My Beautiful Verb: Soulful Thoughts

"What a liberation to realize that the “voice in my head” is not who I am. Who am I then? The one who sees that.” ~Eckhart Tolle

Eckhart Tolle's books The Power of Now and A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose were life changing books for me. I had never once had the idea that my brain (whom Eckhart calls "the thinker") was a separate entity from who I actually am. To realize this concept was an epiphany, and offered me great relief and peace from the torment of my worrying brain thoughts. In Eckhart's words, "The brain does not create consciousness, but conciousness created the brain, the most complex physical form on earth, for its expression." The idea of the brain as purely an expressive tool of the real source of who we are, our consciousness, was a very freeing thought. It completely resonated with me.

To me, my consciousness is my inner spirit, and I like the idea that my soul is the true leader. She's fully present inside this body I've been given, and tries her best to make her way through life with me amidst all my brain's hang-ups, fears, and self-judgments. She's the quiet voice at the bottom of my lungs, whispering words of comfort when I'm confused, sad, or afraid. She helps me to remember I'm worthy, even when my brain is convincing me I'm not (have you ever thought about how many of your self-imposed thoughts simply aren't true?). As Eckhart Tolle describes, "The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive." My soulful self cheers me on in those destructive moments. I am now aware of her (me?) every day, and she is good company.

These poor souls of ours, trapped inside our worldly minds! How do they keep their faith through all of our earthly trials and tribulations? How do they stay positive within us, surrounded by our constant, internal brain battles? As a lifelong worrier, my brain controls me more than I'd like to admit. But, the more I acknowledge my inner soul, the greater her strength becomes. She loyally defends me against my brain's attempts to define me, which is no easy task. Her gentle presence is as certain as my next breath. She is my breath. And she is action...she is strong, resilient, and empowering. She advances, she deftly outmaneuvers my brain thoughts...as I've grown older, she has gained strength and is always one step ahead. She is my beautiful verb. She is me.

“You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” ~ C.S. Lewis

I'm linking up to Bonnie's Photo Art Friday - her theme this week was "graffiti". I started with an image of a wall I took in Lorton, VA. I added the text with two fonts, one called "Misdemeanor" and the other called "TWO a.m." (both were free at dafont.com). I also used Bonnie's "Ma Belle" texture at Hue/70%. The quote is from David Mitchell's book The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. It really caught my eye the first time I read it.

What Will Your Soil Bear?

"Consider what each soil will bear, and what each refuses." ~Virgil

I'm participating in Kim's Texture Tuesday this week - her theme is flower. Sadly, the only decent flower I can take a photo of right now is indoors...yesterday, we had another snow and even though spring has officially begun, it still feels like winter here in Virginia. I've shared a few shots of our snow storm below, but first I had fun with Kim's flower prompt. I took some close-up photos of a bouquet of grocery store flowers recently, and this was a favorite...I used Kim's "Cora" texture at Soft Light/26%, and also put my image through Radlab. I loved the dreamy effect I got, and the image seemed to be begging for a quote. I love the meaning behind this quote, or at least, my own interpretation of it. What "grows" in our life absolutely depends on whether it's compatible with who we are at the core. A mismatch between soil and seed will mean poor growing conditions.

Thank you for stopping by - I'm hoping that soon I will have many beautiful spring blooms to share...winter has overstayed its welcome!

Here is what I woke up to yesterday, four days after the official start of spring:

When In Doubt, Doodle

If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced - Vincent Van Gogh

When in doubt, doodle. It's better than nothing, and very therapeutic.

Iphoneography: DistressedFX App

I'm having a creative slump this past week. No matter what I've attempted to process with PSE, I've felt deeply dissatisfied. Have you ever had one of those weeks? I sure hope it passes soon! My iphone has saved me, letting me at least dabble with my images and satisfy a little bit of creativity.

I thought I'd share some iPhone images where one of my favorite apps, "DistressedFX", was used in the editing process (click HERE to see more info). This app is fantastic - it adds gorgeous textures and overlays to your phone images, and gives them a distressed, painterly effect. The textures were created by Cheryl Tarrant, an artist from Tennessee. They work especially well with landscapes. It's a very easy app to use and you can adjust the opacity of the textures (and also the contrast, brightness, and saturation). It has blur effect options also. I highly recommend it! It costs $0.99. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

NOTE: In the table/chairs image and the house with columns image, I combined DistressedFX with Glaze, another painterly app (click HERE). It's a wonderful combination that I use often!

The Soul Always Knows

Just as there exists in writing a literal and poetic truth, there also exists in a human being a literal anatomy and a poetic anatomy. One, you can see; one, you cannot. One is made of bones and teeth and flesh; the other is made of energy and memory and faith. But they are both equally true. ~Elizabeth Gilbert

March always finds me with weary bones, looking to the sky (and earth) for signs of spring...and I'm happy to say the signs are here! Replenishment of my spirit is coming very soon. In the meantime, it's up to me to fight off the winter doldrums...to physically take care of myself, to be grateful every day, to reach inward and acknowledge the melancholy that drifts through...and then, more importantly, to listen to that inner voice that always nudges me towards hopeful and positive thoughts. I'm so glad for that inner voice! I take great comfort from her presence.

Are there signs of spring where you are? If not, hang on...look at that vast, blue sky and know that it will soon be on its way. Thank you for stopping by! For my image, I used Kim Klassen's "Violet" texture, at Multiply/78%.

THE SOUL ALWAYS KNOWS

What calls you to the quiet?
To let go of bone and
Wander with the soul?
To allow her to step
From your waters of
Deep remembering
Feeling safe to speak?
When my bones are weary
They leave an imprint
Sunken and fossilized
Like rib marks pressed
Deeply into the earth

Choose a bone, soul
Says with a whisper
Pry it from the dirt
Petrified and tender
Use it for something
Not intended:
Pick the padlock
Unlock the gate
From your graveyard
Let flowers spill
And roots grow, and
Words flow

Through it all, the
Soul always knows
She waits, lamp in hand,
Carrying that elusive key
That often won't fit
Any lock I own
Seeing the whole time that
My chest door is ajar
That the sky hangs there
Lovingly and bright
Like a vast, open prayer
So quenchable that I
Fill my cup and drink it.

© Sherri Brannon

EDIT: I was thrilled and honored when my blog friend Viv (visit her blog HERE) used some words from my poem above to create a beautiful digital layout. It's gorgeous and I'm sharing the image below - click to enlarge it. Thank you, Viv! Knowing that my words touched someone enough to want to create with them truly made my day.

My Week in Instagrams

This past week has been so busy that my blog is feeling very neglected...my daughter is home on spring break and we also have company. I didn't even have time for my favorite Photo Art Friday this week. Thank goodness for my iphone, which allows me a tiny bit of creative expression in the midst of my busy days. I thought I'd share some of my favorite recent phone images...thank you for stopping by!

A Little Sunshine

Our spirit persists like a man struggling
through the frozen valley
who suddenly smells flowers
and realizes the snow is melting
out of sight on top of the mountain,
knows that spring has begun. ~Jack Gilbert

A cheery reminder...spring is coming! I'm not a yellow person typically, unless it's flowers. I thought I'd share some yellow flowers today and spread a little sunshine. Our daffodils aren't quite blooming yet but it won't be long...and I was very excited to see our crocuses blooming yesterday. The lily is from my grocery store flower purchase last week - they've lasted a long time! The ceramic flower basket belonged to my grandmother and is very sentimental to me. Happy Sunday!

On a separate note, I apologize that I've had to activate word verification on my blog. Over the last two weeks, I've suddenly been overtaken with anonymous spam comments - about a dozen a day. It's so frustrating...if anyone has any advice on how to get around this without word verification, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!

EDIT: I've switched to comment moderation for now...we'll see how that goes!

Rebirth, and Hopeful Things

We are pressed flowers in heavy books, too close to the story to see it is only a story. ~Andrea Gibson

This week's prompt for Photo Art Friday was to create an abstract image using only Bonnie's textures and an original photo. I took a photo of an old pressed rose from my high school scrapbook...this rose is 34 years old, from a bouquet I got when I graduated! I thought it would be perfect to go with a poem I also wrote this past week.

Every year when March arrives, I am SO tired of winter. My spirit is limp. But it's also that time when I begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel - getting through the month means that April will be here. And once April arrives, spring begins to reveal herself...it's as if mother nature has been holding her breath until she's blue in the face, and when April arrives she suddenly exhales an enormous cleansing breath that rejuvenates everything. The color returns to her face, and to mine, too...growth begins again, both outside in nature and inside of me. My energy returns and I'm filled with happiness - it's always a joyous feeling!

I used two of Bonnie's textures, Abstract Elements (Lighter Color/65%) and Lover's Lament (Pin Light/100%). I just kept playing and blending until I had an abstract silhouette of a flower that I liked. The original photo is awful...the plastic of the scrapbook page has begun to disintegrate, and the rose is looking worse for wear! It's amazing how you can take an image with very poor quality and make it beautiful with artistic effects in Photoshop Elements. Thanks for stopping by, and if you'd like to see more photo art please click on the button below.

WINTER FLOWER

I keep a scrapbook in winter
A collection of moons
That make me remember
Moments like those in
The cold of December
When the sun is drowning
And the moon saves it
Catching it in its mouth
And melancholy is the name
Of my winter flower, pressed
Gently between the pages
Flush against the shadows
Of my soul

I flip through the pages, to
That one moon I witnessed
On a January evening
Wrapped snugly around
The shivering pines
Its silver shawl aglow
Or that February Sunday
When the moon's tender light
Trembled atop those oak trees
Their melodies stripped down
To leafless acoustics
Amidst an audience
Of cold, gray stones

Moon-filled moments
Fragile winter keepsakes
Where I conspire with my heart
Writing her out as
The snow falls, cradling
My sad, pressed flower
And the earth takes note
Serene about tomorrow, wiser
Than me and far ahead of
My fickle winter's sorrow
She knows her hands will
Soon turn to green leaves
Motioning me to spring, to
Rebirth and hopeful things.

© Sherri Brannon

Original image:

Winter Bouquet

Nobody sees a flower—really—it is so small it takes time—we haven’t time—and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time. ~Georgia O’Keeffe

Here are a couple more of my grocery store flower images...my color fix continues! We are supposedly getting our first big snowstorm of the season here in Virginia tomorrow - a possibility of 6 to 8 inches. At least I'll look forward to some snow photos, which I haven't been able to get yet this winter! We've had lots of sleet and rain, but very little snow.

I'm linking up with Texture Tuesday today - I added a texture in the first image (Kim's "Cora", at Color Burn/25%). It really added a lovely richness. Happy Tuesday to all of you!

Color Fix

Deep in their roots all flowers keep the light. ~Theodore Roethke

I really needed a color fix this past week, so I bought some flowers at the grocery store...I've been having fun the last couple of days capturing some indoor images with them. I especially loved the look of these particular flowers on my favorite turquoise ceramic plate. Ah, what a color-filled sight for sore eyes! Spring is almost here...