Day 355 Play Matters

November 29, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

A Rorschach?

My calendar with no medical appointments or social events leaves me time to browse through some of my images and play with them. Some people play games or an instrument. I do both of these, but I also have fun with my photos. Often the process flows from beginning (raw image) to end with little memory of what happens in between. As I look at an image, press keys, zoom in, vary colors, crop and transform, the flow seems to be an intuitive journey from unknown, to what if, to possibility. Sometimes my left brain switches on to get from one middle step to another but most of the time my right brain gets an aerobic workout. 

Today guides me to color and texture, a contrast to the weather drabness outside. Finding balance in a day usually has a connection to contrast between two elements—chores and play, monochrome and technicolor, pareidolia and reality, past and future. 

When I work with patterns and textures, sometimes they become a Rorschach for me. I remember when my youngest daughter was about 2 ½ and I gave her a dish of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup on top. With her spoon paused midair, she giggled and shouted, “Man’s face, Mommy!” Adults can learn from the very young. Every day for me has a Rorschach surprise, whether it is in the clouds or in the gumballs on the ground. It becomes a day of constant little surprises.

Play is training for the unexpected.” Marc Bekoff

My gift today is creative time. 

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> Day 356: Then and Now

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:
http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

              

Day 354 Be Good

November 28, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

A relaxed day in Baltimore…

I started out today with David at the American Visionary’s Art Museum’s Bazaart, an “annual holiday art market” where I wound up buying one gift. Many types of art were for sale—jewelry, textiles, photos, paintings, apparel, sculpture and other art that did not fit into any of these categories. I always find it especially rewarding to be able to meet and talk with the artists. 

As we left, we stepped outside onto AVAM’s “bird’s nest” balcony where I took a few shots looking down on moving figures around the mosaic egg and someone kindly took a picture of us together with the damp and darkening city in the background. On the way to the main museum, I couldn’t resist capturing a reflection of David and me in the outside museum mosaic wall. We could not leave without visiting the Sideshow gift shop in the main museum where we bought some Christmas presents.  

We found a bite to eat at Turp’s Sports Bar on Charles Street with excellent crab soup and hamburgers, explored some shops in Hampden and then went to the closing show of the Erotic Art at Gallery 788 where I discovered one of my multimedia art pieces had sold. On a white background with black letters are the words “BE GOOD,” the two O’s filled in with condoms.

Making money is always good, but spending time in Baltimore with someone I love is priceless.

My gift today is priceless time. 

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> Day 355: Play Matters

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:
http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

              

Day 353 The Shape of Life

November 27, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

 

According to research, curiosity sharpens an aging mind.

While reading a book today, Staying Sharp by Henry Emmons and David Alter, I suddenly realized how curiosity has shaped my life. I read that curiosity is important to maintaining a sharp mind as we age. The authors give suggestions on how to develop curiosity but I can skip this section—I’ve always been naturally curious and it has affected my life in both big and small ways.

If I hadn’t wondered about that former strange neighbor of mine on Calvert Street and knocked on his door, David and I would not be together. I jumped out of a plane because I wondered what it would feel like and it altered my life perspective. I explored education options and earned a Doctor of Communications Design degree when I was 60.

In small ways, wondering enters each of my days. This morning when the sun came through the window and struck the shower door, I was curious what shadow shapes I could create with my hands. Frequently, when I examine my photos, I check out how I might create entirely different images. 

Several of my blogs during this 365 project were based on discoveries from my questions. For example, when I wondered about ants and tiny dots on a weed, I learned about herder ants. When I investigated a plant growing near a pond, I learned it was Swamp Loosestrife. I am curious about other cultures and joined SERVAS and Couch Surfing. I talk with strangers and my world expands.

My gift today is curiosity.

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> Day 354: Be Good

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:
http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

              

Day 352 Thanksgiving

November 26, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” ~ G. K. Chesterton

Thanksgiving is the one day a year that we pause to give thanks. The turkey has become a symbol for our thanks, although in the end, the turkey had no reason to be thankful. I’ve read Facebook posts with lists and they are all truly treasures I appreciate too: I live in a country that allows dissent; I have food, shelter and security; I enjoy use of all my senses; I am surrounded by family and friends who care.

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” ~ Thornton Wilder

However, we often miss the little wonders all around us. I’ve been practicing gratitude every day for my 365 Gifts project. A few gifts I’ve been thankful for during the year have been: rain, green, synchronicity, a circle, legacy, blending, understories, ripples, silence, a red leaf, resonance, bubbles, choice, patina, questions, trust, dance, hugs, purrs, flow, worms, stretching, graffiti, smiles, shadows, bubbles, tree frogs, weeds, metaphors, energy, golden junction, seeds, transition, passageway, moon eclipse. Many times each day, I am thankful for the moment.

Add the large and small things together and I find love. I am thankful that I have the capacity to love and that I am surrounded by loving human beings. 

My gift today is love. 

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> Day 353: The Shape of Life

You can find links to my other posts on this project here:
http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html