Yūgen

Yūgen (n.) – Origin: Japanese – Definition: An awareness of the universe that triggers emotional responses too deep and mysterious for words.

I try to honestly and emphatically embrace the mysteries that surround me.  I usually prefer  taking photos of people.  I love to look back on them and wonder what they were thinking.  If they were happy or sad or just sitting there empty minded in a way that I rarely find myself in.  However, sometimes I will catch an image of an object or place that will trigger in me an emotional response that is very difficult to put into words. When i look back on these photos, i can distinctly remember the silence, the heat, the cold, the dampness, and sometimes the awe of that moment.

I don’t know if these images created an awareness of the universe, but they definitely made me feel.

There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle. The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt is awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.

Albert Einstein

Yugen – Chowdhury; Annette; ametalk; nust: suparna; Homepaddock

Mångata

Mångata (noun) Origin: Swedish | The reflection of the moon on the water.

The sun rising.. the moon setting.. the moon rising.. the sun setting.  I am lost in the dance. Which is which?  I think I know and then I look again and I can’t decide.  Does it matter?  The start of one and the end of the other which only signals the start of one and the end of the other.

I think that the reflections of the moon on water are amazing.  Just as the reflections of the sun on the water are blinding. I am a day person by nature, but you can’t stare at the sun like you can stare at the moon.  I love the moon because when it is big and round, you can see the imperfections but you still love it.  You still know that it is beautiful.  It casts eerie shadows and changes size and appearance when you move.  While it is changing, as you move, it follows you. The sun does the same.  So does it matter which is which?

In my opinion, they are equal in beauty, substance, and style.  Specifically with a nice glass of red.  So I ask you, does it really matter?

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“The moon is a loyal companion.
It never leaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human.
Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections.”
― Tahereh Maf

Moon links: purpleraysblog; carolyn; calmkate; michelle; sinhayati; jane; indira; apk; Timothy; Rosebud

City Scapes ~ Damn Sam, Where you been?

“There’s something about arriving in new cities, wandering empty streets with no destination. I will never lose the love for the arriving, but I’m born to leave.”
― Charlotte Eriksson

Whenever I get travel weary, all I have to do is look back on the past 12 years and that crazee wanderlust lights it torch and blinds me once again.  I have been called a vagabond, a gypsy, homeless in theory, among others.  However, the words used would lead one to believe that I do not actually have a home.  Anyone who knows me, knows that no matter where I lay my hat, Spokane is my home.  I just have a natural urge to travel.  I love the food, the sights, the drink, the sounds.

As much as I love to wander and roam… to me there’s really no better place than home.  Until I am ready to go again. It’s the only real addiction I have.

“The world is full of wonderful things you haven’t seen yet. Don’t ever give up on the chance of seeing them.” ~J.K. Rowling

“Half the fun of the travel is the esthetic of lostness.” ~ Ray Bradbury

“You’re not sorry to go, of course. With people like us our home is where we are not… No one person in the world is necessary to you or to me.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

“There’s a race of men that don’t fit in,
A race that can’t sit still;
So they break the hearts of kith and kin, And they roam the world at will.
They range the field and rove the flood,
And they climb the mountain’s crest; Their’s is the curse of the gypsy blood,
And they don’t know how to rest.”
~Robert Service

Wanderlust:  Angeline; amoralegria; usfman; fandango; henhouselady; blindzanygirl; footloose; mudgha; monkey

30 Days of most favorites- Day 1

One of the biggest challenges I face every single day is limiting myself.  I use too many words, too many photos, to many colors in literally every single thing I do.  For the next 30 days I am challenging myself to express only one thought, one photo, one color, one something.. just one.  My caveat might be that my one photo will also accompany one quote or word or personal idea.  However, just one.  I hope you enjoy.

Day 1-  those grandkids

Morning has broken – as was the bird

Beautiful morning in Spokane today. Sunny, cold, beautiful!

“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” ― Edgar Allan Poe

Look deeper –

broken bird on window

“To change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.” ― Stephen R. Covey

“We sit silently and watch the world around us. This has taken a lifetime to learn. It seems only the old are able to sit next to one another and not say anything and still feel content. The young, brash and impatient, must always break the silence. It is a waste, for silence is pure. Silence is holy. It draws people together because only those who are comfortable with each other can sit without speaking. This is the great paradox.” ― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook