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A Joyful Noise

mule deer

Art Challenge of the Week: Creating abundance

November 27, 2015 by Melodye Shore

“Abundance is not something we acquire,” Wayne Dyer once said, “It is something we tune into.”  I wholeheartedly agree. It’s not about having, or doing, or aspirational thinking. The Secret (if there is one) is to be fully present in each moment, wholly appreciative of the gifts available to us in the here and now.

It’s the ability to see a hummingbird’s nest for the iridescent promises it holds…

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And to greet unannounced guests as if they belonged, as if this were the plan all along.

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Abundance reveals itself when you wade, unafraid, into frothy waters.

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Sometimes it appears as if by magic–shimmery bouquets from a bubble wand, for instance.

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It presents itself in expansive moments of peaceful awareness,

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Expresses itself as joyful noise or a whispered “amen.”

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Abundance is a splashy little thing,

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With a graceful elegance.

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It’s a timeless beauty, capable of endless transformations.

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Abundance can be of our own making, of course–bread dough, for instance, set to rise in a warm kitchen.

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Perfect in its imperfections, it fills us with a delicious sense of well-being.

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Abundance is the secret gardens we tend…

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Within each seed of awareness, an abundant harvest.

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I snapped these photos over the course of this past year. They speak to grand adventures and simple delights, quiet beauty and occasions that shout, Behold! It’s a curated collection, brief glimpses of the whole story, but when I remember these wide-eyed, breathless moments, I’m filled anew with gratitude for the abundance they represent.

How apropos, that Thanksgiving week prompted the challenge word abundance. Want to see more? Visit Veronica Roth’s page and follow the links. My responses to previous challenge words are available here. 

Posted in: art challenge, beach, Harlem Gospel Choir, joy, joyful noise, monarch butterfly, Photography, Sara Tagged: abundance, beach, bread dough rising, bubble wand, egret, exotic feline breeding compound, homebaked bread, hummingbird egg, leopard, lev, monarch butterfly, mule deer, pope john paul ii rose, rain slicker, sand castles, sara, thanksgiving

The View From My Window

October 21, 2014 by Melodye Shore
I like to look out the window. I have spent freely so much of my time doing this, and sometimes it strikes me how little I know of the various things other people can do. I can’t play bridge. I don’t play tennis. All those things that people learn, and I admire, there hasn’t seemed time for. But what there is time for is looking out the window.
— Alice Munro

Still recovering from ankle tendon surgery, which means I'm spending a good deal of time sprawled on the sofa like an overturned beetle, boot-clad, bandaged leg above my heart. #Metamorphosis, anyone? It's a lengthy recovery process, and I won't bore you with the details. But I'm grateful for the lessons available to me in this period of enforced stillness.

Mindfulness. A deeper appreciation for my physical body, inclusive of all its abilities and limitations. Peace in the moment, and joy in every hobbling step.

It'll be a while before I'm able to return to some of my favorite activities: gardening, hiking, dipping my toes in the ocean and  (vroom vroom) taking my Nancy Drew roadster for a spin. But hey, I have a wicked-fast knee scooter, so go me!! And my camera's got a fantastic zoom lens, which helps bring my garden indoors.

I captured these photos through a window screen, balancing teetering on my scooter all the while.

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Mule deer! In the wilds of Orange County, who knew?!?

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Grace. Beauty. The element of surprise.

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These, the gifts that come of shifting my gaze. Going inward. Looking out my window.

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Posted in: Uncategorized Tagged: alice munro, ankle surgery, knee scooter, mule deer, window

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