From the category archives:

Picture to Ponder

Listening Attentively – Boy, Wood Knots and Blue-Winged Teals – Picture to Ponder – v6 – Issue 11

by Sheila Finkelstein on March 16, 2010

If you are ever feeling stuck or in a funk and you’ve been around me for a while, you might hear my voice say, “Grab your camera. Pay attention to what catches your eye and take some pictures.” I’ve written about this in articles and you’ve most likely read my RX in the PDF file you received as a new, or renewing, subscriber. You can claim it by subscribing to Picture to Ponder.

Oftentimes I do I forget my own advice. Though I almost always have my camera with me, I may not use it. Last night, in a funk, I went for a walk at Green Cay Wetlands. When I finally pulled my camera out, I remembered, “Oh yes. Why didn’t I think of this in the first place, as immediate access for shifting my mood?”

Today’s Photos -
As I started walking and taking photographs of wood knots, I got into conversation with a young boy, Grady, and his mother. I stopped and showed them the Green Cay Wood Knot Lion, still in my camera. We then discovered another possible lion, or other critter, right under our feet. Grady did not agree with his mother and me on what it was. So the next time I made a discovery, he went close down to inspect it.

boy studying woodknot on the boardwalk at Green Cay WetlandsClick on the photo to see Wood Knot the Boy is studying

We continued our walk, made some other “finds”, and then stopped at one point. My young friend climbed on the railing to watch the blue-winged teals. As I photographed, Grady continued talking about a story that was evidently on his mind from earlier conversation. His chattering along with the movement of the bird, is in the 32-second, fun video below.

Grady and his mother proceeded to move on as I stopped to record the two blue-winged teals below. This is a 34-second video in which you can experience the busy-ness of the teals and the peace of the scene.


Click on photo to see the video online.

Self-Reflecting Queries -
Obviously, from my story above, you can see that once again, I had accessed shifting my own “funky” mood.

Do you have a regular practice that will do this for you? If so, do you have a reminder system in place that will have you use the practice whenever needed?

And now, in a totally different conversation, let’s look at “paying attention.” If you’ve watched, and listened to, the first video with the boy chattering, you’ll have heard me break in with the suggestion to look at the water coming out of the duck’s beak.

I invite you, for the next day, or more, to pay attention to your own listening. Are you always full present to what the other person is saying or are your thoughts going elsewhere?

When you notice you’re not, are you planning on what you are going to say next, concentrating on something else, or is your mind simply wandering?

If/when you catch yourself, I invite you to stop, apologize to the person who is speaking, if appropriate, and ask for a recap. Then fully enjoy being in the moment with that person

As always, have fun with this, and please share your experiences in the COMMENTS section at the bottom of this post.

Awakened Wisdom -
I have been invited to participate, offering a bonus, in the launch on April 20th of a new book, “Awakened Wisdom – A Guide to Reclaiming Your Brilliance”, by Patrick Ryan.

Over the past three decades, Patrick, an executive coach and a former Buddhist monk, has been on a spiritual quest that eventually led him to devise a system of teachings he calls “Awakened Wisdom Experiences” (AWE). For years he taught this system worldwide at his workshops of the same name.

Now, at long last, he has consolidated the teachings of Awakened Wisdom Experiences into a book, appropriately entitled, “Awakened Wisdom – A Guide to Reclaiming Your Brilliance.” This means his unique spiritual teachings can now reach a much wider audience around the globe. You can read more about the book here: AWAKENED WISDOM.

The book Awakened Wisdom is written in two sections. The first is a deeply spiritual exploration on what it means to be human. The second section explores what Patrick calls “Eight States of an Awakened Life”. These eight states help you tap into your divine wisdom to create more of the life you want. Here are the eight states from Patrick’s book:

1) A Good State of Understanding
2) A Good State of Intention
3) A Good State of Words
4) A Good State of Being
5) A Good State of Purpose
6) A Good State of Effort
7) A Good State of Practice
8) A Good State of Doing

In addition to bonuses from 40 other people, Patrick is giving away an EXTRA special gift of his own: An Awakened Wisdom VIRTUAL Experience!

When you buy the book, you will be given free admission to this special 2-day live “virtual” event, taking place on May 5th and 6th, 2010. On that event, Patrick will personally guide you through the Eight States of an Awakened Life. If you cannot make the live event, it will be recorded, but it will be available only to those who buy the book on April 20th.

To find out how you can buy this book on April 20th and claim Patrick’s gift, and the others, just go to Awakened Wisdom Launch When you go to that page, be sure you enter your email address in the form, and Patrick will send you a “launch reminder” to make sure you don’t miss the April 20th date.

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Swan – Taking Action after Searching Within – Picture to Ponder – v6 – Issue 10

by Sheila Finkelstein on March 10, 2010

Today’s swan photos were taken on the hotel grounds between sessions of Suzanne Evans “Be the Change Event” in which I was a participant last month. Before I describe the pictures and how they fit in with our lives, I want to update you on some exciting news.

If you are a new subscriber to Picture to Ponder, you may be unfamiliar with my Banana Sky DVD (more below). The exciting news is that it is going onto the retail market, being offered by a large company that does programs for caregivers. This means that our price, to match theirs, will be increasing by a minimum of four dollars at midnight on Sunday, March 14th.

To bring the restorative benefits of nature into your home any time, day or night, on your TV or your computer, at the still-low price of $7.97 you can go directly to the ORDER PAGE, or for Ellen Britt’s Video Testimonial and others, plus a one-minute preview, go to BANANA SKY DVD.

Today’s Photos -

swan in pond
Considering what’s next

swan searching deep within
Searching deep within

swan still searching
Still searching for the last pieces rippling out into the world

Swan with top of head missing from photo
Confident in the reminder that it’s not all in the head -
Trust the whole body

Though these photographs were not taken with any of the above captions in mind they are reflective of my current journey into self-discovery. I suspect you, too, may relate to some of what’s expressed in the captions.

And, MORE IMPORTANTLY, I invite you to BE with each of the images without my words. Enjoy each for what it is and, if any “send” a message to you, play with that.

Self-Reflecting Queries -
For today’s queries, I invite you to make a query for yourself from each of the photo captions above, IF this FITS for you.

In this week’s Writers Camp with Julie Jordan Scott, mentioned in Picture to Ponder last week, I have been grappling with the role of writing in my life. Some people are “driven” to write. That’s not the case with me.

Aside from my daily Morning Pages (Julia Cameron’s THE ARTIST’S WAY), where writing frees me up for the day, writing often feels like a “burden” and I do it because I made a commitment to do so, such as for this weekly Picture to Ponder.

One of the recurring themes in Picture to Ponder has been the freeing power of taking action, one step at a time, “getting out of our heads” (Swan photo #4). I invite you to look into your life to see if there is a current place where you are “burrowing” your head (Swan photo #2). If so, what single action can you take to start yourself in motion?

Is there an intention or commitment behind it? If not, setting that could be your first action step.

As always, have fun with this, and please share your experiences in the COMMENTS below.

Banana Sky DVD -
Banana Sky DVD documents the life of a banana plant from pre-fruiting the the end of the life of the one plant. As importantly it reflects the beauty of the experiencing nature, particularly that of sunlight.

I discovered that watching a slide show of a selection of the photos would always relax me, especially during the moments I was experiencing hard-to-control anger, as a caregiver, at the effects of Parkinson’s Disease on my beloved Sam and, consequently, on both of us.

Sensing the possibility and power of the Banana Sky DVD video, I contacted Jeannie Fitzsimmons to use her healing music as an integral part of the experience.

The resulting DVD was set up as an endless loop that will play continuously on a DVD player connected to your TV, reaching those who are not on computers, and on any computer DVD player.

Though initially targeted toward caregivers, Banana Sky DVD has become popular with anyone looking to have immediate, 24/7, access to the healing powers of nature anytime.

As mentioned above, the price will be increasing to $12 at midnight on Sunday, March 14th. Save four plus dollars by going to ORDER now, or PREVIEW for more information and to read testimonials first if you wish.

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Mushroom Faces Inspired Changes Perspectives – Picture to Ponder – v6 – Issue 9

by Sheila Finkelstein on March 3, 2010

Despite thousands of photos in my external hard drive, I was at a loss for featured photos for today’s issue of Picture to Ponder. Aside from some full moon shots and the roses of the past two issues, nothing much has grabbed my attention in the past week or so.

I then reflected on the fruit and vegetable cutting photo session, and some of the participants’ empowering experiences, in the last class of our Through and From the Lens Point and Shoot photo course and decided to “play” with that subject matter. Thus,

Today’s Photos -

My first action was to cut a mushroom in half. I started smiling immediately as two “faces” instantly showed up. Despite the fact the faces were not particularly happy ones, I couldn’t help laughing at the irony of how quickly, it seems, I see “faces.”

In the top and bottom photos, two different mushroom halves are resting on my stovetop. The half in the middle photo is in a ceramic dish I made on potters wheel years ago. Though more “artistic” in overall feel, the “face” seems to be angry or snarling, more so than in the other photos. It is same image as in the bottom photo. Yet, note the changes when on a different surface and viewed from a slightly different angle.

If you enjoy writing, these photos could be great prompts.

Self-Reflecting Queries -
As mentioned above, I was “stuck” for subject matter for today’s issue of Picture to Ponder, so I went for my camera. The latter, as you more than likely know, is one of my main tools, and “prescriptions”, for quickly shifting moods and perspectives.

What “tools” or methods do you use for creating state changes for yourself? I’d love to read your responses in the COMMENTS section below, including any writing your might have done with the photos as prompts.

In addition to simply cutting into a vegetable and then taking pictures, I went into creative mode by locating, positioning, and repositioning my subject matter. I became attuned to the differences by changing points-of-view. When you are in “stuck” situations, do you remember to look at them from different angles?

Lastly, are you aware of the number of ways in which you shift into creativity to make a difference for yourself?

As always, have fun with this.

Programs I recommend:
for Creavity, Writing and Getting to Expand your Knowledge of Yourself

Although not planned as such, my concluding query on knowing yourself and your creative strengths, interestingly, leads right into my friend, and mentor, Julie Jordan Scott’s one-week March Intensive Writing Camp starting this upcoming Monday, March 8th.

These five days with Julie are only $27, an incredible value! Get all the details at WRITERS CAMP.

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Beauty Continues in Aged Rose – Picture to Ponder – vol 6 – Issue 8

by Sheila Finkelstein on February 23, 2010

As you most likely recall, roses were featured in the last issue of Picture to Ponder – “Perfections, Imperfections, Counting Blessings” (see post below this).

Although I had not intended a continuation of the theme or photos, I am in such awe of the beauty of several of the roses, now eight days older, that I simply had to share one of them here.

Today’s Photo -

pink rose center - 8 days after Valentine's Day

I started adding another photograph and it felt that this one needed to have the total space. I invite you visit the page, Roses – 8 days Later. It has this rose photograph, plus five others taken at the same time.

Self-Reflecting Queries -
Comments on the blog and directly to me had me revisit the theme of imperfections.

One reader wrote that she has frequently created rose greeting cards and realized, as she was reading and looking at the featured roses, that she often would pinch off the “imperfect” petals!!. This, during times she was teaching children to accept their “imperfect” pictures and stories.

As I mentioned above, today’s rose, and those on the Roses Page, were taken 8 days after I brought them home. Amazed at the remaining full-body-ness of several, I took more photographs in the night light.

I suspect that many of the readers here would have long ago discarded the flowers, seeing them only as shriveled up.

I invite you to look into your life. Can you identify a point in the life cycle when you discard flowers, objects, people – defining “life cycle” as the time period of usefulness?

Are there people’s statements that you automatically disregard, because they feel “old”, not “right”? What if you took another look?

Where can you find beauty today/tonight in something you usually ignore or slough off?

As always, have fun with this.

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Perfections, Imperfections, Counting Blessings as seen in Roses – Picture to Ponder – v6-issue 7

by Sheila Finkelstein on February 17, 2010

Today’s Picture to Ponder message relates to perfections and imperfections and finding the blessings in our lives.

On Sunday, Valentine’s Day, in the United States, I found myself feeling sad, missing Sam more than I usually do. It was interesting for me to observe this since he and I never really celebrated Valentine’s Day. I handled it by taking constructive action, for me writing, making a phone call and posting insights on my Writing for Healing blog. Bottom line I ended up being invited to dinner at my son’s home, which resulted in, among other things, receiving a beautiful bunch of flowers.

Once home I took an abundance of photographs, for some unidentified reason, focusing on the numerous roses that were part of the grouping. I experimented with different backgrounds and lighting with this issue’s roses being a small sampling. You can find more in the Rose Set in my FlickR account.

Before continuing, I do want to remind you of the SPIRIT AUTHORS Grand Opening on Monday Feb. 22.  I consists of  5 FREE webcasts with 18 leading publishing experts. See  SPIRIT AUTHORS.

Today’s Photos -

Orange rose

orange rose close up

close of up dying pink rose

pink rose opening bud at angle

Self-Reflecting Queries -
Today’s photos are, obviously, of roses, none of which are perfect. I was initially caught up in their beauty in color and/or patterns and shapes.

Then I saw the “imperfections”, the first pink one almost at the end of its time. This led me to querying, and inviting you do the same, “When you see something or someone, is your first response to see the imperfections or the beauty and positives?” If you miss, the imperfections at first glance, or two, are you able to accept them and stay with the beauty of that at which you are looking, or is something marred, with negative in the space? If the latter, do you stay with the negative, or are you able to create a shift for yourself? If so, how?

As I conclude, I realize that seeing the roses’ imperfections and choices we make are somewhat analogous to my Valentine’s sadness experience, staying in it or finding a way to see the positives.

For me, if you read the blog post, you’ll see, I ultimately chose to see the blessings in my life and wound up with even more than I expected – the flowers and the riches of that.

How about you? Are you able to see the blessings in your life?

As always, have fun with this.

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Prickly Situations or Enlightenment from a Cactus Flower – Picture to Ponder – v6-issue 5

by Sheila Finkelstein on February 4, 2010

Today’s Photo -

pink cactus flower
Cactus flower in the Desert Botanical Garden in Scottsdale, Arizona.

As part of the focus and sensory expansion exercises we do in the Point and Shoot Through and From the Lens photo course, participants “place” themselves into a photo of an alstromeria flower and explore it from within and/or from the outside. As a follow up, there is a choice of two other photos with which to do this exercise between sessions.

When looking at the photo page the other day, before sending participants the Photos for Exploration link, the shiny light within the above cactus flower popped out at me. It called out to, once again, be a featured photo in Picture to Ponder.

Self-Reflecting Queries -
Although the “spiny” needles surrounding the flower may be prickly, in the photo they appear to be soft and gentle. The light feels strong and bright, yet there is an overall sense of softness, conveyed in part by the pinks.

I invite you to do the exercise mentioned above, putting yourself into the photo, exploring the flower, the setting within which it resides, covering it from all angles.

Observe – “What size are you?” “How does it feel?” “Would you want to be a permanent resident in this space?” Check your responses. “Why ‘yes’ or ‘no’?” Do they point to similarities in any aspects of your life?

I also invite you to look further into your own life. Are there areas where you are feeling “prickly” places, perhaps ones you wish to avoid? If so, can you look beyond and find a bright light beckoning you? What could you be saying to “soften” them up?

You may also want to use your camera to photograph images that catch your eye and then do the same exercise with one or more photos of your own.

As always, have fun with this.

Programs I recommend for:
Authors – Published or Inspired to be ones -

My friend, author of GARDEN OF THE SOUL, is launching a new program with an exciting FR*EE Grand Opening Event coming Feb 22-26. She is hosting 5 days of webcasts with 17 other leading names in the exciting world of mind-body-spirit writing and publishing.

Lynn is presenting an exciting NEW concept on the Internet, combining coaching, learning, community and business-building in a creative, spirit-based environment.

If you’re an experienced author, a brand new author, or someone who is dreaming of writing an inspirational book some day, you’ll want to register for this fr*ee event.

Using Social Media – Developing an Internet Business:
This weekend I was in Atlanta for the Niche Affiliate Marketing System (NAMS 3) program. It was a full, information-rich, people-connecting, inspiring weekend.

On Saturday, a recording, STRATEGIES 4 SOCIAL MARKETING, was made with a panel of 5 top Internet Marketing Experts sharing information and tips on effectively using social media for connecting AND building business. That hour session is now available in a downloadable MP3, with several bonuses, for only $17.

My friend Tomar Levine, not at the conference, wrote: “Thanks, Sheila. I bought it, listened to it, and took four pages of notes. Just what I needed to re-invigorate my social media, which I’ve backed away from of late. I got at least one brand-new piece of info which I will start using immediately.”

It is also possible, until Monday when the price increases, to purchase the recordings from the past three NAMS conferences, including this past weekend, for only $97 total. The above-mentioned Social Marketing recording is part of the weekend recordings, so you wouldn’t need both.

See NAMS for details and to purchase the full series, should it fit for you.

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Being Safe and Authenticity – Azaleas, Ferns and Iguana in Morikami – Picture to Ponder – v6-issue 3

January 22, 2010

Before introducing today’s photos, I want to put out a reminder for those of you whom might be looking for a creativity boost, in an “eye-opening” way, you can experience this in the upcoming Point and Shoot Photo Course. The official start date was moved to this upcoming Tuesday, January 26th.
Our pre-class revealed an exciting, [...]

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Getting Past Stuckness – Taking Action – Introducing Red Onion #7 – Picture to Ponder – V6-Issue2

January 15, 2010

Today’s post will be, of necessity, a demonstration of “less is more” – fewer words than usual on my part. So many of them around the “right” words have been running around my head that I allowed myself to stay stalled. I’ve been wanting to ensure that you understand what’s available for you [...]

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Year-end and New Year’s Reflections from Night Crown Heron and Dancing Children – Picture to Ponder – v5-48

December 29, 2009

I’m taking a quick break from family time to wish you a Joyful, Healthy, Peaceful Prosperous New Year.

The Night Crown Heron seems to be pondering? Reflecting? Have you taken the time to reflect and acknowledge your accomplishments in 2010?

Will you to be stepping lightly into 2010 or taking a leap?
And, in celebration of both the [...]

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Holiday Warmth and Light from Wakodahatchee Wetlands Reeds in Picture to Ponder – vol 5 – 47

December 22, 2009

With this issue of Picture to Ponder, I wish Happy Holidays to those who still have celebrations up coming.
I would expect you, like I, have a long to-do list and may also be inundated with the wide range of emails offering holiday and year-end specials. I am thus being VERY BRIEF.
Yesterday I was working on [...]

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