Category Archives: Seeing In New Ways

Re-Entry

Jun
06
2014
by IBK | 1 Comment

©2014 IBKimage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello dear readers. It’s been a while but somehow today seems to be the end of something and a gradual re-entry into something else.  After weeks of pitching, condensing and packing to put our house on the market here in Denver, and partially moving into a rental apartment on the 9th floor overlooking the Denver Botanic Garden, I needed renewal.  My camera parts were still in the case and I was too fatigued to lug anything else around, so on a late afternoon visit the other day, I grabbed my cell-phone and took a quick walk to the garden before closing.

Surprise, surprise, the new Chihuly glass sculpture exhibit which opens on June 14 and continues into November, was starting to appear in the garden pools and paths. For the next hour I forgot all but the beauty in front of me .  I got out my cell-phone camera and took a few pictures to map  shots for a more detailed shoot at a later date.  It was at that moment that I realized that during one of the most stressful times and transitions in my adult life, I had forgotten to do what brings me great joy and peace as a counter- balance to all of the chaos. And so it goes.

Hoping that as you continue with transitions in your own life, that you remember to include what brings you joy and renewal on your list of many tasks.

I’d also like to encourage you to check out more about Dale Chihuly at www.chihuly.com

IBK

Also posted in Seasons Tagged , , , |

Just because you can …

Mar
28
2014
by IBK | 1 Comment

©IBKimage2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the last few months I have been engaged in a long distance remodeling project. Now that the project is almost complete I have reflected on how important it is to assemble a first rate team for such an undertaking.   Like an orchestra with a variety of players and  instruments contributing their own distinct tone to the whole, just so the role of the skilled craftsmen/woman provided their unique skills for an amazing transformation of a home with amazing “bones” but in need of some much needed renewal for a different time.

During this time I intermittently did some of the physical work of  deconstruction, which has it’s own rewards, but also it’s downside … in my case resulting in a shoulder that has needed some care from a wonderful team of physical therapists, and acupuncturists. It’s been a while, but finally I seem to be making progress.  Last week my physical therapist gave me a phrase that related to not overdoing it with the home exercises … “just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”  What she meant in this particular case was that even though I might not have as much pain, I could still be overworking my muscles, and actually be impeding progress by overdoing it … you know, if a little is good, more is better …

Well, I can’t let go of that thought.  I changed it slightly as I started sharing it this week.  “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you have to…”  and by repeating it in various contexts, it (the phrase) has changed me.  I challenge you to apply this phrase to your own life and see what happens.

Today’s image is a humorous example of our phrase for the day.  The setting is Belfast, Maine, and just because they could decorate this old theater this way, doesn’t mean they should, or have to.  🙂

Best, IBK

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also posted in Aging, Insight, Pruning, Uncategorized, Waiting Tagged , , , |

Time Out

Mar
07
2014
by IBK | 1 Comment

©IBKimage2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A friend’s husband suddenly dying, adult children grieving; a funeral; another  passing a “swallowing test” two months post “brain surgery”enabling a  drink of water and a taste of food for the first time in 2 months; an adult son’s 29th birthday and visit for 3 precious days; reuniting as a family around a table to share a meal and our lives; papers delivered and entrusted to our accountant to prepare our tax return; meeting together with new people for breakfast at my favorite “restaurant office” graced by familiar servers who know my food habits; attempting to help my almost blind husband answer the phone he relies on after a security update “messed things up”; (and not in a patient way I might add); saying some hard things and setting boundaries; sitting in a parking lot and forgetting how to get back onto NORTH I- 25 in rush hour after going SOUTH;   all of this and more in 8 days.

 

I share this  not to make my life stand out as unique, or more accomplished than yours in any way, but as a way of documenting the blessings and challenges of being human.  When we’ve talked to too many people or managed too many projects or spent too much time trying to communicate clearly in too many venues; or tried to please too many people; or neglected our sleep too long or managed to eat too much to comfort too many realities; or done too many good things … then we must stop and intentionally put ourselves in “time-out”for the sake of our own physical, spiritual, and emotional health.  We can not be empty vessels and expect to overflow.

The place in today’s image is at the Denver Botanic Garden where I plan to “be” in my time-out tomorrow … you have your places. Wherever we go let’s be open to not doing anything but being.

IBK

 

 

 

 

Also posted in Waiting Tagged , , , |

Reflection

Oct
11
2013
by IBK | 2 Comments

©IBKimage2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes when many words have been spoken, a time of silence is renewing.  Being with and not doing for is a wonderful change of habit. After an intense period of time, a shift in focus brings new awareness. Sometimes a picture is enough with few words necessary.

Wishing all of you an intentional time of reflecting on the beautiful in your life and  how you are blessed by it.

IBK

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A Different Perspective

Sep
26
2013
by IBK | 0 Comments

©IBKimage2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes all we need to gain some insight into something that perplexes,irritates,confuses,angers,hurts, and keeps us stuck, is to change our way of thinking about it or to change the way we view it.    Usually that does it, unless of course we want to hang on to our feelings and emotions  and “right or wrong ways” about it.

Today’s image was taken from a position below a bridge in downtown Denver vs. at eye level.  The sun blushed buildings partnered with the clouds to delight before another day turned into darkness.

IBK

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Discovering the Grain

Sep
19
2013
by IBK | 0 Comments

©IBKimage 2012

 

My father was a German master cabinet maker.  New projects began with a trip to the small town lumber yard where we lived.  He would look through the various  offerings and then make a choice based on the end use , the hardness or softness, the straightness of the piece, the unique grain running through it and so on.  I would watch him draft a plan for the object ; measure, cut, plane, sand, smooth, file, turn, nail together, dovetail, glue, bore, chisel and numerous other processes to get the end result.  The best part of all was when it was all ready for finishing.  In photography we call it post processing. The intent is the same, to take a well crafted wooden article (or a well composed photo) and bring out the best from the raw material. In wood-working this is usually done by adding a stain to bring out the beauty of the unfinished grain. My father disliked covering up the grain with paint.  Today’s manufactured particle board has to be covered up since there’s no unique grain.

In the Biblical book of Proverbs  22:6 we are told to “train up a child in the way they should go and when old they will not depart from it.”  The lesson is that instead of conforming our children to our desires and dreams for them, we actually are encouraged to help them find and recognize their “bent” and then provide an environment for that to develop and to provide boundaries and correction when off the path.

As we mature, it is often hard to continue to honor that bent among the many novelties calling out for our attention.

Today’s image comes once again from the Queen City Architectural Salvage Yard here in Denver where the discarded  can be restored and transformed with love to once again delight in its bent.

 

 

 

 

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Photo Friends

May
17
2013
by IBK | 2 Comments
Callas at Lakewood

©IBKimage2010

 

I’ve been away for a photography workshop with Frans Lanting and associates in Santa, Cruz California. (www.lanting.com) I first heard of Lanting when he and two other world renowned  masters of nature photography came for a two day Denver event in mid April.  I was especially drawn in by his emphasis on the importance of telling a story with one’s images and his availability to participants attending – as well as his kindness and humility.  After a break on the last day, I heard him say that they (he and partner/wife, Chris Eckstrom) had one spot left for a May workshop in Santa Cruz where they are based.  Impulsively, and yet knowing that this was the next major transition in my photographic learning, I got a business card and signed up with Chris via e-mail that evening.

 

Sixteen came ; from the west, central, and eastern parts of the U.S. and from Germany and Japan/SanFrancisco.  Interesting, curious people ; a variety of ages, and acumen and what we all had in common was a desire to learn and to “do photography together” for 3 1/2 intense days, and become better storytellers learning  from a master and his skilled and delightful associates . How divine!

 

In the coming weeks I ‘ll share more , gleaned from my own new insights and the encouragement I received during my adventure.   There were brief times when I wondered what I was doing there, and the old sirens tried to call me back  to interrupt my journey, but thankfully those times were brief and time and tide as well as new photo friends, call out to come and see.

 

Today’s image is a direct result of learning new ways to see.  It started out as a color photo of a planter full of calla lillies, exquisite in their creme and green hues,and ended up as a black and white exercise in the use of negative space.  Less is more.  “I’m listening Frans …”

IBK

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also posted in Blessings, Courage, Insight, Letting Go, Road Trip, Uncategorized

Endings

Apr
26
2013
by IBK | 1 Comment

©2011MarkMatoon

 

With major transitions, come new challenges and responses.  This sound so obvious, but ask the survivors of a bombing in Boston if their lives will not be forever changed as they navigate their way through through emotional, physical, and spiritual challenges? How about our neighbors in Texas whose town blew up ?  What about the newly diagnosed cancer patient whose journey into the unknown is beginning?  And yet in all of these cases we’ve seen people step forward and surround those hurting, with “gifts of themselves” offered in love and compassion.

 

Most of our transitions are not this abrupt but the years spent in habit whether fruitful or barren, do seem to provide a well to draw on (or not) when our world and our relationships seem to be (or are) crumbling all around us.   Major transitions and pain also seem  to, after a time, help us see new ways that we might choose to adapt to our new “normals.”  Fire most certainly destroys, but it also refines and provides the fuel for our basic survival needs.

 

None of what I’m saying is new, but perhaps I’m reminded again that when our lives  change, whether in sickness or in health (or in death and destruction of recent days) we can boldly enter the wilderness of transition and perhaps marvel at how love finds us us when we are lost and broken. No matter what your transition, find a place of sabbath where you can “lay it all down” and slowly discover what your heart tells you to “pick up again” … leaving behind the demands and expectations of others; and the self created  burdens of perfection, “more” and “faster.”

Today’s image was taken by a photographer,  with whom I studied,on Nantucket Island in June of 2011, a few months after my mother died. The ocean always draws me to itself, and provides the water for my thirst.

IBK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also posted in Courage, Letting Go, New Beginning, Seasons Tagged , , , , , , |

One Season Following Another

Apr
05
2013
by IBK | 3 Comments

©IBKimage2010

 

In the midst of major drought in our mile high city of Denver, it blesses me to know that tulips can “spring” up out of the driest of dry soil.  As we begin our two day a week, water restrictions for outdoor watering , we learn to be intentional about identifying what we value … green lawns or our access to water for our vegetable gardens  or both … and so on.   As spring turns into summer we may see more severe restrictions, and yet the little things done consistently over a period of time can make a major difference if we all join in … but wait,  our restrictions come from a place of choice that has very little to do at this point with actual need.

We can only water our lawns, twice a week before 9 and after 6 p.m. How about eliminating the lawns for a season or two until we have more snowfall and melt to replenish our reservoirs?  New seasons call for new responses.  Could we shrink our lives with the attendant “busy” to make them bigger; or turn off our cell phones so that we can hear; or turn off our devices so that we can see; unplug our ears to engage, get rid of room scents so that we can smell? Perhaps the biggest drought right now is  that we’re dying of relational thirst and engagement with others vs. constant attention to our “social medias” plural.  It’s a dry season in our places that we live, for more reasons than lack of water for our lawns.

How wonderful the flowers in the midst of dryness.

IBK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also posted in Courage Tagged , , , |

Mar
29
2013
by IBK | 2 Comments

©IBKimage 2012

 

When my oldest son was little I gave him a book that was in my toy consultant  sample packet.  The title:  “Little While Friends.”  He received it just before we went on a family road trip one summer where we explored three towns named Keystone in three states … among other things.  Stopping to climb rocks or while visiting a snake attraction, he would often find little while friends to interact with.  They didn’t have the same stature as friends from home or the familiarity and commitment of family, but it taught him early on that there are interesting people and sights all around that satisfy. Perhaps, like a beautiful mixed bouquet of flowers in a vase from the floral shop; they are precious because they are a fragile, time-limited treasures.

Now these little while friends don’t always have to be people … the beauty of nature in it distinct seasons, the gift of artists helping us enter into a place we hadn’t considered before; musicians stirring our souls; delight with new learning and new technologies that improve our daily living and help to restore in some manner what has been lost … but generally, it’s people we continually seem to say goodbye to; at airports and graduations, weddings and job changes, first day of school and retirement, and then a final ending whose tension we all live with confronted with so many “little while” choices, actions and engagements.

Our layered wall hanging in today’s image, by a fiber artist in Omaha, NE provided a little while delight on a restaurant wall, as a long time friend and I cherished precious time together over a meal,but more importantly it also reminds me that no matter how dark it might be, the light is thankfully always present. The story of death and resurrection, mourned and celebrated is thankfully” little while” and eternal.

IBK

 

 

Also posted in Aging, Authenticity, Courage, Seasons Tagged , , , , , , , , |