Saturday, December 21, 2013

Calmly Attentive

A   L   O   H   A   !

" Life is full of beauty. 
Notice it. 
Notice the bumble bee, 
the small child, 
and the smiling faces. 
Smell the rain, 
and feel the wind. 
Live your life to the fullest 
potential, 
and fight 
for your dreams. "

Ashley Smith 








" Confine yourself to 
the present. "

Marcus  Aurelius, 170 B.C.E.


" Be here now."

Ram Dass, 1971




Why am I showing this scene twice?
I shot it from my car, 
stopped at a red light.








Did YOU SEE?
The Tree Trimmers are at work!






> < 3 3 3 ( ° >


Daily life would be impossible 
without habit & routine.
But they also limit our perceptions,
hurrying us along to our next task.

How much reality do we miss
by burying ourselves
in our mobile phones
and to-do lists?

Being Calmly Attentive,
Seeing, Tasting, 
Feeling & Hearing
 the real-world around us
is the very definition 
of 
Heightened Consciousness. 


Fully inhabiting the 
N O W
 invigorates us,
making us aware
of opportunities
and warnings
as they arise 
in the  environment

 Alertness 
brings opportunity
 to learn the secrets 
 hiding in plain sight.

Photograph them!

Then come here
and share them
with us!


           Fondly, cloudia

23 comments:

Friko said...

Wise words, dear Cloudia.
At this time of year particularly, we tend to rush about instead of taking heed of the beauty all around us.

Well, maybe there’s little beauty in shopping malls.

eViL pOp TaRt said...

Good advice: enjoy the beauty of the present and not rush headlong through life.

DeniseinVA said...

We need to slow down and smell the roses :)

the walking man said...

My dear i am always in the present doing my work. I watch the TV screen all day long to make sure it is functioning properly...well I do get 15 minutes every hour or so to smoke one outside. Get back to me with this when it's above 75(f) here.

EG CameraGirl said...

I agree that life is full of beauty. Cameras sure help me notice more than I would otherwise. ;))

Anonymous said...

Hey, even the cherry-picker trucks are different in Hawaii. Your's look like modern robots; our's look like old scissor-jacks to raise a car. DrumMajor

Adam said...

Just realized today is the last Saturday until Christmas. Where does the time go?

Willow said...

Love that Cloudia, photography does keep us noticing things in the moment.

Bob Bushell said...

Nice one.

TexWisGirl said...

i do adhere to 'sameness' a lot.

Charles Gramlich said...

When I'm in the natural world I tend to be attentive. Not so much when I'm in the human world, which is generally of less interest to me.

Elephant's Child said...

Life is indeed full of beauty. And I love it, and love the pieces you share. Thank you.

Jenn Jilks said...

Yes, wise. I managed to shovel the driveway, and now I'm resting. Freezing rain is here!
Cheers from Cottage Country Ontario , ON, Canada!

Anonymous said...

I wish we all lived near one another!

Your visits are wonderful. Thanks.

Laura said...

"Alertness
brings opportunity
to learn the secrets
hiding in plain sight…." You know I could not agree more dear Cloudia! wishing you peace and joy always!

Big Sky Heidi said...

Very apt advice to live in the present! You must do it to the max, Cloudia!

magiceye said...

Indeed!

Namaste /\ from Mumbai
Aloha!!

Brian Miller said...

i think there is a lot of life we miss with out distractions...be they tech or...i was on a tech hiatus since last night, enjoying time with fam...smiles.

aloha from va

Pallavi said...

Inspirational as always :) Have a lovely weekend !

Our photos said...

We wish you a Merry Christmas,
RW & SK

Cloudia said...

Thanks Each of YOU!

21 Wits said...

Aloha Cloudia, you are so right, and your first quote pretty much sums up my weekend! Life little and small, all around us is so wonderful.

Kay said...

Thank you for the reminder to appreciate everything around us, Cloudia. I do sometimes get too wrapped up with my iPhone.