this photo, knowing that every time I see a palm tree, I am grateful for my Pennies from Heaven experience.

But it didn’t stop there.  When I got back home from Tucson, I had coffee with my neighbor and was relating all of this to her.  As we were talking, I set my coffee cup down on the table, and there was a penny.  Wow!  Neither of us had seen it there when we first sat down. We were both speechless and just burst out laughing at the wonder of it all. And then when I got back to my house, as soon as I put down my purse and keys, the music station hubby and I usually listen to played … you guessed it  … Pennies from Heaven.  I kid you not.  Life is full of magic.  Go find it.  Namaste’

Regina (Reggie) Arnold is a “flunked retirement” entrepreneur, co-author of The Art & Science of Recruiting, an award-winning photographic artist, and photo blogger.

 

Blending In

For years I’ve been rather dismayed by the commercialism of the Christmas season.  I mean, the lights in the neighborhoods are beautiful, the choirs give me goose bumps (sometimes), and it’s pretty wonderful to be with family and friends.

But the whole gift buying frenzy has gotten way out of hand in my opinion.  We are bombarded with non-stop ads for the latest, greatest electronic gadget, which many families will go into credit card debt to buy for someone on their gift list.  That’s crazy!

How many teenagers will spend a lot of time on Christmas texting their friends instead of being “present” with their families? But I can’t just pick on teenagers.  Many adults are just as guilty.  So sad.

Sharing this photo with you gives me pleasure.  And it was a pleasure taking it because I got to be up close and personal with this buck and doe.  They were heading over to the neighbor’s back lot when I called to them and I was pleasantly surprised when they looked over to see where my voice was coming from.  The buck looks a little strange because as he looked over his shoulder, I snapped the image.  Looks like his head is sitting on his behind.  Ha!

Were they trying to blend in?  I hope so because there are predators, two-legged and four-legged that would like to do them harm.  Namaste’

Regina (Gina) Arnold is the author of Uncomplicated Ways to Find Your Financial Freedom, a “flunked retirement” entrepreneur, co-author of The Art & Science of Recruiting, an award-winning photographic artist, and photo blogger.

Shhh! She’s Meditating

While hubby and I were shopping yesterday, we came across this bronze statue in one of my favorite bookstores.  I still love bookstores, even though I use my Kindle most of the time.  There’s just something very comforting about picking up a real book.

I wonder what this woman is contemplating … or is she just sad?  I think she might be in deep meditation.  Namaste’

Regina Arnold is the author of Uncomplicated Ways to Find Your Financial Freedom, a “flunked retirement” entrepreneur, co-author of The Art & Science of Recruiting, an award-winning photographic artist,  and photo blogger.

Selfie

Sometimes when I get bored sitting at a long stoplight, I’ll think of ways to keep myself entertained.  (Can’t meditate – cars behind me wouldn’t like that when the light turns green).

While cleaning out the photo archives, I came across this selfie.  Doesn’t take much to entertain me!  Ha!  I took this last year and thought it was funny so I did some crazy edits.  Could it be I’m just a time traveling tourist from another place in the universe, like my friend, Zannyro?  Beam me up, Scotty!

Namaste’

Regina (Gina) Arnold is the author of Uncomplicated Ways to Find Your Financial Freedom, a “flunked retirement” entrepreneur, co-author of The Art & Science of Recruiting, an award-winning photographic artist,  and photo blogger.

Coolness on a Hot Day

Well, my friends, it’s going to be a hot time in the Old Pueblo today … weather-wise.  Supposed to be 103 today and 104 tomorrow.  Lucky us!  Ha!

So I thought I’d post this image of flamingos that I took at the zoo earlier this year (and never had time to post).  Makes me feel cooler just looking at them.

I’m jealous that they have their feet in the water 🙂  Namaste’

Tres Amigos

You know how sometimes friends move away and there’s a geographical divide as a result?  Not some short distance, but a long one.  One that’s not drive-able over a weekend?  And yet you get together again and it feels like no time has passed.

Well, that’s the case with these three lovely people.  They moved a while back from Tucson to the beautiful (but cold) state of Minnesota.  And we’ve missed them.

Last week they came for a vacation back to Tucson and we were able to get together at one of our favorite restaurants – El Charro – the oldest Mexican restaurant in southern Arizona.  The original one is downtown and opened in 1922.   We had a fabulous time and talked more than we ate, a first for me 🙂  These guys are really smart … they picked the best time and weather to come to southern Arizona.  It was beautiful.

As we were taking pics that evening, one of the waiters obligingly placed the sombrero on mom’s head to make it a fun picture indeed.  Please come back soon, you guys!  We love you!  Namaste’

Today’s Buddha

Hubby went to an estate sale last weekend and bought me this laughing Buddha.  When I feel the least bit stressed, I look at him and try to remember that life is way too short to be stressed.  Don’t sweat the small stuff, eh?

(Buddha didn’t come with the spectacles… they were my own silly addition). If I were to design a statue of today’s Buddha, I would make sure he was wearing specs. Posing him in front of my lucky bamboo plant just seemed the right thing to do 🙂

I hope he makes you smile, too.

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” ~ Buddha

Namaste’