Eye of the Heart - Week Five - Images of Self

This week's theme was self-portraits and receiving images of ourselves. Not an easy assignment for someone who dislikes their photos!

I'm still working up to the "face" self-portraits, but for now I offer this self-blessing - connecting to heart....

From Random

* o

Eye of the Heart - Week Five - Images of Self

Eyes of the Heart - Week Four - Reflections

From Random

Mirror, mirror on the wall.....

I'm not a fan of mirrors, or pictures of myself. When you look in the mirror are you happy with what you see there or is there all kinds of negative self-talk going on in your head? What is it you choose not to see?

You can't see my soul
reflected there in the mirror.
For that,
you would have to close your eyes
and wait in the darkness
until you could see the light
reflected in my heart.

* o

Eyes of the Heart - Week Four - Reflections

Eyes of the Heart - Week Three - Framing

From Random

This weeks theme for the Eyes of the Heart course has been "framing".

I love in the picture above how the bird is framed by the branches of the tree - almost in a star shape.

How do you frame things? When looking out into the world, what do you zoom in on? What do you leave out? * o

Eyes of the Heart - Week Three - Framing

Eyes of the Heart - Week Two - Shadows

From Random

This week in the "Eyes of the Heart" course we have been working with and talking about shadows. Often we think of shadows as dark and dangerous places. We talk of the "shadow side" of our personalities - those traits we have that are less than pleasant. Scary things hide in the shadows. Shadows are the opposite of light. Jen Louden, the Comfort Queen, often talks about "shadow comforts", those things that we do to avoid being creative or following our passions - like surfing the net, endlessly checking email or watching TV. Not essentially bad things on their own, but when used for avoidance, well then not so good.

Today when I was out on my walk, I turned the corner from the very bright sunshine and onto a shadier section of the sidewalk. The coolness of the shade hit my face, and I realized that sometimes shadows are necessary. They provide a place to rest and restore, a chance to lick our wounds and heal if we need to do.

The key, I think, is knowing when we are using the shadow to heal and when we are using it to just hide and not deal with things. And the next step is knowing when it is time to come out of the shadow and back into the sunshine.

From Random

(top photo: "Chalice in Sunlight", bottom photo: "Me and My Shadow") * o

Eyes of the Heart - Week Two - Shadows

Eyes of the Heart - Week One

I am currently taking part in Christine Valters-Paintner's online class "Eyes of the Heart - Photography as a Contemplative Practice" so for the next six weeks I'll be sharing some of my images from this course and some thoughts on the process.

Last week was "Week One" and the assignment was to take a contemplative walk around your neighborhood, allowing yourself to be led in whatever direction you feel you should go with no definite purpose or place to get to. Along the way, I was to notice what my eye was drawn to, to receive the image with my camera, and then to pick some of the photos to share and reflect on.

One image that really caught my attention was this one:

From Random

Leave One Lane Open. Leave yourself open, don't fill up on too many things. Don't keep yourself so busy you can't breathe. After all you can't breathe if you are not open. * o

Eyes of the Heart - Week One