Words from the Heart

Photos of mass grave of Captain Lathrop and his men slain in 1673 Have you ever taken a photo and found something unexpected in it?  Was what you saw something you could explain away, like dust on the lens, rain drops, humidity, smoke? Teal Gray, Tui Snider and I just had a great conversation about spirits and spirit energy on Teal Gray Worldwide ! Part of our conversation was about the two pictures above, but we also shared experiences with the unexplained and discussed two pictures that Tui had captured on two different occasions.  One thought that we shared is how easy it is to dismiss things like the photos above.  However, when "you eliminate the impossible (as Sherlock Holmes would say) whatever remains, however improbable , must be the truth?" So it is! On a serious note, I have always believed in spirit energy (ghosts).  In my life, I have had too many unexplained events not to believe. I also know that many people do not believe. I respect that....

I just finished the latest round of collaborative work with the "Get Sparked" initiative. I have to say, this project is a wonderful means of getting the creative juice flowing.  For those who have not heard of the Spark collaborations, they were started by Amy Souza, who is a freelance writer and editor in Arlington, Virginia. She founded SPARK in 2008. The project began with 20 participants—10 artists and 10 writers—and June 2012 marked the completion of its sixteenth round. Learn more about Spark and Amy, visit a previous post at: http://contemplativeed.blogspot.com/2011/03/challenging-creativity.html This time round, I participated as both a writer and an artist.  I never thought of myself as an artist, but, I am.  I love to create. Producing a work of art using digital photography has been a joy. The following are my artistic creations for SPARK 16. I am sharing both the works that didn't make it to the final cut and the final offering.  The process is ...

Many years ago, when I was raising my four daughters, we lived in a neighborhood that still had woods and ponds and brooks unscathed by the desire to turn every inch of land into mega-mansions and ultra-malls. Most of our neighbors had sons, much to the girls delight and/or dismay depending on what area of maturity they were at in their development. During a time when the boys were yucky, they (the boys) got together to build a tree fort directly across the street from our home at the top of a rise that elevated their view directly into the second story rooms. When the girls spied the boys in the tree fort, they would pull down the shades, squealing with delighted disgust that their privacy was being invaded. The boys would whoop and holler, make gun sounds, jump from the limbs of the tree and run commando style through the woods. During the time that the boys had become cool to be with, the tree house served as a place to meet. From the vantage point of my bedroom window, I could s...