Day Six of Seven

Day Six of Seven Days of Black and White

This has been such a fun project! Only one more day to go, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop blogging. Photography and writing feed my soul.

This particular image was taken when I was with my BFF, Patricia, when we were on one of our adventures, this time in southern CA at Venice Beach. As I look at this, I’m aware once again of the power of the ocean to make me feel humble, peaceful and serene. And the value of friendship.

Don’t you just love looking at a photograph and being instantly transported back to that time and place?

Go to the beach!

Be good to yourself and each other. Namaste’

 

750 Words

It’s been what seems like a long time since I’ve posted anything here. There are several reasons for that, but that was then and this is now. I was posting on my other blog for a while and it was pretty fun, but now I’m back here. It’s not to say that I won’t be posting over there, too, so if you’re so inclined, I’d be honored if you’d follow that one as well.

My Mom passed away in late September and even though she was 92 (and I was so blessed to have her for so long), her passing has left a huge hole in my heart. She loved me unconditionally.

The subject of this post is WORDS. Why? Because I found a site that I really love and have started the practice of writing 750 words a day; a very healing exercise. Many years ago, I started the practice of writing “morning pages” what Julia Cameron refers to in her book, The Artist’s Way. She recommends doing them in long-hand but I seem to have a hard time staying with that practice, so the 750 words site is my answer to doing them because I can type my pages. And for me, it doesn’t matter what time of day that I do them; all that matters is that I do them. It’s the perfect brain dump for me. (One of the added benefits is that I sleep better). Yay!

Take good care of yourself and each other. Namaste’

 

 

I Am So Grateful for You

Lately I haven’t had the time to catch up with all of you, my faithful readers and fellow bloggers. With the passing of my friend last Friday, I feel like I’ve been pulled through a knot-hole backwards. With that said, please know that I really value your friendships even though, in most cases, we’ve never met face-to-face.

When I started this blog, I had no idea that it would take me to places within and without. As the old saying goes “if you don’t go within, you go without.” Following your blog posts has allowed me to look within myself and that makes me a better contributor and a better person. You have made me a better photographer, too, but I still have a long way to go with that 🙂 I’ll keep going with it because I love it.

If you’re anything like me, you really enjoy blogging. It opens up new worlds for us that we might have never known. The friends I’ve made in the blogosphere, from Hawaii to Turkey to Holland, the UK and South Africa, as well as here in the U.S. have opened my eyes and affirmed that we are all linked together. You are all such good people with loving hearts. I cheer for you when I read that cool things happen and I empathize with you about the not-so-good stuff. And I know, really know that you feel the same for me. So thank you from the bottom of my heart. You’re the best! 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

 

Black and White Challenge Day 4

Our friend, Linda, went home today. Home with God. You can see how beautiful she was HERE. She was beautiful on the inside, too. Sometimes wildly funny, always a good sport, and always caring for others. I’m grateful for her presence and what she added to my life.

We all knew she was going to go, but leave it to Linda to be cooking dinner for her family just last night and then checking out this morning. Even though you know someone has a terminal illness, you just don’t know how bad it’s going to hurt until they’re actually gone.  Well, it hurts.

This photo is one I took many moons ago in Tucson.  Not the one I had planned for today, but it showed up and made me think of Linda … flag at half mast and the big hole in the cloud.  I’m smiling because I just pictured her scooting through that cloud, looking back at us with a grin on her face saying, “See ‘ya on the other side.”

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

 

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.

 

A Simple Wish

This day 43 years ago, I gave birth to my beautiful redhead.  Her father and I raced through Christmas shopper traffic to make it to the hospital on time.  We only had about an hour to spare before she made her grand entrance.  We came home from the hospital on Christmas Eve with our new little gift, all wrapped up in a Christmas stocking, courtesy of the Ladies Aid Society at the hospital.

As a little girl, she was teased about her red hair and freckles.  People even asked me if I dyed her hair.  What????

As each year passes, I realize how blessed I am and how I wouldn’t change anything about her or me and our relationship.

My simple wish for her is that every day, every moment of her life from here on out is filled with joy, peace, wonderful health, abundance, and all the love she so richly deserves.

Happy Birthday, Michele!  You are such a treasure and worth every labor pain I had 🙂

 

Throwback Thursday

I found this picture of my Uncle and me taken back in 1996.  It’s a bit grainy because I had to scan it. We were at a family gathering at my Mom’s house.  I remember that day. We had a lot of fun and I’m pretty sure it was my brother who took this photo.  I wish he was still with us.

My Uncle is the person responsible for me knowing what I do about light, composition and using flash, particularly a bounce flash when needed.  So thanks once again, dear Uncle.  You’re the best!  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.

 

Painted Ponies

While visiting my Mom yesterday, she took me to meet a wonderful little lady who lives there in the adult care home.  There are only about nine residents in the home, so it’s a rather intimate little group.

Each person there is probably wishing they weren’t trapped in bodies that are failing them now.  It’s so sad to see them all sitting around the living room, mostly asleep in the recliners.  Some are in their rooms, but no one seems very happy.  The food is decent (nothing to write home about) and healthy, the grounds outside are lovely, and the staff is very helpful and pleasant.

But back to the lovely lady that Mom introduced me to.  She has a shelf in her room with these painted ponies and she adores them.  She was thrilled when I asked her if I could photograph them.  All I had with me was my phone but it was enough to make her feel good.  Sometimes it’s the smallest of things we can provide for someone else to make them smile.

Live every day to the fullest … Namaste’

 

Circuses and Monkeys

Have you ever been in a situation where you find yourself caught up in someone else’s drama?  I imagine the answer to that question is “Well, of course I have, Reggie!”  Haven’t we all?  And haven’t we tried to “fix” it or intervene somehow, thinking we should?

When I saw this picture the other day on my friend’s social media feed, not only did I laugh my butt off, it made me think of all the times I really could have used this, and believe me, there are too many to count.  Just wanted to share this with you.  You can be sure I’ll be using this in my life more often 🙂

I’ll be getting back to posting some images when we’re back from our vacation.  See you then!  Namaste’

 

Mr. & Mrs. Newlywed

I might have mentioned that I’ve been rather busy lately and one of the things that I’ve done is to photograph my first wedding.  Now, I’ve always said that I’m not a wedding photographer and I’m certainly not, but I did this for a friend whose son was getting married.

The bride’s family lives in the Philippines, so I hope that the images I took will help depict the day for those who couldn’t be with them.  The wedding was small and informal, but so lovely and in a beautiful church.  All in all, it was a very nice day and I had fun with them.

Will I ever do it again?  Probably not! I think I’ll leave it up to the more experienced wedding photographers … I can see why they earn lots of money 🙂

Congratulations to Rick and Molly … a caring, lovely couple.  Namaste’