a sprinkle of faith

Keep on Keeping on

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” -Albert Einstein

In keeping with photographs, as opposed to illustrations, I wanted to share one that I took with my phone – ages ago – when I was out hiking (which doesn’t happen that often).

I have a few cool ones from that day, but what caught my eye in this one was the runners’ shadows. They’re big! I’ve wanted to incorporate more shadows into my collections – and there you have it. Naturally made.

I was trying to think the other day, of songs that I used to sing where I’d gotten the lyrics all wrong. Yesterday, when I was considering titles for this one, I thought of “In the Shadows.”

Then I thought of that song by Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. Haha! Well, it’s not shadows it’s shallow – but it almost works. Regardless, I opted for Keep on Keeping on… which Curtis Mayfield sang so eloquently.

Anyway, I did work on a couple illustrations yesterday but they just wouldn’t have it. Nothing was working. Sometimes I feel like my life moves in these ‘obvious’ ebbs and flows.

They are so obvious that they just cannot be ignored. Sometimes I imagine that it’s God… telling me I’m on the wrong track again. Not so much wrong, but forced. You just cannot force creative endeavors (or many other things).

It’s like forcing love. It is there, or it is not.

“Love cannot be forced, love cannot be coaxed and teased. It comes out of heaven, unasked and unsought.” – Pearl S. Buck

By the way, I know that using quotes can be a little cliché, but I’ve been finding some really good ones lately and I can’t resist. They are so right on sometimes!

Not to change the subject, but my circadian rhythm is slightly out of whack. It’s 8:22 a.m. right now, and my body thinks it’s night time. Another natural phenomenon that is difficult to manipulate.

That being said, I’ll wish you a good morning (again), rather than good night.

Thank you for viewing/reading!
I hope you have a beautiful day… full of peace and love.

PS: I am jonesing for a satisfying illustration, so I may be back sooner rather than later… wish me luck!

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6 responses to “Keep on Keeping on”

  1. Dracul Van Helsing Avatar
    Dracul Van Helsing

    That is an excellent quote from Pearl S. Buck.

    That photo reminds me of a dream that my dad had about me when I was 12 years old.

    A dream that he told me about.

    He dreamed he was in a valley of the Red Deer River Badlands not far from the town of Big Valley, Alberta.

    He was down in the valley when suddenly he saw a giant shadow being cast over the valley.

    He looked up and he saw me on a distant hill casting that giant shadow over the valley.

    Last September I spent a weekend on a guest ranch/farm west of Big Valley.

    When I was told by a friend before leaving with other friends as to where this location was, he said it was west of the town of Olds Alberta and not east (he was wrong – it’s east of Olds and not west) so I was not expecting to be anywhere near Big Valley.

    As it turned out, the guest ranch farm was just across the Red Deer River just slightly southeast of the town of Big Valley.

    Anyhow as I walked around the guest ranch farm, I found a huge Cross standing on a hill near the farm overlooking the river Valley.

    Not having very good balance, I hung on to the Cross for support as I looked over the River valley.

    It suddenly hit me the location I was at.

    The spot where I was standing.

    I remembered my dad’s dream about me when I was 12.

    From the spot and location he was at in the valley in his dream and where he saw the giant shadow and it was me casting the giant shadow, the spot he described where I was standing was the exact very same spot I was standing now.

    It was a very unusual weekend.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Janet Avatar
      Janet

      Wow that gave me goosebumps. Interesting! 🤔 The fact that he remembered his dream vividly enough to share it with you and then you end up right there… sounds like a divine appointment (I think that’s the right term).
      Especially with the cross right there!! Wow. 😮

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    2. Dracul Van Helsing Avatar
      Dracul Van Helsing

      Yes, it does sound like a divine appointment.

      One of the reasons I found that Cross is because at another spot on the hill about 400 yards north my friends found a path down to the river valley.

      But that path was too steep for me to climb down.

      So they went down and I walked along the rest of the hill going along a path through trees.

      Where I found the Cross in an open space overlooking the river valley.

      Later my friends found a path back up the hill that was about 40 yards south of the Cross.

      I had returned to the Cross and that spot on the hill a little later when I noticed my friends walking up from that southbound path.

      My friend Cristopher (who spells his name in the Spanish style with no h after the C and before the r) gave me a very beautiful looking and interesting stone he found down on the river valley.

      ”Here Chris, I felt inclined to pick it up and give it to you,” he said as he handed it to me.

      The thing was my dad was always finding interesting arrowheads and fossils and dinosaur bones and beautiful looking rocks and stones as we went on field trips throughout the Red Deer River Badlands and other areas of Alberta and we’d take them back home.

      So the fact he stopped and picked up a beautiful looking stone and felt inclined to give it to me seemed further confirmation that there was some significance to my dad’s dream.

      Liked by 1 person

    3. Janet Avatar
      Janet

      Wow. That’s crazy. Yes, when “something” urges someone to do a thing like that it definitely feels otherworldly.

      I think that’s why trips like that are good too, because the mind is quieted enough to look and listen. Even at home my mind is constantly on something that is usually of no value hahaha.

      We need to be open to waiting and watching. Well I’m glad you had that experience. It inspires me to settle down more and look up and out rather than thinking 24/7 about my next image or story. Obsess much?? lol! 😂

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Dracul Van Helsing Avatar
    Dracul Van Helsing

    Say, Janet go right away to katespage23.wordpress.com and read the blog post titled Reminder #1 which immediately popped up in my WordPress notifications in my Gmail right after I posted the above comment to you.

    Talk about divine appointments and God speaking to you.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Janet Avatar
      Janet

      Oh that is beautiful and perfect! 😍

      Liked by 1 person

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