fleeting moments

early morning light by jogo

Thank you to Jo, a regular contributor to the Mortal Muse flickr groups, for taking my spot this round. I hope you show her some muse love. I’ll be back next time to muse on shapes.
xo maureen

Musing on relaxation . . .  I’m not really sure I know what relaxation is. Generally speaking I’m in a constant state of motion, if not physically, well then mentally. But there are times when I can feel still, fleetingly, and I can feel totally relaxed and just enjoy being and not doing.

Like those last moments of slumber when I can wake up and listen to the resident blackbird with the early morning sunlight slipping through a chink in the curtains and falling across the bedclothes, spreading its warmth. And I know that I still have time left to myself before its time to get up and start the day. And my mind can drift off for a while, with the blackbird song, to daydreams of countryside and birdsong and butterflies and flowers… and my camera …and then the alarm goes off…
 
I love the mood of relax from Deanna as she is snapped from behind catching a few fleeting moments of relaxation of her own.

guest muse JoGo

RELAX (For Mortal Muses Theme, Relax) by dks10

spring petals

Spring Petals by GillyinKent

First of all, thanks to Muse Tammy for inviting me to guest post.

This was much harder than I thought it would be. Choosing a picture from the pool would have been easy, but finding something of my own to put with it was much more difficult.

I started thinking about what spring means to me. Flowers and blossom and new leaves, of course, but the theme encouraged us to ‘think outside the box’ and so I wanted to avoid straightforward flower pictures, however tempting and lovely they are. At the weekend I visited a beautiful old house and gardens, where the blossom was so heavy and abundant that it was a wonder the trees didn’t keel over with the sheer weight of it.

I filled a whole memory card with blossom photos but then my eye was caught by the way that the fallen petals were piling up on every surface. They lay inches deep on stone stairs and balustrades, they floated so thickly on the pond that you couldn’t see the water, and huge magnolia petals were draped like small and bizarre items of laundry over the shrubs that grew underneath the blossoming trees. I remembered that one of the experiences I love most in spring is when a sudden breeze releases petals into the air so that they float down like confetti or some strange and lovely spring snow. And I adore the way cushions of pink petals pile up in every corner, on top of cars, and in gutters, transforming everything in their profusion.

I took the picture above because I liked how the graphic lines of the steps and the hardness of the stone contrasted with the soft delicacy of the petals. I got exactly the same feeling when I looked at kat3no3l’s photograph below – the petals in her image are almost translucent in their fragility.

Gilly Walker of www.gillywalker.com and flickr
 

Pink Snow by kat3no3l (Katenoel)

happy memories

Many thanks to Muse Mosey for asking me to guest post today. The concept of repeating patterns is little out of my comfort zone, and I enjoyed the challenge.

Growing up in New York City, I lived against a background of repeating patterns. The city itself is built on a grid plan, and everywhere I looked I saw repeating patterns in rows of windows, murals, subway tiles, construction sites, bridges, advertisements, and storefronts, the patterns always interrupted by the never-ending stream of people walking by them.

I live in the country now, where the roads meander and the backdrop is wild. Our “grid plan” is the pattern of the year and the changing of the seasons. There are patterns in nature, too, but one has to look harder for them. And people are few – one's more likely to find one's pattern interrupted by a cow or an insect.

This week I did look for patterns in nature and found many, and I looked for patterns in farms and lumber yards, and I found them. However, it was while photographing layers of stacked boards and pipe in a lumber yard that I looked up and saw my daughter walking past the roofing tiles, and seeing her against the patterns behind her gave me a sense of deja vu of growing up amongst the patterns of the city. Yet, the red of barn and the dirt beneath her feet in my photo marks it very much as “country” to me.

This photo of t.morris's, also brings back to me those memories of a life set against repeating patterns and who could resist the happy message on the wall?

Deirdre of superdewa photography and superdewa on flickr

strolling past happiness by tmosnaps

on the road

for sale by alphabet soup studio / lenore locken

Planes, trains or automobiles…which would you choose? For me, the automobile wins every time. Road trips rank very high on my list of favorite activities, particularly if the journey involves driving along back roads and exploring new areas. You just never know what’s around the next bend and that’s magical. I discovered this rusty old Packard on the side of U.S. 1 in Florida, an unexpected treasure that absolutely made my day. As rough as it was, I wish I could have bought it.

Hannah Bryant’s black-and-white photograph conjures up the magic and mystery of a road trip. As I gaze at the image, I want to know more about this country drive. Is it a vacation, or possibly a trip to Grandma’s farm? What’s beyond the beautiful tree? The photo draws me in and sparks my imagination.

Many thanks to Tammy Lee for allowing me to muse today about road trips. Hope she's having a wonderful weekend!

guest muse lenore of alphabet soup studio
(you can also find me at elemenopea and on redbubble)

Drive by H a n n a h_

a moment in memory

“Some there be that shadows kiss; Such have but a shadow's bliss.”

William Shakespeare

We stood together on our first walk down London’s South Bank, looking over the rippled low-tide sand and dirty river Thames. I loved the contrast of the sun’s shadow lines painted on the shore below. It was the first time I really paid much attention to what we looked like together; I had never seen us side by side in a mirror or a photograph. I watched our shadows play that day, the way they stretched and shrunk with the changing sky.

I thought the shadow lines of a barrier and a human looking beyond then in SightSpecific’s photo was a perfect complement. It’s a photo full of light and wonder. I love its soft dreaminess. What is she thinking? Where is she standing? It inspires questions and like the photo above, it holds the words of an untold story.

A big thanks to Kat for letting me take her place this week. Hopefully she's having a great vacation!

Steph x of http://pixiespix.wordpress.com

shadow fence by SightSpecific

sharing the love with...jen

sweet heart by piecesofmejen

“Your task is not to seek for love, 

but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” 

- Jalal ad-Din Rumi 

Your task is not to search in others for love, but to find within yourself, all of the walls built up against allowing love back into your heart. To new love, to loving yourself.

Many of us, after being damaged by so many broken promises and painful experiences, lock ourselves within self made prisons, protecting all we have, unwilling to give our love away and not even knowing how to love ourselves. We feel unworthy and abandoned by love. 

It has taken me many years of experiences to realize that I can't let the past destroy me. That you can't love others if you have no love for yourself.  That I  can love myself better than anyone else ever could. It is an everyday task, and not one that ever ends.

Let love into your heart, if not for anyone, do it for you.

~Jen of pieces of me

2 - say u love me by az.adrii.

sharing the love with... brooke

You make me want to dance! by barefoot momma photography

Love here isn’t your typical frilly, lovey dovey, giddy as a school girl type love, but there is definite evidence of love floating around here. You might not always see it between the daily, I mean hourly, refereed wrestling matches, the “no’s” and “quit it’s” floating through the house and the tears spurred by a claim of unfairness, but it’s there. It is there in the rare moments of stillness and their arms find a way around each other, I hear it in the tiny giggles and “I’ll help you’s” that float out of their rooms, I see it in the eyes of my youngest when he admires his big brother and in their concern for each other when one is hurt or crying. The moments might be short, but they are there, evidence that it’s not always punches and teasing, but love and admiration too!

When I first saw the image by three little cupcakes, it reminded me of these flashes of love that make their way into our home and after reading her sentiments about her own photo, I knew this was the photo for me. My photo was one of the “out takes” during my attempt to get a valentine photo of my boys together. Normally, they run from the camera or are too busy to sit still, but this day THEY wanted pictures and like three little cupcakes, “I love anything that involves my boys sitting nicely and not beating the crap out of each other.” Especially if it results in fun, laughter and capturing a moment that shows the love they have for each other, just look at my youngest admire his big brother! Being able to capture these moments makes a mom’s heart happy and far outweighs the frustrating hours spent refereeing little boys! Plus it’s evidence that they DO love each other when they have their first fight over a girl!

Thank you to muse Tammy for asking me to share the love in my life and thank you to muse April for sharing her day with me!

Wishing you lovely moments and a Happy Valentine's day!

Make sure to visit tomorrow. Christy will be sharing the love with her muse... Jen.

Brooke {Barefoot Momma} of Brooke Martin Photography and creator of Project 64: Out of the Box.

24 : 365 by three little cupcakes

sharing the love with... justine

sweet love by justine gordon

There are so many versions of love - first love, intense love and enduring love but to name a few. I believe in the happy ending version of love and am a hopeless romantic. Give me a romantic film with a few tears, a collective 'aaaww' from the audience, a round of applause and a happy ending and I feel all is right with the world.

At this time of year I love the warm fuzzy glow of love that is everywhere, it's the kind of love a group hug gives you. It doesn't have the intensity of everyday love, to me it's pink, fluffy and over the top.

I chose Iluv2bauntie's picture because I thought it illustrated that love can also be for the simple things in life and who doesn't love a gorgeous golden retriever?

Make sure to visit tomorrow. April will be sharing the love with her muse... Brooke.

xo

Guest Muse Justine of Justine Gordon Photography

4|5.2 by iluv2bauntie

sharing the love with . . . jan

l-o-v-e by jan@twoscoopz

A daughter is a gift of love. ~ unknown

It's not like any love you've known before. Not like the love you first felt from your parents when you were little, or the puppy love in sixth grade. It's not the butterflies in your stomach when you're a young girl or the deep and lasting kind you're lucky to find as a woman.

No, this love comes along and blindsides you. This love turns your world upside down, grabs hold of
your heart, and never, ever lets it go. And from the moment you set eyes on her, you're inspired to be a better person, a better woman. For her.

There's a quote about how having a child is like choosing to have your heart go walking around outside of your body. I love Geneil's photo of her own daughter, holding her heart in her hands.

Be Mine.
There was never any doubt.

Please visit tomorrow as Kirstin shares the love with her muse . . . Justine.

~ much love jan at twoscoopz
 

be mine by team.breeze

sharing the love with... jhen

Love transcends all boundaries.  All languages.  All cultures.  All ages.  Love is universal.  And love is a beautiful thing.

Love is what sustains me.  Love is what motivates me.  Love is what inspires me.  And in my life, the love I see between such an innocent soul and her hero of a father is such a gesture of the Love I embrace each day. And that love is what I capture most.

And in my world, Love is what I strive to embrace with  the art of my lens.  And in a world where Love can be understood anywhere, my journeys are endless.  So we chase down the winds carrying the sweet scent of love and we find faces that look similar to our own.  Full of joy, sincerity, and love. And when another captures such a moment, I fall in love all over again with this gift we've been given.  The ability to LOVE.

Visit tomorrow. Maureen will be sharing the love with her muse... Jan.

with love, Jhen.Stark
From Here to Eternity

 

there... by swissyogini

sharing the love with... holly

the light of love by holly {soupatraveler]

Remember that song by John Paul Young? You know the one, "Love is in the air, Everywhere I look around..." Okay, I'll admit it, I had to look up who sang it, but as soon as Kim asked me to be a guest muse, this song has been playing on repeat in my head! But you want to know something else? Love's not only in the air, it's also in the light! Truly, it is. Just look around you. If the sun is shining, if a lamp's turned on, if a candle's burning, the chances are, you're seeing something, or maybe someone you love, bathed in its splendor. The evidence is all around us, the light and love within us. We too become beacons of light through the love in our hearts. We radiate sunshine with our smiles showering warmth and goodness over everything we see. Luckily, we can also capture these feelings forever with our cameras.

As photographers, we are blessed with the ability to not only show the love, but to share it too! We turn our cameras where love abounds: anniversaries, birthdays, and weddings. We shoot big, toothy grins, hugs and kisses with a couple of candle-topped cakes thrown in. We shoot our kids, our pets, our homes. But we also shoot simple things where love is aglow, or maybe because of it, like this light soaked heart bathed in bokeh, or like Oliag0's candy hearts. Two sweet, simple lollipops, a tiny pop of colored happiness in an otherwise grey world, adorning a windowsill while catching some light and warming our hearts all at the same time. They certainly warmed mine. I hope you find some evidence of love in the light illuminating you today. Oh, and by the way, feel free to sing along. "Oh, oh, oh, Love is in the air..."

Please visit tomorrow as Ashley shares the love with her muse... Jhen.

Sending lots of love and light your way today,
xoxoxo holly {soupatraveler}

Warm Your Heart... by Oliag0

sharing the love with... rosina

by rosina w. photography

A Greek philosopher once said, “A hidden connection is stronger than an obvious one.” To me, a genuine evidence of love is that connection—the connection between two hearts, two souls, no matter how far apart their physical bodies may be. The two hearts are bonded forever, withstanding the test of time.

As a photographer, my goal is to communicate with my clients about that special bond and my passion is to document that kind of relationship between them. I love to witness that hidden connection between people. More importantly, I love to capture that piece of evidence—that evidence of true love.

When I first laid my eyes on this image by Sozo.e , my heart skipped a beat. I probably stared at it for a good minute. I not only saw, but felt that connection between these two boys. That pure joy and happiness from a Daddy and that incredible stare from an innocent newborn. It was so emotional for me--I was ABSOLUTELY in love.

You have to visit tomorrow. Kim will be sharing the love with her muse... Holly.

~with love, Rosina of rosina w. photography

My boys by Sozo.e

sharing the love with... jennifée

cliché in red by jennifée  

Some have won a wild delight,

By daring wilder sorrow;
Could I gain thy love tonight,
I'd hazard death tomorrow.

-- From the poem Passion by Charlotte Brontë

Clichéd? Over-the-top? Cheesy? Oh yes. The above quote and photo can be accused of all these things and more, but it doesn't matter. Sometimes life is dark and grey, and seems to consist of an endless sequence of ordinary days, and then I take some time away from everything else to treasure and celebrate everything passionate and colourful. And I don't mean romantic love only, but my love for photography, the ocean, putting words on a page, storytelling, life.

On the other hand, what sustains me through those ordinary days is the stillness of quiet love. The comfortable silences together. Coming home after a stressful day to a favourite meal ready on the table. The tattered pages of a beloved book, frequently re-read. Wade's photo speaks to me of that quiet love, the love that makes my shoulder muscles relax as I lean back and take in another slow sunset.

Thank you for reading my words, and a big thanks to muse Kat for asking me to write them.

Visit tomorrow. Suki will be sharing the love with her muse... Rosina.

With love from Jennifée

~29/365~  {explore} by  DocUNC

sharing the love with ... cara

...in every way. by tumbleweed.in.eden

Photography is a wonderful medium for expressing emotions. We are able to show a full spectrum of feeling from melancholy to joy, from despair to love. My photo was meant especially for the love of my life, but the words ring true for many important relationships. A good relationship with a boyfriend, girlfriend, best friend, parent, brother, or sister should improve the quality of your life. While we all know that love begins with loving yourself, a wonderful relationship can truly make life more satisfying.

And that's one of the things I really saw in Denné Alise Photography's photo: the beautiful bond shared by two sisters. The soft colors and focus, coupled with the magical light really tell the story without words. Life can be made simpler, carefree, and just plain better with the love of a person special to you. So share your love, and make your loved ones' lives better!

Visit tomorrow. Kat will be sharing the love with her muse... Jennifée

xo

Guest Muse Cara of tumbleweed.in.eden and Cara Rose Photos.

Sisters by Denné Alise Photography

pet pals

Ahhh...my crew♥ by iluv2bauntie

Creatures…our pets.  How can you even think of them without your heart smiling? We have all heard how research says that pets can lower your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and triglyceride levels. People living with animals have less depression, exercise more and socialize more. They add so much to our lives.  Certainly, you have hairier couches and lint rollers by every door but it is the special and intimate moments like the one captured by Princessinboots that make living with pets so delightful. 

A flickr friend, Tolly P., shared this little song from YouTube with me. It sums up my feelings even better!  GoD And DoG. I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you Tammy, fellow obsessed animal lover, for inviting me to muse for you.

Guest Muse Tavia of iluv2bauntie 

and pet human to Bigs, Scout, and Daddy

Untitled by princessinboots

change your perspective

forest trail by blue elephant photography

The easiest things in my world to miss are those things lying 5 feet below (may be more or less for others). However, whenever I can remember, I always take a minute to stoop DOWN LOW and look back out at the world. The world becomes brand new again. The leaves rustle a bit louder and the ground sure seems hillier.

We see the world at eye level for the majority of our days. Day in and day out we follow similar routines and we start to take the world around us for granted. It’s when we change our perspective that we can learn again to appreciate and marvel at simple things like the little ballerina who is trying to make a statement in AnnGeeDee's photo.

It’s down here, down low, where my imagination can more easily wander. Merely one of many leaves, I can take a minute to decide which breeze I should catch and where I may like to go. I can’t hide from the world and stare at my shoes. I am my shoes and all I can do is look up and soak everything in. Or maybe have a quick conversation with a blade of grass or my leafy friends.

Have an awesome day! I hope you are enjoying your long weekend break. ♥

guest muse kristine of blue elephant photography

312.365 by AnnGeeDee

___________________________

Please share some comment love today with our first muse's muse.

You never know when I may reach out to YOU to muse with us.

♥ tammy lee