Tag Archive | pictures

Random Inspiration #2

“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. ” – Henri J. M. Nouwen

😀

Joy can just come out of the blue and be a pleasant surprise but it can also be a habit that we choose, to look for joy when it doesn’t just appear easily.

” Today I choose life. Every morning when I wake up I can choose joy, happiness, negativity, pain… To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue to make mistakes and choices – today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but embrace it.” ~
Kevyn Aucoin

It’s possible to choose our general attitude and to pro-act when things aren’t that good.

Scars are beautiful too.

All is merry. All is bright.

What is your instant happiness?! An uplifting song? A delicious drink? Crunchy, colorful leaves on the ground? Warm, sloppy puppy kissies? A cup of coffee at a sweet cafe? A chat with a friend? A funny tv show? A beautiful stranger? A midnight sky full of silvery stars? Early morning meditation? An amazing book?
Eye contact with a beautiful person? A random message?

So much to be Happy about! 😀

” When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.” ~
Khalil Gibran

MmmmMmm grape jiggly jello

My friend gave me this for Halloween! His niece made it and it was delicious like cookie dough! :-p

“Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home… it’s your responsibility to love it, or change it.” ~
Chuck Palahniuk

Xoxo Kim

Philadelphia <3

Nov3

In my e-mail box everyday I receive a suggestion for some thing to do that day that can contribute to health or just be a fun little thing to do like certain exercises, looking up a certain health topic to learn about, making a gratitude list….. Many of these things are great to make a habit of in general. It’s a “challenge of the day” that I subscribed to a few years ago.
Here:

https://challenge.meyouhealth.com/signup

Recently one of the challenges was to list three places to visit in the place where you live. I live in Philadelphia in Pennsylvania in the US which is the best city on Earth! Lol Almost every single day I’m walking around Philadelphia streets taking photos of everything. I often take pictures of the same things on different days at various angles or with different effects.
I know when people see me they have to be thinking I’m just a visitor here because who else is in awe like this over the place they see and live everyday?! Lol

One of my favorite things to take pictures of is our SEPTA busses and trolleys and other busses. I have been asked on Facebook how many more busses am I going to post and told I must really like “that bus!”

And it’s not even the same bus!
And yes I do love those septa busses and trolleys!

And also the buildings in Center City which are breathtaking.

I have been to a few other cities including nyc and others in NY and ones in NJ and I love those too but nothing can be as beautiful as Philadelphia is to me!

I lived here forever and always will.

I would love to visit other cities especially in Texas and Colorado. I would love to see Aspen.

But Philadelphia will always be mine.

I decided to list quite a few places here in Philadelphia that are popular attractions or just amazing and are all places I have been to at one point.

The Eastern State Penitentiary – this is the old abandoned prison which is in a state of semi ruin and on display for people to learn of its fascinating history. And they also have the Halloween exhibit every year which is still going until Nov. 8th! It’s said to be a real haunted prison! Lol :-O
http://www.easternstate.org/?device=desktop

Us Constitution Center – Here you can learn All about our wonderful constitution! It includes interactive exhibitions and conversations about the US Constitution. It’s not associated with any political affiliation. It’s fascinating. I haven’t been there in a while and want to go back soon!
http://constitutioncenter.org/

Ben Franklin museum –

This is a very interesting place to learn about Benjamin Franklin and his life. They have interactive displays to teach and entertain people.
http://www.phlvisitorcenter.com/attraction/benjamin-franklin-museum

Rittenhouse park – the most beautiful park in the whole world!
http://www.pps.org/great_public_spaces/one?public_place_id=393

http://rittenhouserow.org/index.php/rittenhouse-row/history

Philadelphia Museum of Art –

Check out all the amazingness!

http://www.philamuseum.org/

New harmony restaurant – This is a vegetarian Chinese restaurant! It has some of the best food I ever tasted! MmmMmmM :-p

135 N 9th St, Philadelphia, PA 19107

JFK Plaza or Love Park as it’s also known as –

It’s in Center City!!

16TH AND JFK BOULEVARD
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19102

Garden of letters bookstore – I love it! It’s a bookstore and it like specializes in spiritual things. They have totem stones, tarot cards, notebooks, all kinds of lovely things!

527 South St, Philadelphia, PA 19147

Book trader – my favoritest bookstore in all the land! My love! It’s an old used bookstore and maybe kind of on the expensive side but I just love it! Books books everywhere! All different categories! My favorite is the philosophy and self-help sections. The people are very friendly too!

7 N 2nd St, Philadelphia, PA 19106

Liberty Bell – it’s a large bell and it’s broken.

6th St & Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19106

Reading terminal market – this is where I go when I have jury service!

They have lots and lots of food of various kinds and all kinds of other stuff including books!
I love all the veggie food they have and the scents in the building are mouth-watering!
They also have meat products for all of you omnivores and carnivores(?)!

http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/

The Franklin institute – they have all kinds of entertaining exhibits, movies, shows, attractions….very fun!

https://www.fi.edu/

The rocky statue and the rocky steps –

The steps to the art museum. Two of the most popular attractions in Philadelphia, the statue and steps.

http://www.visitphilly.com/museums-attractions/philadelphia/the-rocky-statue-and-the-rocky-steps/

The Betsy Ross House – I used to go here on school trips!

http://historicphiladelphia.org/betsy-ross-house/visitors/

The please touch museum – when I was little I used to go here too. It is intended for children seven years and younger. I remember playing with a toy chicken here many years ago! Lol and a little boy was playing with it with me! It was amazing being able to touch everything!

http://www.pleasetouchmuseum.org/?no_redirect=true

Amitayus Kadampa Buddhist Center –

This is where I take Buddhist/meditation classes every week. The classes are different prices, some eight dollars, some ten, some thirty. They have various social events. You don’t have to be a Buddhist or a member of the center or plan on becoming one to attend. They welcome everyone.

http://www.meditationinphiladelphia.org/

So there are some of the main attractions or ones that I love! And there are many more! Come to Philadelphia if you aren’t here already and see for yourself.

http://www.visitphilly.com/itineraries/philadelphia/top-10-most-visited-attractions-in-philadelphia/

To people who grew up in other places or have lived there for a while, in Philadelphia we are known as being loud, rude, and have insane traffic(but not as bad as in NYC and Boston, I hear). Lol I did not always realize this since I always lived here and haven’t been to many other places. But when I’m talking to people who lived in other places, that’s what I hear. They are shocked, especially if they lived in Southern states because everyone is so friendly and kind in those states I’m told. I looovvveee that Southern accent and I’m envious because I don’t have it!
Yes the traffic is kind of messed up when I think about it. They scream at each other out the windows a lot. And I do see people pushing each other and jumping in front of each other on busses very often and that is uncalled for and rude. Lol I don’t do that though. They may not be rude though in general, it’s just a fast paced city where people are too busy and in a hurry.
I’m not loud at all, I am very quiet. But yes, people here are loud! It doesn’t faze me though, I’m used to it.
And I hear that we pronounce “water” in a weird way. Like “wooder?”
Lol I don’t think I say it like that.
And we drop the “ing” off of words?! “I’m not doin’ nuttin’ today!” ;-D
All of these things never even occurred to me until I met people who pointed it out! How fascinating!
And….we have WATER ICE!!! Also known as Italian Ice. Many people outside of Philadelphia don’t even know what it is! My favorite is cherry! But I love most flavors. I don’t even know how to say what water ice is.
It’s all soft and smooth. Like ice cream but not milky.
One day someone asked me. I was at a loss for words.
I love when I see someone eating water ice who never experienced it before! I work at a water ice/ice cream store! And when we have visitors who don’t live here or ones who just moved here they look at it in wonder!

:-p

I encourage you to acknowledge the beauty in your own city even if it’s not where you want to be. There still has to be something that catches your eyes or your heart! Pay close attention and be mindful of all the gifts that surround you, take pictures, breathe deeply, soak up everything you can around you. I think we can all tune into the blessings around us.

Here are some of my favorite quotes about beauty and gratitude/happiness/joy:

“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” ~ Anne Frank

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, or worn. It is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace & gratitude.” ~ Denis Waitley

“Three things you cannot recover in life: the WORD after it’s said, the MOMENT after it’s missed and the TIME after it’s gone. Be Careful!” ~Unknown

“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” ~Carl Bard

“Just remember there is someone out there that is more than happy with less than what you have.” ~Unknown

Xoxo Kim 😀

Cool Nights {it’s like a heatwave}

Sep3

“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy,
if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you,
if the simple things in nature have a message you understand,
Rejoice, for your soul is alive.” ~Eleanora Duse

This is exactly how it feels to me to acknowledge the beauty of Nature. I have always been aware of the profound beauty all around me even while in severe emotional or physical pain. Mindfulness of natural beauty and the thrill it brings have come easily to me for as long as I can remember. Even as a little girl I would be in awe of the simple joys of living. The blueness of the sky, the sparkle of the rain, the dramatic colors of sunsets, the scent of cold air, the fragrance of grass and soil, the seasons changing…but I never realized this as a “thing” or concept or way of life until years later when I decided to create a personal development plan to heal my depression and I learned about mindfulness and gratitude at deeper, more conscious levels.

I decided to take my natural ability and habit of being aware of and thankful for the beauty all around me and make it even deeper, a conscious, intentional habit.

This to me is truly living. And it’s beautiful and also helps me cope with pain of any kind. But even when I’m not in pain it’s a thrilling way to live. Living generally mindfully with a conscious frequent attitude of gratitude, not just as a fleeting mood or feeling, has a dramatic impact and healing effect. Being mindful of my mindfulness itself also uplifts me often, knowing I have this ability, that I accomplished this lovely way of living.

Mindfulness or awareness or acknowledgment of beauty and blessings, an attitude of gratitude as a conscious, intentional way of life are incredible life changing habits but they are not cures for anything. When we accomplish this and develop these habits we will still feel pain, unhappiness sometimes. And that’s the way it’s supposed to be when you think about it, right?! That’s what it is to be alive. To feel both happiness and unhappiness, pleasure and pain, joy and sadness, thrill and blah feelings. But those habits can help us cope when something unpleasant is occurring.

Summer is my least favorite season but I love all four lovely seasons. They all have their own blessings. One of the things I will miss most about Summer is the beautiful insects/flying creatures/kreepy krawlers….lol

The bumble bees and the butterflies, the fireflies and other beauties.

Many days this summer there was a bumble bee drinking nectar out of a bright orange flower on the street where I live. So many days I would walk by the beautiful vibrant flowers and see the bee there sucking through the center of one of them. Truly amazing to see such beauty!

I got a few photos one day.
I will also miss the flowers. But I usually don’t dwell on what I miss. Instead I focus on Now. Whatever is currently here is really all I have. All any of us has. It’s great to look forward to, hope for, and plan on things in the future but generally I believe it’s best to honor Now. Now is still Summer and right now it’s a heatwave.

95 degrees in September!! For real! It wasn’t even this hot all Summer!

But I see signs of the impending Fall. Pumpkin lattes and coffee and donuts are already out!
I get in holiday and season spirit very early. In July I’m already ready for Fall and in October I’m ready for Christmas and snow! Lol

I think pumpkin coffee is more thrilling in cooler weather though and if I get it now in the midst of a heat wave then on the first crisp, Fall-like day it won’t be quite as thrilling. Still totally thrilling but not as much of a new feeling.

So I guess I will wait on that. Right now I’m drinking toasted almond coffee!

Here is a list of my favorite things about Autumn!

1.) Pumpkin Everything

2.) Cool nights

3.) Fall fashion (although I dress like it’s Summer all year except I wear hoodies in Fall) I love seeing photos of Fall fashion and other girls wearing it. It’s just usually not the style for me to wear myself.

4.) The colorful leaves on the ground

5.) Halloween themes and Thanksgiving things. I believe in gratitude all year round but it seems everyone else gets in the mood for gratitude around the holiday season

6.) Hoodies

7.) the feel in the air, the mental feeling of Fall

8.) apples

9.) Fall colors – brown, yellow, orange, red…

10.) candy corn!

11.) the fragrances of Fall -cinnamon, apple, cool air, pumpkin

12.) hot coffee, cocoa, tea…it’s just more magical in the Fall

13.) my dog loves the Fall & Winter! She gets quiet all summer and on really hot days and isn’t as playful but as soon as Autumn is in the air, she gets all wild and playful and happy! She’s a big pitbull and loves blankies and pillows! She loves snow too!

14.) The Eastern Stare Penitentiary – the old prison has exhibits all year I think. To learn about the history and all but in the Fall they have the haunted attraction! We get to walk through and monsters jump out at us and there’s all kinds of gory stuff and creepy sounds. I don’t always get to go but I always see the advertisements and stuff and it’s fun! The first day I went was years ago in college with a group of other students and we were clinging to each other, holding onto each other, hugging each other like our lives depended on it! Lol it was fun! One funny memory I have is the group of us consisted of all girls and one boy and the boy was the most scared and tried to make us stand in the front and we told him since he’s the boy, he should be leading the way! Lol I was so afraid we were going to be separated and I would be alone in small, dark places! When it was over we got outside and there were candy and caramel apples and monsters dancing and flashing lights!

15.) longer, darker nights

16.) Halloween decorations

17.) Halloween lights

18.) pumpkin pie, apple pie, coconut custard pie

19.) cranberries!

20.) candy doesn’t melt in cool weather

21.) Everything

22.) hay rides

23.) apple spice

24.) apple cider

25.) sweaters

26.) jack – o – lanterns

27.) cool, windy days

28.) it gets dark early

29.) crunchy leaves

30.) sweet potatoes

Fall just thrills me so much!

And since it’s still summer I will honor it with some lovely summery photos I took!

This little beauty was drinking nectar through this bright orange flower all August long! I used to stand there and watch with wonder.

This fly was basking in a light rainy afternoon one day out in my backyard. I captured him and the glistening drops on the vibrant green leaf.

A different fly on the same day on a flower or leaf stem. Aren’t they beautiful?! Flies really can be quite lovely and I have great photographer skills, don’t you think?!

I think so too! 😀

Xoxo Kim

p.s. check out “Cool Night” by Paul Davis!! one of my favorite songs since I was a little girl! ❤

365 Project (photos)

Dec17

(Mom’s slippers)

” A photograph is usually looked at- seldom looked into.”
Ansel Adams

Have you ever heard of the “365 Project?”. 365project.org

It’s a project where we take a photo each day and upload it to our account on that page. Anyone can set up an account for free and begin whenever you want. You don’t have to upload the picture the day you take it, you can post it whenever you get around to it but put the correct date of when it was taken. You can only put one picture on for each date but you can upload as many as you want on any day.

You can take a pic of anything you want, there are really no rules except I think no risqué photos or anything of that sort. And maybe no violent photos.

I set up an account this morning and have one for Dec. 15th & one for Dec. 16th. It’s a very inspiring project and people have said it’s life changing for the better. Some people are waiting until the new year to begin it.

I love love love LOVE taking pictures, looking at pictures & just everything to do with photography so this is amazing to me! ;-D

It’s like a social media thing, I guess, and you can have favorites and followers and stuff. I love the idea of taking a picture every day and posting it.

I think it’s best and most fulfilling if we take the pictures for us and not stress too much about how good or bad or perfect it is or how popular it will be. It really doesn’t matter as long as YOU like your pictures.

😀

I only recently heard about this so I haven’t seen too many of people ‘s pictures yet and I’m so happy I have so much to look forward to with it! So many amazing people and photos to come across!

Here’s my account:

http://365project.org/kimberlyjm52/365

I’m using my phone to take the pictures.

I love how a camera can capture beauty and immortalize it, and photos can speak so much.

Here are some great photography quotes I love!

“To photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities of nature and humanity which live or are latent in all things.”
Ansel Adams

“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”
– Aaron Siskind

No, the camera can’t steal the soul. But it can occasionally hold it hostage.
– author unknown

Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.

Dorothea Lange

What i like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.
Karl Lagerfeld

Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.
Marc Riboud

A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.
Eudora Welty

To photograph is to hold one’s breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It’s at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.
Henri Cartier-Bresson

You don’t take a photograph, you make it.
Ansel Adams

Photography is all about secrets. The secrets we all have and will never tell.KKim Edwards

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.
Ansel Adams

Xoxo Kim

P.s. If you’re doing this project, I would love to see your pics, you can post the link if you would like to share it with me!

Hungry Eyes part II

Oct12

Here is a continuation of my Nature Walk Post. We visited a beautiful playground which is dedicated to a little boy Named Jake and has a sign welcoming everyone, both children and adults, to play and have fun.

I love it there! To see the pure, raw joy on the kids’ faces as they play is just amazing. So cute!! 😀

Everyone is allowed to dedicate a brick on the walkway and write what they want to whoever they want. So many people wrote inspirational messages which I just had to take pics of. My inner photographer ran wild!

This sentence reads: “At Wegmans we believe that good people working towards a common goal can accomplish anything they set out to do.”

Yes, I completely agree! We should all work together for a better world for everyone.

Enjoy the sunshine.

Have fun. Be happy. Laugh a lot.

Sure thing! 😉 :-p

Larry ❤ Karen

I don’t know Larry & Karen but their love inspires me. My mom asked me why I would want a pic of this beautiful tribute to the love of people I don’t even know. I don’t know them but I know they are each someone. Like I am someone. Someones who care enough to have their love written in stone. This much I know. And it’s enough for me. Hats Off To you Larry & Karen!! ❤

Always have somethin’ sweet to say! 😀

Love to play.

Play safe. Take turns. Be kind.

Couldn’t have Said it better myself!
🙂

Yes, always create happy memories. In years to come, we can look back and smile, laugh, and cry at the sweet memories.
😀

Have a great day.

I wish you a great one everyday!

Always smile.

Always. 😀 🙂

Your smile can make you happy, brighten someone else’s day, and someone may just be falling in love with it.

On the swings at Jake’s playground.

“There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million” ~ Walt Streightiff

We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.

Let your inner child out to run wild.

I love the playground. Babies and kids were running wild with joy & laughter and it was the sweetest thing. Everyone was so friendly. A mamma and daddy were pushing their little boy and girl on the swings. They were so sweet.

And we saw a beautiful young family all dressed up with two beautiful little, identical twin girls who were wearing the exact same red shirt and black skirt and looked just like their mamma. The mom and dad got a pic taken together and looked so in love. My heart just melted.

I’m a sap! Lol

tree huggin’ girlie right here! Lol
;-D

Xoxo Kim

P.s. I hope you’re having a beautiful night or day!

I can see the light of a clear blue morning….

Sep17

” It’s been a long dark night
And I’ve been a waitin’ for the morning
It’s been a long hard fight
But I see a brand new day a dawning
I’ve been looking for the sunshine
‘Cause I ain’t seen it in so long
But everything’s gonna work out just fine
Everything’s gonna be all right
That’s been all wrong

‘Cause I can see the light of a clear blue morning
I can see the light of a brand new day
I can see the light of a clear blue morning
And everything’s gonna be all right
It’s gonna be okay” ~ Dolly Parton

Hello!! I’m up bright & early today and deeply inspired by the Morning & all its loveliness. I’m getting ready for a psychotherapist appointment soon! I’m blessed to be awake & alive at this moment. Last night I struggled hard with my facial pain disorder. I was bordering on feelings of hopelessness but kept reminding my self of part of my own life philosophy to always try as best as I can to keep hope alive. I only got two hours of sleep and will probably be hit hard by that fact later and need a little nap! ;-D.

Today my pain is much less. But my jaw is still locked, not completely but enough so that it’s very hard to eat and drink.

Is it morning where you are? If it is, why don’t you start your day with happy thoughts?! Think of at least three things you are thankful for. They can be big or small things.

How about thinking in terms of what you DO want today as opposed to what you don’t want? Those thoughts are more positive, creating positive energy in and around you. And maybe more likely to contribute to you acting in positive ways, attracting positive things.
Also, smile! 😀

Even if it’s not morning you can do these things!
I am already in love with the promise of today.

I hope you are well wherever you are! Much love, laughter, & blessings to you!
🙂

Xox0 Kim

P.s. The two above pictures are mine (I am aware one of the words is spelled incorrectly, it’s my phones’s fault it autocotrects wrong spellings sometimes & I hit save and do not care to fix it til later, lol) . And here’s one that is NOT mine but it’s hilarious! I don’t know who the pic belongs to:

I almost never put pictures on this blog that are not mine but this is too good not to! Lol!

Beauty in Unlikely Places (updated) <3

Sep11

I have been thinking about things that I find to be beautiful which many people do not. Things which many see as ugly, mundane, inappropriate, disturbing, less than lovely.

Here, I have comprised a list of some of those things:

❤ weeds- I can't count the
moments I have stopped to snap a gorgeous photo of some "plant/flower" I have found to be beautiful, only for my mom or sister to inform me I'm taking pictures of ugly. Dead. Weeds. But I continue on because to me, weeds, are just beautiful.

❤ Rain/snow/sleet – just about everyone around me complains about "miserable" weather. Rain. Lightening. Thunder storms. Snow. Blizzards. But I love it.

❤ Muddy puddles – yup. I take countless pictures of puddles. With mud. And dirt. And stuff. Sometimes they have oil rainbows. I guess car oil does that. I find wonder in the unlikeliest of places.

❤ Signs of aging – Wrinkles, Gray hair, Laugh lines.. getting older is a true blessing. It brings more experience. More lessons to learn & to teach. More wisdom. Many people die tragically young. We are blessed to be whatever age we are. If we live to be old, gray, wrinkled, it means we had more days to live & to love. To bless & be blessed. To see things, to know things, we could have never imagined. Embrace your age. Embrace the signs of aging! Scream your age off the rooftops. Be proud you survived and are still going. ❤

❤ Body fat – yes I'm a girl who loves body fat! It's a sign of health. It has a function. It's not ugly. It's beautiful.

❤ The female physique – I am a girl who really loves checking out other girls. I'm not romantically attracted to them but I find them to be very aesthetically pleasing. Not in a sexist way, I know a woman is much more than just looks! And I am interested in personality, thoughts, views more than anything! But I love girls' curves, clothes, Boobs, nails, hair. I even call girls sexy. Hott. Beautiful. Gorgeous. I have been told "girls aren't supposed to check out other girls or call them hott. ". And I say whatever to that! I like tight, revealing clothing for myself and other girls. I don't see it as disrespectful or degrading. It's great to be confident and love our bodies. If you got it, flaunt it! And if you don't, flaunt it anyway! Lol ❤ ;-D

❤ Dark poetry/songs – I like poetry that can beautifully capture the dark side. Sad songs & poems can be inspiring & comforting. I love happy ones as well! I like how pain can be made into beauty. Poetic, lyrical,musical, educational….beauty

❤ Monday Mornings – not that I'm usually awake on Monday mornings. Lol ;-). So maybe that's why I love them so much! But Monday mornings are, to me, symbolic of new beginnings. New hope. Mornings are always beautiful

❤ Public displays of affection – some people find this inappropriate but I love to see lovers holding hands, kissing, embracing. ❤

❤ Babies with food on their faces, snotty noses, messes on the carpet: I love babies/kids and I think it's cute when they make messes. I would never mind having my carpet or furniture splashed in paint by little creative hands exploring & creating. Just beautiful.

❤ cars screeching, people laughing late into the night , the sounds of the city, music through the walls, the sounds of people partying all night- this annoys a lot of people. Someone being loud late at night. But I have always found it so comforting. I like knowing someone somewhere is up & alive while I'm laying in bed.

❤ pineapple pizza – delicious. But people tell me it's just wrong. Lol

❤ the scent of dogs. Lol I think dogs smell good, their fur, it's just a cute Lil scent.

❤ the feel of dogs licking my ears. Lol. It feels funny & it's cute! 😉

❤ Insects/bugs/snakes/rodents – I like creepy crawlers & not just the "pretty" ones. I also like centipedes, millipedes, sewer rats….

What unlikely things do you find beautiful? Is there anything “weird”, “bizarre “, “ugly”, “plain ” , “unusual” that you somehow find incredible wonder in? If not, take a look. Maybe you can develop a positive habit of seeing beauty where it at first seems there is none.
As I have previously mentioned if we look hard enough, we can find beauty even when it’s hard. Even through the tears, glittering amidst the pain & heartache.

Wonder what it would be like to have a journal of Beauty? Maybe like a gratitude journal but slightly different? You can use it every day or especially when you can’t seem to find beauty anywhere. I never tried it but I will! We can list things we find to be beautiful, any kind of beautiful. They can be things commonly thought of as beautiful or things usually viewed as not so pretty. They can be things seen or things felt. Heard or tasted, smelled.
.anything. If it’s beautiful to you,it matters.

May you all find something lovely to experience whether it’s auditory, visual, tactile, or anything….

Xoxo Kim

i stumbled upon this beauty on the counter at work one night. She’s not dead and that thing is not her leg off. It’s a scratch in the counter. My sister thought she was dead and that her leg was off. She may have been slightly injured but still beautiful. Still alive & well. I picked her up with my hands, gently and put her in the tree outside work so no one would freak out and kill her. 😀

And the picture all the way at the top is in fact a puddle of mud that happened to have a heart thing in it.

There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are 7 million.

Dandelions

Aug4

(I took this lovely pic with my phone!!!)

“When you look at a field of dandelions, you can either see a hundred weeds or a hundred wishes” ~ Unknown

I love taking walks and taking pictures of all the incredible wonders I see around me. My mom often scolds me and my little sister gets annoyed because when we’re outside walking to a store or walking the doggy. I stop every other second to snap a picture of some beauty I see before me. I see beauty & inspiration everywhere I look. I’m not a photographer ; I merely take pictures with my cell phone. It takes amazing pictures. I’m constantly taking pictures of the sky, usually sunsets and the bright azure sky dappled in white fluffy clouds.I love pictures of birds and insects.

Words cannot truly express the way it feels when I look up at the sky During a sunset or a bright sunny Afternoon or when I look out a window at the sunrise when the new dawn is awakening or looking out the window seeing, listening to the rain or seeing snow falling before my eyes, and the scents the rain brings forth, I love the feel of cool breezes in the summer and the warmth of heat in the crisp Wintery magic. I love the seasons changing and the taste of sweet fruit and chocolate sundaes. And beautiful , vibrant colorful flowers.

When I look at all of the incredible, wild joys of Nature, life surges through my veins, my heart races at the breathtaking beauty. My veins throb with life, electricity pulses through me like a thousand heartbeats.

It comes naturally to me. I’m very aware of the beauty that all of my senses allow me to experience each moment of each day.

But, although this generally comes naturally to me, I have made a conscious decision to strengthen my natural ability and habit of being mindful of the simple pleasures of life and making it a general habit even when it’s hard to see beauty. Some days it seems there’s nothing but ugliness all around. But even on those days,I have the choice to look for wonder. It may not naturally pop out at me like usual but I can look and I can find, hard as it may be.

In this life there is an incredible abundance of wonder and joy and beauty. By being blessed with life, we have the chance to take advantage of this. Take advantage of being alive. Instead of trudging through life in a sense of hopeless drudgery, we can choose to learn and practice being truly and fully alive.

Here are some ways I have strengthened my natural ability to see simple joys everywhere and ways I think can be helpful to people. Not everyone has that natural ability but even ones who don’t can learn & practice .

1.) Breathe and inhabit your body. Your body, which is you is here now. Not in the past, not in the future. Here, now. You’ll never, ever go back to the previous moments you once lived and you can’t change them. And the future is always just out of your reach. When the future arrives, it is now your present, all you will ever have is now. Make this your conscious reality.
Take notice of the way your body feels right NOW. All the sensations, the pleasures, the pain, relaxed parts, stressed parts, stiff parts, numb parts, healthy parts…

2.) Try not to force yourself to not think about other things or about your past or future. When you try to intentionally not think about something, it tends to pop into your head more frequently. Instead focus on what is here.

3.) Practice mindfulness meditation. Meditating regularly will help you develop better control over your thinking and even when you’re not meditating you will be better able to live in the present.

https://livingmindfully.org/
http://www.meditationoasis.com/

4.) slow down. When you’re constantly in a hurry you can’t take pleasure in much of anything.

5.) Try to create a schedule everyday or almost everyday where you can take a few minutes, hour, or hours to do nothing but something that brings you immense joy and serenity. Walks in nature, observing natural settings, drawing, running, taking pictures, things like that and soak up all the beauty.

6.) really, truly look. Look and see what is around you. Don’t just give it a quick, passing glance. Let the feelings it provokes in you, surge through you and cherish those feelings.

7.) I think about all of the people who have died and who have never been born or created/conceived to begin with. What they wouldn’t give (if they could know) to have a chance to live or to live again and feel, experience what I can because I am Alive.

8.) I think about if everything I have ever known, ever loved, ever owned or possessed just disappeared temporarily, unexpectedly and then all came back. How would I feel then? Would it awaken me? Make me realize how wonderful, how miraculous, how joyous it all truly is?

9.) stop waiting. “People wait all week for Friday, all year for Summer, all life for happiness.”. You may not have all you want right now but you can still be generally happy and joy-filled. You don’t need that perfect weather, that perfect day of the week, that perfect lover, that perfect body. All you need is life. All you need is now. Right now. You got it!

“Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.”

― Mary Jean Irion

“Oh the wild joys of living! The leaping from rock to rock … the cool silver shock of the plunge in a pool’s living waters.”
Robert Browning quotes

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” ~
Albert Einstein

Paul Valéry – “To see is to forget the name of the thing one sees.”

Me.

Xo Kim

Beauty Abound

Jan31

“R

ainbows, spiderwebs, sunsets…the world is full of wonder if only you look.”

Some days are just blah or even ugly when it seems there’s no beauty to be found anywhere. But even those days have small specks of beauty glimmering in places you may not expect to find beauty. When we think of the concept of “beauty” or “beautiful” we often think of explicit or obvious beauty like a beautiful person or a lovely dress or a bouquet of wedding flowers or a splendid garden. Or songs and music. Or a poem maybe.

But there are more subtle forms of beauty, things that we often overlook and maybe even at first glance do not appear to be beautiful until we actually look closer, deeper, or think about it.

If you can hear, you probably hear cars everyday driving by, screeching, beeping, you probably hear people talking outside your house, you hear the soft humming of the refrigerator, the white noise of your tv, the static of your radio….all these commonplace things we tend to forget are actually beautiful sounds and things. What if you lost your hearing temporarily and then you regained it, you would realize this. But hopefully people will come to realize without going deaf. Icesickles hanging off of cars, rainbows in dripping car oil, spiderwebs woven in the corners of a room, the smile of a stranger, the ticking of a clock…all of these little things can provoke wonder & awe.

Beauty doesn’t even have to be things we experience directly through the senses. It can be thoughts or feelings also. I think we all occasionally find that beautiful things just happen to “jump out” at us. We just see or hear or feel them without looking.

But how many of us have actually developed the positive habit of actually *looking* for beautiful things hidden and glimmering in the corners of darkness or ugliness or plainness? I believe we should all cultivate this habit if we want to be inspired and happier more often.

I love to take in the world around me when I go for walks outside. I frequently take pictures of anything that screams out at me and captivates me. Leaves on trees or the ground, flowers in someone’s flowerpots, the sky in all its various appearances, weeds, plants, lights, designs, birds, squirrels…..

My mom & sister often get annoyed going out with me because I stop every other second to snap a picture of something I find to be very lovely.

The tan weeds in my pictures, I find to be astoundingly beautiful but my mom and sister see them as just old dead weeds! Lol!

And look at the gorgeousness of that sky!! If you try you will find specks of platinum among the sand and dirt.

❤

“Nothing is insignificant.”. ~Samuel T. Coleridge

“See the good all around you, even if you have to squint.”

Xox0 Kim ❤ 😀