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On perspective: part 4 of a collaborative photo-essay series

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Naomi

Hi friends! We are back with part 4 of 5 of our collaborative fun!

Every Wednesday for 5 weeks (October 23-November 20), my dear friend Amy (of Tao Te Ching daily) and I are collaborating on a set of essays with a pair of photos. We’re taking turns writing on the topic that the photo evokes and then briefly responding to what the other wrote, so you’ll get to read both essays and see both photographs. (Catch up here: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3)

Amy and I recorded a very short audio introduction to our series, which you can listen to here.

The inspiration for this week’s post came from my two photos combined with this quote from Chapter 56 of the Tao Te Ching:

The Highest State of Humankind

Those who know, do not speak.
Those who speak, do not know.

Close your mouth.
Shut the gates.
Be soft.
Untangle your knots.
Soften your brilliance.
Become one with the dust.

This is the profound union.

No one can get close to you,
yet they cannot be distant either.
No one can help or harm you.
No one can honor or disgrace you.

Thus you achieve the highest state of humankind.

– See more at: http://taotechingdaily.com/tao-te-ching-chapter-56/#sthash.8mGmuZEB.dpuf

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Every so often you come across something in nature for which there are no words… when speaking at all is pointless and ineffective at conveying your respect and wonder. Marvels of creation like the glaciers we saw this summer in Alaska bring me practically to my knees in humbled awe of the grandeur of our natural world. I’ve written already, with photos from our trip, about why an iceberg is blue and how a glacier continues to change, but there is really no effective way to convey the sheer grandeur of a mountainous field of ice that goes on and on for miles.

Perhaps someone else would have felt insignificant standing before something this splendorous. For me, I felt a rush of reassurance that I am even a tiny fraction of such a glorious world… a world that contains senselessness and devastation, but also holds space for forgiveness, rebuilding, potential, progress, magnificence. Surely there is something greater at work here than anything I could imagine. That gives me peace.

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Read Amy’s response here. What do you think??? Please share your thoughts with us. We will be back next Wednesday with the last post of our series.

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Amy Putkonen writes regularly about the Tao Te Ching at her blog, Tao Te Ching Daily. She challenges you to reflect on Taoist principles in real life situations and see where it takes you. Stop by and say hello!

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Naomi Wittlin is a photographer, blogger, and artist who lives in Houston, TX with her husband and 4-year-old daughter. She welcomes visitors and new subscribers at poeticaperture.com.

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Our collaborative photo-essay series will feature 10 of Naomi’s photographs, all of which are available for purchase as a pack of blank greeting cards. To see all the images and for details, please click the photo to the left. They’re sitting right here next to me, waiting for you to ask for some!

Posted in Cards, Mindfulness, Photography, Quotations, Spirituality, Writing | Tagged Amy Putkonen, blog series, collaboration, glaciers, grandeur, iceberg, photos, stillness, Tao Te Ching, Tao Te Ching Daily | 8 Comments

House to home #2: living room (part 2)

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Naomi

If you need to catch up with the big changes to the living room, please read Part 1 that I posted on Friday, where I show you the rug, the new chairs, the lamp redo, etc.

I added colorful throw pillows (these and these) and throws to the couches (this throw and this blanket). They are way more comfy now and we love snuggle time on the weekends even more. If only they didn’t still smell like cat pee.

To brighten up some fun artwork and to help it gel more with the other wall art, I repainted these frames:

For our end tables, I’m trying to place feel-good things there. Little touches like these irises make a big difference to me.

A huge project was lightening up the wood bookshelves. I really wanted these when we were building our house and am very glad we have them, but they were rather dark. Here you can see how they were originally, then the unfortunate choice of backing them with textured contact paper, and finally with a mirror. That is one large rectangular mirror, cut exactly to the space. By putting the shelves back in place, the mirror is secure.

The room looks so much bigger because your eye is tricked into thinking that you are looking through the bookshelves (impossible because the pantry and ovens are on the other sides of them), when you are truly seeing a reflection of the living room and french doors.

I had to move these frames because I needed their wall space for one of the paintings I made in my Bloom True class.So that’s the living room. If you haven’t seen the rest of the room, please read Part 1. You may enjoy the dining room update too. Part 3 of our “house to home” series will be the window updates, and then Part 4, the kitchen. I’m excited to hear what you’ll think of the changes there.

Posted in Home | Tagged house, lamp, mirror, redecorating, reflection, rugs, space, throw pillows, throws | 3 Comments

House to home #2: living room (part 1)

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Naomi

In the first post of this series, the dining room, I forgot to show you the little entry rug. I think it picks up colors from the dining room. 🙂

Let’s begin in the back half of the living room with a photo from a blog post from May 2012 when I shared with you some spaces in our then-newish house. This was a new console table from IKEA I’d just added on a rather a large wall. I hung one of my large framed photos behind it and there wasn’t anything on either side.

After shopping long and hard for a large enough mirror to fit the space, I finally found one. The idea was to brighten up the room with some reflected light. The day it was delivered was so exciting! The box was HUGE. I had to get our handyman to help hang this.

When Mr. B and I were in New Orleans, I eyed these lamps in a cute little shop. I’d been looking for colorful console table lamps and these were perfect. We bought them and asked them to ship them to us.

In the photo above: chairs pillows similar throw storage mirror

I have since added a plant, a small fountain, ottoman, and a few other odds and ends. For YEARS, we have had no houseplants because our kitties used to spread their dirt all over the place and also chew on the leaves. This ficus has no leaves down low for them to reach (from the floor) and they don’t seem interested yet in these leaves. I have to show you how I am keeping our cats out of this plant…

That’s a $1 doormat.

The main part of our living room was very brown. Brown rug, brown lamps, brown throw pillows, brown shelves, etc. My first project was to try to paint the bronze lamps.

It was a bit of a mess, but successful in the end, I think. I used an oil primer first and covered it with 2 coats of a glossy oil paint in creme. The trouble came in trying to paint the inside without touching the outsides. I added these decorative finials that are more interesting than the little balls that came with the lamps.

Interestingly, the most major change to the room is the rug, and it arrived only a couple weeks ago… the last of the changes. It made a huge difference in bringing all the other changes together.

I have more to show you! I’ll be back on Monday with shapshots of throw pillows, bookshelves, artwork, etc.

Posted in Home | Tagged console table, lamp, mirror, New Orleans, paint, redecorating, rugs | 11 Comments

BookSmart coupon codes for your holiday gift-making

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Naomi

I am bringing you an extra post this week because I want to let you know about these deals that Blurb is running. To be completely honest, I am a Blurb affiliate, which means that if any of you decide to create your own book by using the links below, they may throw a few pennies my way. However, rest assured that I would only recommend something that I use myself!

When Mr. B and I went on our “babymoon,” (some made-up word and excuse for a vacation before a baby arrives), I wanted to make a quick photo book of our trip. I had used Shutterfly before, but was very frustrated with the time it took to create layouts and insert pictures because it was reliant on their internet servers/speed. BookSmart is nothing like that. Once I downloaded the program to my computer, I could work on my book anywhere and anytime. Making that 12 x 8 book was simple and I loved how it came out.

Since then, I have used BookSmart for every single photo book I’ve made. This 12×12 one is of our trip to Monet’s garden home in Giverney, France.

Perhaps my favorite size is these little 8×8 books from various trips. They are easy to make, easy to hold in one hand, and the perfect reminder of good times.

And, of course, there are baby books. I began by making these quarterly 7×9 books, but now I make 12×12 books. I’ve already got a huge stack considering the number of photos I take!Finally, I’ve made books of this blog, which I’m delighted to have. They take longer than the other services available because for some reason I can’t upload the content to their site, but I don’t mind. I put in every single comment and love having them.

So think about it! Books for you or for family and friends are easy to make and make nice gifts.

Save 20% when you spend $40 or more on print books at Blurb
When you use the coupon code: MORESAVINGS

**Offer valid through November 11, 2013 (11:59 p.m. local time). Valid for printed books only. A 20% discount is applied toward your product total with a minimum order of $40. Maximum discount is USD $100 or CAD $100 off product total. This offer is good for one-time use, and cannot be combined with volume discounts, other promotional codes, gift cards, or used for adjustments on previous orders.

Save $25 when you spend $100 or more on print books at Blurb
When you use the coupon code: EARLYSAVINGS

**Offer valid through November 11, 2013 (11:59 p.m. local time). Valid for printed books only. A $25 discount is applied toward your product total with a minimum order of $100. This offer is good for one-time use, and cannot be combined with volume discounts, other promotional codes, gift cards, or used for adjustments on previous orders.

15% off Blurb Books until Nov 18 with code: AUTUMN15

Here’s a little more info from Blurb themselves:

Getting inspired with the Blurb Gift Center

There are a lot of gifts you could give this holiday season, but when it comes to something really meaningful, there’s nothing quite like the gift of a book you’ve made yourself. But before you start having visions of gluing and sewing together pages, check out the Blurb Gift Center.

Blurb lets you make seriously beautiful books using their free tools. Just add photos and text, choose your options (like paper and cover type), and then order. Of course, you do have to decide just what kind of book you want to make. But relax, because they have put together the cool Blurb Gift Center to give you lots of ideas.

For instance, if you’ve got a genealogical bent, there’s the Blurb Family History Book.

For those with newborns (or those that know someone with a newborn), a Blurb Baby Book might be just the thing.

And if you’re the kind of person who keeps getting asked for copies of your recipes, think about making a Blurb Food Book.

This holiday season, make your gift recipients feel really special by making them something special. There really is a book for everyone.

Posted in Books, Creativity, Photography | Tagged Blurb Gift Center, books, BookSmart, EARLYSAVINGS, MORESAVINGS, print, time | 3 Comments

On silence: part 3 of a collaborative photo-essay series

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Naomi

Hi friends!

We are back with part 3 of 5 of our collaborative fun! Every Wednesday for 5 weeks (October 23-November 20), my dear friend Amy (of Tao Te Ching daily) and I will collaborate on a set of essays with a pair of photos. We each are writing on the topic that the photo evokes and then briefly responding to what the other wrote, so you’ll get to read both essays and see both photographs. The response to our first post was amazing and we are both so filled with delight that so many of you enjoyed it.

Amy and I recorded a very short audio introduction to our series, which you can listen to here. I thought it would be super weird to listen to my voice, but it sounds pretty awesome, I think! Have a listen.

The inspiration for this week’s post came from my two photos combined with this quote from Chapter 25 of the Tao Te Ching:

There is a primaeval force
that existed before Heaven,
Before Earth was born.

Tranquil. Formless.

Standing alone yet never changing –
It permeates everything and never nears its end.
It could thereby be considered
the Mother of the world.

I do not know its name –
I call it Tao.

* * * * *

Amy has written beautifully about silence as the natural state of existence. Read her words here and then come back and read my response:

As an introvert and an HSP, I rely on silence and alone time to rejuvenate/recover from a flurry of activity. Weekends in our house are usually full of goings and doings with my family which are wonderful and fun, yet I keep in mind like a beacon the upcoming quiet of Monday morning to help propel me through them.

I’m told that extroverts get their energy from being around other people and introverts are the opposite. Only in stillness and calm do I find my center and connect with what is important to me. Only after all the people and energy have left a space can I process what happened. I’m great (maybe it’s my Gemini nature) at putting forth a tremendous amount of energy to organize an event and being “on” in a crowd, but I find it completely exhausting.

There was a time about 12 years ago when I resigned from a long-held job that was outwardly community-focused and called for event after event after event like this with continual community exposure. I couldn’t even go get my haircut without running into someone and having to discuss “work” ideas. I imagine it’s like being mayor or clergy, where there is very little separation between personal ideals and working with others around you to implement or maintain them.

And yet… I would be the last person to sign up to live alone on an island for an extended period of time. It is only in moderation that I appreciate the lulls. Too much and I begin to despair. There must be a happy medium between the push and pull of such isolation.

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What do you think??? Please share your thoughts with us. We will be back next Wednesday with Part 4 of our series. Oh no! You missed Part 1 and Part 2? No worries…

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Naomi Wittlin is a photographer, blogger, and artist who lives in Houston, TX with her husband and 4-year-old daughter. She welcomes visitors and new subscribers at poeticaperture.com.

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Posted in Cards, Mindfulness, Photography, Quotations, Spirituality, Writing | Tagged Amy Putkonen, blog series, collaboration, Mother, photos, stillness, Tao Te Ching, Tao Te Ching Daily, time, writing | 7 Comments

October book love

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Naomi

And as I type this, on Sunday evening, there’s finally a tiny chill in the air here. Sweet relief! I put up some twinkle lights on our patio today now that it’s enjoyable to spend time outside. I love this time of year when we can turn off the a/c and open all the windows.

October was a great month for ending the day with a good read. Here’s what I’ve been enjoying. I’ve been diligent also about updating the Currently Reading page every time I finish a book. Maybe one of these monthly posts will help you find something that sounds interesting to you.

Family Pictures
by Jane Green

I DO love Jane Green, but I have to just say that this book was an easy, quick read and very emotionally predictable. Still, I enjoyed it. I started it at 8pm one night and didn’t put it down until 3am. Mr. B thought I was crazy.

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Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace
by D.T. Max

I’ve always been a DFW fan. This book was amazing — written incredibly well and tediously researched by Max, working with Wallace’s friends, fellow academics and those in recovery, etc. I thought he was sensitive and understanding of Wallace’s major depressive episodes and his struggles with his writing. While I’d have liked to know more about Wallace’s relationships with his immediate family (and Max was in much contact with them), I respect their privacy. I had no trouble getting quickly absorbed into this account of a brilliant life with a tragic end. In fact, I couldn’t wait to go to bed at night to read more.

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When the World Was Steady by Claire Messud

I was serious when I said I plan to read everything this woman wrote! I plodded through this first novel of hers, even though I didn’t really want to be reading it. It’s about two sisters who couldn’t be more different, and how their lives drift. They don’t seem to learn anything or reach their own goals. Maybe I didn’t get it?

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The Last Life: A Novel by Claire Messud

This one is set in the south of France, the U.S., and Algeria. We meet generations of one family and see their setbacks and disappointments, hopes and fears. The narrator, a 20-ish-y.o. girl, is lonely and full of tragedy already, and retrospects on her life thus far. I have to say that what kept me reading was that this is so well-written. Messud’s phrases and descriptions are mesmerizing. However, I wasn’t very interested in her characters in this one.

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The Hunters by Claire Messud

Messud’s third book, in my opinion, is MUCH better than her first two. The first novella here, “A Simple Tale,” is pure, brilliant loveliness. The way Messud describes growing older and lonely, the possibility that we don’t matter much to anyone, the importance of fully living until the end, or that we can still make a difference to someone else, is brilliant. The ironic title, for the narrator’s past is anything but simple, hides much within.

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The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell

Wow. This one was self-propelling in that I kept wanting to know what would happen next. I thought the characters were drawn particularly well. Apparently this is a psychological thriller, which is a first for me. I can’t say the ending was very profound, but I enjoyed it. An easy and fun read. I think it’d be fun for a book club discussion.

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The Seven Common Sins of Parenting An Only Child: A Guide for Parents and Families by Carolyn White

Just so you know, those seven are: Overindulgence, overprotection, failure to discipline, overcompensation, seeking perfection, treating your child like an adult, and overpraising.