Perspective: Waterfall

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A friend of mine went on vacation,
and shared a beautiful picture with
me. I asked if I could do something
with it, and this was the result.

Perspective Art: An Intimate Moment

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Curious to know what your perspective says
this picture looks like, and if you can
tell what the basis of the picture was.

Any ideas?

Would love your comments below. :-)

Perspective: New Mexico Picture and Story

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This picture was taken in New Mexico,
somewhere in or around Albuquerque.

I had such a great time there, and
loved the time spent in Albuquerque
and Santa Fe.

It was where my love affair with
Kokopelli began. Kokopelli
is everywhere in that part of New Mexico.

I had never heard or seen Kokopelli
before my visit, and I now have several
representations of him in my home.

(a clock of this style is available)
I have a funny story about my time there.

I had driven from Albuquerque to Santa Fe,
and was trying to figure out where downtown
Santa Fe was. I couldn't seem to figure it
out, but I saw some shops, and what appeared
to be a shopping center, so I figured I
would stop in, and spend some time, and find
out where downtown was.

The first shop I walked into, I asked the guy
where downtown was, and he walked to the door
of the store, and pointed outside.

I had to laugh. The New Yorker in me figured
it could not possibly have been downtown.
Where were the tall buildings?

Interesting how growing up around a city like
NYC got me thinking that a city should look
a certain way. I learned a great lesson that day.

Talk about perspective! :-)

Perspective Art: Originals

In case you would be interested in seeing some
of the original pieces of some of the work
I shared here...this video will show you. :-)

Perspective: The Grass is Always Greener

Warning:
Some may find this video a little risque.

If you are unable to view above, you can
view this video here on FunnyPlace.org.

I share it for the humor,
and I share it for the perspective.

There is always another
way of looking at things.

Perspective Art

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Another pic that was nothing like it started out to be.
One day I should video tape some of what I do, incase
you ever want to see the contortions (a/k/a creative process).

If interested, let me know.
It will encourage me to do it. :-)

Perspective Art: Joy Love Peace

This is nothing like what it started to be. :-)

Perspective: Are Other's Opinions Limiting You?

Here is an inspirational story of someone
who was never supposed to be able to walk,
who walked more than anyone else ever has
in the way that he chose to do it.

Incredibly inspirational.

When someone says we can't do something,
perhaps we can do it better than anyone
else ever has.

We just don't know it - yet.
AND if we let their opinion
guide us, we'll never know.

Perspective Art

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How often have we been somewhere and not really seen
what we're looking at?

I was in a hotel, and took some pictures. At the time I
was looking for something, but didn't know what. I
found those pics tonight, and with some manipulation,
I think they're pretty striking.

What do you think?

The Blooper Perspective

A friend is a big fan of Get Smart, and recently
sent me some videos from the show. After I
watched them, I saw the one above.

It got me thinking about how much people seem
to enjoy watching bloopers. It also got me
wondering the origin of the word "blooper."
In some ways, the word sounds like when you
stumble over your words, and even sounds funny,
but it has nothing to do with it.

Bloopers simply are mistakes. Bloopers from
movies and television make us laugh. It is
always great to know that we aren't alone
in our experience, it is likely why we enjoy
them so. We see these final, slick versions of
things, and think that perfection is what is
natural, and necessary.

It's too bad our lives don't have blooper reels,
maybe we could remove ourselves from our
situations and laugh more about what is happening.
Interestingly, with video being so prevalent,
there are likely lots of opportunities, but there
are also ample opportunities for cover up, too.

I certainly wish I could do things perfectly.
However, working as I do, I am unable to afford
the luxury. I would have to say that is a good
thing, because it makes me move forward, even
when uncomfortable.

The next time you hold back, waiting for the
perfect moment or thing, consider watching a
blooper real, and remind yourself that along
the way to perfect is "real." How many times
does something have to be "perfect" any way?
(Not to mention, how exactly is perfection
defined and perceived - but that is a whole
other conversation).

Perhaps consider letting someone see you
less than perfect. Perhaps consider being
more patient with someone who is expressing
their less than perfect human self. Perhaps
even consider laughing at yourself and what
is happening.

I know...that last one especially may be
asking a wee bit too much, as life is meant
to be taken so very seriously.*


*for anyone who doesn't know me...imagine
tongue in cheek.

A Cool Pendulum from The Griffith Observatory

Made this quickie video from a visit to
The Griffith Observatory

Wonder how many people see it the way I do? LOL

Perspective: Going with the flow - a part of the plan?

I love looking at things, and exploring
new and unexpected ways to see them.

Of course, this video was likely
choreographed, however, it is made to
look completely random.

What if that is our life - choreographed,
and appearing completely random? Might
we know what to do next? Might we be
able to dance with the things and people
we interact with? What if the times we
have difficulties are the times we miss
our step, or go differently than what
the choreographer wanted? What if some
of the times that we have pain are a
part of the process?

Hmmm...Not to say it is...but what do
we really know? Just, what if...?

Have a great week!

Thank You! Twitter Follow Friday Love

Twitter is a wild and wacky and wonderful world!

Some think that one doesn't have to thank people
for the tweets they do...I tend to disagree...and
try my best to acknowledge the thoughtfulness of
others. Time and effort goes into a tweet, why
shouldn't some time and effort acknowledge it -
whenever possible.

I don't know that I can do my thank you for the
Follow Fridays this way all of the time going
forward, however, I wanted to see how it felt to
do it this week...there were so many kind and
thoughtful people and tweets.

Perhaps consider looking these people up. It
would seem they are good people to know!

Have a great day/night/moment in time!

Thank you to:

@alanajoey
@jimsmeltzart
@IAmShilla
@arlenesg
@AOChiro
@WynGalbraith
@Beachlovers
@Jillblue
@Lydiajohn13
@Burdoc
@blueferret
@nsane8
@KellyThomas1
@denyseduhaime
@Nominated
@fridayluv
@augustday1962
@London_Law_Firm
@planetjefferson
@MariCampbell
@Cougar_Candy
@Raatek
@CRYSTALM30
@SchuggaJoy
@CharlesLau
@tncc24
@keeperofdreams
@shandrab
@MarkMcAllGlobal
@zbussey
@DeniseWind
@bikinifreak
@PamelaGlasner
@JBCP
@ShellyKramer

Perspective: Wedding Procession

Here's a couple who had a different and fun
perspective on how to do their wedding procession.

I love it! To me, it just oozes love.


What if we weren't always so serious?
What would it be like if we danced our
way through life?

Makes me wonder if we'd smile more,
and have more fun. Just because something
is significant, does it need to be serious?

Perspective Art: Comfort zones and Creativity

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You never know what you're gonna find.

I am self taught on Photoshop Elements,
and have some comfort zones, but
occasionally I stumble into something
new that I can do, and am amazed.

Today's picture is one such example.
How it looks it couldn't have looked,
unless I had stumbled into something
I wasn't familiar with previously.

I am thinking that that could work for
anything. Do anything long enough,
and you might just find something you
didn't know about because you were
always doing what you knew.

But then, one day you stumble and
what seems like a mistake gives you
a whole new perspective. Have you
ever considered that stumbling
might be nature's way of showing
us something we've never noticed
before? Hmmmm....

Here's to today's stumbles!

PS I liked it so much, as you can see,
I put it as the background pic for my
blog. What do you think of the choice?

Perspective Short: Elizabeth Alraune: Judgment

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Thought for the day:
People are constantly judging and accessing.
Are you willing to let someone else's judgment
of you dictate how you feel about yourself?

Perspective: Art - another piece inspired by the solar eclipse

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Inspired by Today's Solar Eclipse

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As you may have heard, there was a total
solar eclipse today.

The above image started out with me
looking to mimic the full eclipse.

As you can see, it doesn't quite look that
way, LOL.

This image was totally computer generated
by Photoshop Elements - well, except for
my obvious input, that is.

Have a great night, and sweet dreams.

Perspective Art: Connection

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When I look at the above image, I think about
what some people say about how we're all connected.
Each piece is a slightly different shape, size,
color and yet - all a part of the whole.

Kinda like the inhabitants and
geography of that
Pale Blue Dot
we know, you know?

Letters of Love: 11 Letters Available in PDF

For Letters of Love PDF Click Here
For other blog entries that mention Letters of Love Click Here

Flowers for a Sunday

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"Remember who you are, and you will
draw strength. Remember who
you are, and your perceived
weaknesses will find their way to
become strengths."
- E. Alraune
from a Letter of Love

Perspective Short: Elizabeth Alraune - Creativity

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curious about something...
Have you ever noticed how often
creativity defies logic?

Perspective: Process

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The more creative I am, the more I am learning about life.

The above picture looks very different from its drawn version,
which looks very different from how the picture started out.

Among other things, the original started upside down.

It makes me think about life. How many times do I think I am
going to do something, and it winds up being something totally
different? If I was stuck in a mindset that said it "HAS" to
be a certain way, no work would ever be completed. If I
stopped creating the minute I didn't like what I saw, nothing
would be completed. If I stopped before doing something with
the image on the computer, likely nothing would ever be
completed.

Each and every step is a process of trial and error, and giving
up the idea of what it "should be." Each and every step is
taking me to an image that has not yet been created in my
mind's eye...often to even better results than what I could have
imagined - when I did.

It makes me think that since everything is all one piece of a
bigger whole, that life must be very much like that...and, as
I think about it, I can think of times when things worked out
better than I could have imagined or hoped for in their then
(perceived final) current form.

It still sucks sometimes in the midst of creation...you don't
always know when you're done. It's not like the timer goes
off. Even then, if I take the cooking metaphor, there is much
more that can always be done, until a dish is complete.

I love what is coming out of my recent burst of creativity.
And, it may not surprise you to find out that, of course, it
is not in any way shape or form what I thought it would be.

Interesting thing about perspective - you never know when
and how it's going to show up. You may just think you're
sitting down to do something silly or simple, and then,
"boom!" For all I know, this is just another version of
what is yet to come. Oh goodie! (Yes, just a wee bit of
sarcasm there, LOL.)

Have a great day!
Elizabeth

Perspective: Picture

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Do you ever notice the little things?
Sometimes I do, and sometimes
I take pictures of them. :-)

Hope you're having a great week!

Perspective Art: Blue

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Perspective Art: Joy Love Peace

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Animated Art: Peace

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Work of (He)art

"You have feelings for a reason,
and they are like signposts.
They aren't meant to be destinations."
(from a Letter of Love)

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We Are the World: Thank You Michael Jackson

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I am sitting here, watching the
tribute to Michael Jackson.

One thing I heard was that Michael
told Kobe Bryant something to the
effect that he should never be
afraid to be unique/himself.

This coming from a man who was
often mocked and ridiculed, and
made fun of. It occurs to me that
Michael was a very courageous man -
he lived his truth.

Now I know that there are things
that people considered questionable
in Michael's life. I personally am
unable to speak to them. What I will
say, though, is that we make a
mistake (in my opinion) discounting
the greatness of someone because we're
too busy questioning their faults
and/or perceived character.

There are millions mourning Michael's
death. I would suspect that the
reason may be in part because of the
fact that behind everything, he was
human, just like the rest of us.

Just now Rev Al Sharpton said to
Michael's kids, "There was nothing
strange about your daddy, it was
strange what your daddy had to deal with."
It was met with a huge round of applause.

We all have a yearning to be ourselves...
the people we are truly meant to be. I
think at the core we can all relate to the
difficulty in doing that at times, especially
in an environment of judgment that has the
ability to stop self expression in its tracks.

It is apparent to me, watching all of these
tributes, that Michael was well loved,
appreciated, and respected by many, and
many types of people. If he had been
anything else, but true to who he was, the
reaction might have been different.

Michael was loved for being who he was, despite
what public judgments were. How often is the
outward judgment out of alignment with what
"truly" is?

What might we get from this experience for
ourselves?

I have a new appreciation of Michael's music and
the message today. He truly had a beautiful
message, and sadly, as with many messages,
we only hear them when we are ready.

I knew about "We Are the World," but didn't realize
(or remember?) that Michael was a co-writer. I
leave you with the words of the song:

There comes a time
When we heed a certain call
When the world must
come together as one

There are people dying
And it's time to
lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We can't go on
Pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere
will soon make a change

We are all a part of
God's great big family
And the truth, you know
love is all we need

We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who
make a brighter day
So let's start giving

There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we make a better day
Just you and me

Send them your heart
So they know that someone cares
And their lives will be
stronger and free

As God has shown us by
turning stone to bread and
So we all must lend a helping hand

We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who
make a brighter day
So let's start giving

There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we make a better day
Just you and me

When you're down and out
There seems no hope at all
But if you just believe
There's no way we can fall

Well, well, well, well, let us realize
That a change can only come
When we stand together as one

We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who
make a brighter day
So let's start giving

There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we make a better day
Just you and me

Perspective: On Being Oneself - in spite of obstacles

Once you see this, you might
find it difficult to believe
that it is a commercial.

Perspective Short: On Being Discouraged

In my email today I received the following
without attribution. I tried to find some
somewhere, without any luck.

If you know who said this, please let me
know so I can give proper credit.

On my way home one day, I stopped to
watch a Little League baseball game that
was being played in a park near my home.
As I sat down behind the bench on the
first base line, I asked one of the boys
what the score was 'We're behind 14 to
nothing,' he answered with a smile.

'Really,' I said. 'I have to say you
don't look very discouraged.'

'Discouraged?', the boy asked with a
puzzled look on his face...

'Why should we be discouraged?
We haven't been up to bat yet.'

Talk about perspective. :-)

With Love

I found out this morning that Eric De La Cruz
passed away on July 4th. No death is more
poignant than the ones that come closest to
home. My thoughts are with those who loved
Eric the longest, and knew him the best.

In addition, there were many people who also
came to know Eric through his sister's untiring
efforts, and I know that this must be a very
sad day for them as well.

If you would like to hear the news from
Veronica, and hear her tribute to her brother,
as well as some music that was written by
Eric, please visit
http://www.hedrichcreative.com/Eric.html

In tribute to Eric, @theexpert on Twitter sent
this message out regarding our health care
system, and suggested that we consider what
could be done so that change can be effected.

It has been said that our mind is unable to
resist answering a question. It makes me
wonder what a good question to ask here is.
It makes me wonder what question will get us
the answer(s) we seem to need.

If you have any ideas, please consider writing
them in the comments section.

Wondering who Eric is, and why I would be
writing about him? See my previous posts.

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Perspective: Creating Again

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Today I was thinking about beauty, and what it means to appreciate it.

I was "inspired" to do yet another work with pastels and
Photoshop. It started out one way, and went another,
and still another before it was completed. Again, I had
no idea where it was going to take me.

Is this what those who call themselves artists do? Is
this the type of process they go through? I always
figured an artist had some idea of where they were
headed before they arrived. Maybe not?

I am amazed. I just kept going, and the above was
the result. Maybe you don't think much of it, who
knows? But the awesome thing for me is that I love
that I am doing it!

I share these with you because maybe you will be
inspired to act on something you may at first think
is nothing. If you do, please let me know, I would
love to see what YOU come up with!

Perspective: Creation

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The above image is another work that I created
in Photoshop, with the aid of a scanner and
oil pastels.

I started to do the work several weeks ago, and
almost threw it out. It sat for weeks. Last
night I finished the pastel part, but it wasn't
until today that I saw the finished work.

Amazing how sometimes we don't always see
potential, and might even "throw" things
away in mid-creation.

I have a much bigger image that I might do
something with...but not sure yet. We'll see.

This piece speaks to me, but as with everything
perspective, you never know if it will mean
anything to anyone else. Kinda like my
Letters of Love: messages that are very personal
for those who read them, but still very profound
for those having a human experience ;-).

Have an awesome day and weekend!