Tag / lines

by Janet

Emotions: Joy

Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.

—Emily Dickinson

I’ve been thinking a lot about the purpose of my blog. What is it exactly? I know, right?

I’ve had many objectives since I started—from journaling about the story of my recovery, to photography, art, poetry, a bit of fiction (still with no endings), and an attempt at a health & lifestyle makeover (that I may resume privately in the future).

These constant and never ending transitions illustrate perfectly what I was referring to in my previous post, Fluidity. I’ll never commit to just one purpose in life… and that is final.

Anyway, I enjoy working with prompts and/or challenges because they inspire me to think and to express myself, whether it be written or visual. I’ve used the alphabet twice and can give you 26 reasons why I won’t be doing that again. So that is out.

One thing I know about myself (and my artistic creations) is that my emphasis is always on learning and experimenting with techniques. I guess you could say that my analytical side takes the wheel. What I find difficult with visuals, on the other hand, is letting go and expressing myself freely. My creative side likes to sit back and let the analytical half do all the work.

So… I thought I would challenge myself and see if I could create feelings or emotions without getting all caught up in the tools that I use and so on. And tonight we have my first attempt: JOY.

In all honesty, I failed the challenge. Originally. I set out to create LOVE, and I think that my art actually shows how I feel when I’m in love (or infatuated), but the dancer is all alone and it reminds me of my misadventures in love… all giddy and unaware of the dangers that lie ahead.

As I thought about it, however, I realized that I still experience the feeling that I used to get whenever I thought that I was falling in love… and that feeling is joy. Only now there are no strings attached, and no love-sick hangovers to get through.

Joy is wonderful… and it makes me feel like dancing.

When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.

Buddha
by Janet

City Lines

dark city sky

City life is millions of people being lonesome together.
—Henry David Thoreau

sunset city sky

I took some additional photographs of the sunset a few nights ago (pictured in Mesmerized) and I liked this one because of all the utility lines. I like how they added interest to the sky… sort of City meets Sunset.

With my new photo editor, I have so many styles and effects to choose from that I’m having a hard time making up my mind on anything! I thought these two versions were a great display of opposites—light and dark, sad and happy, gloomy and bright.

I think the message here is that those lines in the sky are a symbol—or at least they used to be when we actually used wired phones! For me… they send a message… Stay Connected!

I also wanted to say something about my last post – The Quarantine Project. The featured image was actually made from Broccoli leaves. We have a wild, overgrown Broccoli plant in our garden that is so large it reminds me of Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors. If you look close at the background you can see the outline of some of the leaves. I can’t believe I forgot to mention that! I thought I’d add it to my Garden Art. 🙂

Thank you for reading! Blessings…
—Janet

Chair on a bridge
by Janet

The Hot Seat

This chair was abandoned on a bridge near my house and I thought of the Pull up a Seat Photo Challenge (2020 Week 12) when I saw it. It’s an interesting setting with all of the metal bars on the bridge; so many lines and shadows!

Normally that bridge is open during the day for pedestrians, but since it’s locked up right now (no school kids walking by) the chair has taken up residency.

As I said before, this social distancing hasn’t really affected “my routine” since all of my classes are online right now, but the eeriness of it all is still so odd. I have no fears, but I DO wonder how the ending will play out. There will be so much fall out; domino effects, ripples, repercussions and consequences. Life will be changed for so many.

Anyway, I think the dilapidated chair surrounded by bars says it all.

Kind of creepy.