TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE - 2

What is essential and precious is invisible to the eye. So tell me please,

what do you see in that picture?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VIEWERS' IMPRESSIONS AND INSIGHTS

pearl said...

peace, stability and growth!

A New Beginning said...

Peace in unity and selfless love!Coz trees truely shower us with selfless love, blessing us with beautiful fresh air...hundreds of them united on a mission to make this world a beautiful place!!

Peace in unity and selfless love!Coz trees truely shower us with selfless love, blessing us with beautiful fresh air...hundreds of them united on a mission to make this world a beautiful place!!

Jack said...

Ellen,

Serene surroundings to be in without any worry of climate change. How I would love to settle there!

Take care

Anonymous said...

I see hope and courage to be who I am -- standing tall no matter what. A tree holds its own - tall and strong, solitary or with other trees like it. I feel comforted to know that I can be that too.

TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE

No writing, no article this time. But just this question ---

Do please tell me, what do you see in that picture?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VIEWERS' IMPRESSIONS

As you cruise down this part you will discover and derive immense pleasure, interest, amusement, fun, and definitely precious wisdom ---- just as I have enjoyed it all the first time I saw it. Such treasure! Do please read on. :-)

KParthasarathi said... Cactus?

Vamsi said...

@ ellen,

its like a desert, with rocks, grass and cactus and sand.

the big rock over there, is like "seat" wherein one can sit on the ground and lean his back to the rock ... the cut of the rock is perfect for that.

cheers !

lostpatrol said...

You need some help clearing your back yard to plant some lettuce...:P

indrablog said...

Hi Elen,
It's a cactus.

Wish you and your family a very happy Christmas.

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hi Ellen:)

Very interesting. I love challenges like this.

The photo shows life in adverse conditions. It shows the will to survive. It shows that the tough conditions make tough plants which can with stand and bear difficult circumstances. It shows the survival of the fittest. It shows even plants can survive difficult conditions with minimum requirements. It shows the need to adapt to survive.

All this applies to people too. A boat becomes sea worthy only when it is exposed to storms and not when it is sheltered in the harbor.

The photo shows God's wonders, marvels, beauty and glory. Even in a place where no one lives, God works HIS wonders.

And I saw a lovely red cactus flower blooming. I hope my eye sight is good. The most unique thing about a flower is that whether it blooms in your garden or in a remote place like the one shown in the photo, the flower never reduces its beauty. It is the same whether some one is there to see its beauty and appreciate it or not. It serves the purpose for which it was created and that is to sing God's praise in its short but beautiful life.

I have only scratched the surface and I am sure those commentators who will come after me will have a lot to say.

This photo has lot of lessons for us human beings to see, learn and put into practice.

Let me take this opportunity to wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas and a very happy, prosperous, healthy, peaceful New Year:)

Joseph

A New Beginning said...

I can see the beautiful pink flowers..its amazing how God has placed them in a cactus..its teaches us that when our heart and soul is pure, no matter where we would be able to find peace..I can feel the peace in the flower. May we all be like the pink flower :) thanks for the pic Ellen.. everything you post has a lesson in it!

pearl said...

Hi Ellen,

I have tried to notice every single detail about the pic, and wat i see is each identifiable thing there is significant to the eye in its own way. They live by their properties, have a peculiar place to be - like one would find cactus rocks only in isolated, un treaded spaces / places. A cactus is such a plant which would grow without being nurtured or watered unlike most of the other plants. That flower which we see there blooms only when the cactus is matured so which is quiet after many years unlike other flowers which would have a consistent and fast seasoning. As far as the rock is concerned i would say its something which is out of our daily pathway. Again when we crozz of horizons or leave our comfort zones we happen to come across them.

ellen, i have just tied to put a view thinking in un visual terms, just not going by what is visible to the eye at a go, but why it is visible so??? Hope you get my point.

Good luck and good times ahead!

Happy to be with you here~

Amritbir Kaur said...

I see a reflection of life. Let me expand a bit as you have woken up my philosophical self (thanks for that).

I see life because we have all read that life is not a bed of roses. There is greenery amidst the stones. First of all stones are heartless people around us, those who care a fig for others' emotions. The greenery implies the good things of life. But they come with a price. The thorns symbolize the price that we pay. And finally the flowers of cactus is the ultimate hope of finding some good even amidst the thorns of life.

I am reminded of P.B. Shelley's lines from his famous 'Ode to the West Wind': "I fall upon the thorns of life I bleed".

Recently I too penned down a poem about finding hope in the worst times. If you like you can read it here: 'I still believe'

Finally, thanks for the inspirational post.

Jack said...

Ellen,

I see unfriendly surroundings with flowers as surprise attraction.
Take care

ONE AFTERNOON WALK WITH MY DAUGHTER

I am doing a test of posting a picture gallery, something I've never done before. So if this does not come out right, then it will be removed. Let's see how this will turn out. Thank you :-) - (Pictures are courtesy of my daughter Amchit and her digicam)

About the afternoon walk, we do it everyday sometimes alternating it with morning walks. It's always wonderful this time spent together.. talking, talking, and more talking Lols! That's what most women do when they come together. The thing is far better than we would normally experience alone... and is made even more alive and interesting as seen through two different pairs of eyes. One older and the other younger - One a teacher and the other a student. - One a mother and the other a daughter. But both eager to learn, see, savor, and treasure another of many precious moments together.

Nothing insignificant ever eludes our watchful eyes... from wild flowers blooming on the shoulder of the road to odd looking birds hopping from tree to tree. -- From noticing how one neighbor keeps his yard clean to another's broken down fence bare and lean. -- From blaring music rocking a blue painted house to another's lonesome home quiet almost like deserted. -- From the awesome interplay of sun and clouds to lush trees bearing witness to such a magnificent display above them. -- From leaves turning dry and brown to new plants rising from the ground. All these and more are seen, noticed, and understood. All are cherished and enjoyed.

I may not be able to guess what goes on in her pretty head but as far as I am concerned - afternoon walks with her is where my happy heart dwells. And I think by looking into her pretty brown eyes I can very well say that she feels the same way too. So why don't you give it a try - take that afternoon (or morning) walk with your kid -- and you will know just what I mean. :-)

HOW DO YOU MEASURE LIFE

Whether you're 16, 46, or 60 there's enough learning you can do to fill up your lifetime. In fact, to learn them all you will need a thousand... naye ...a million lifetimes.

I like that idea. I think life is one huge basket of lessons that very well teach me bout things, people, nature ... it shows me how an angry sea would lash out at the shore, or why people cry at silly things sometimes, or why poking your nose in other people's lives would get you a black eye lols! It tells me that in all things there is an ebb and flow which cannot be avoided or ignored. That people are born, live, and then die. That life can be both a burden and a blessing or one and not the other, but that is all up to you. That we have control of our lives and that if we allow others to do it for us, things can go crazy. That we may look different, behave differently, believe in different things and stuff, but in things which truly matter we are basically very much the same.

But even if I may know all of that there is still so much more I'm so ignorant of. I can't fathom nor imagine the mysteries of the universe... and too wonder about the secrets of the immense span of space or the depths of the oceans and seas. I can't see what feelings are written in a person's heart or the myriad of memories and thoughts interspersing in his mind. I can but only guess. That is not always enough.

And too I have so many questions unspoken and real which answers I have yet to find. But whether I find them or not, this journey I am taking is even far more richer than the end-all of it I begin to realize.

Now I know that this huge basket I so speak of is one bottomless vessel of precious treasure ripe for the picking. Then maybe... just maybe... I can pick those I want and discard stuff I consider trivia. But you know what, in some mysterious way these unwanted lessons I've chosen to ignore find their way back to me again and again until -- I become more inclined to learn them well, like it or not.

Nope, learning does not stop.. ever. I'm glad it's that way. Because life is measured not by days, weeks, months, or years... but by how much you have grown closer to that person you were meant to be --- by God's design. How do I know that? Easy. Life taught me.

(Picture forwarded to me by Parth)

WE DON'T HAVE TO BE SOMEBODY ELSE'S CROSS

When your bones ache, or your head does, or your insides rock and your limbs feel like crumbling... when nothing comes close to easing your pains, you feel like screaming your lungs out -- and you do! Well, maybe not literally but it finds its way in fury which is often meaninglessly and unnecessarily heaped upon the person or people near you or who by chance happen to be in its way. That's sad, because you have not only added to your misery but made others miserable too by yours.

Suffering in whatever form and of any kind is difficult. It is hard to imagine what goes on in that person's mind or what is being felt in the heart. Physical or emotional pain is a burden that runs deep and intense that it upsets everything else within and without. The strong are reduced to putty and the weak are made even weaker. The world seems to crumble down with that person along with it... or so he would think.

I will not venture to give advise on this matter because the lesson here is better understood when one has already mellowed in years and gained much in wisdom. But there are some though young are so blessed and filled with the spirit who would understand -- as the saints have shown us.

So what am I driving at here?

I am simply sharing an observation --- that people who suffer pain tend to vent their frustration and helplessness in serious expressions of anger. And this often leads to hurting others more than we imagine. But there is no point in bringing in other people into your suffering. They, just like the rest of humankind, have their own crosses to bear too. We all have and all do. Thus it would be best to remember what Maya Angelou once said.....

'I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one..'

SO BLESSEDLY SPECIAL - SO SPECIALLY BLESSED

Many of us go through life not understanding ourselves well - we have so little regard of who we are. We think that there possibly can't be something good in us. We believe that when God poured out talents for everyone -- it went through our fingers thus we missed catching some for ourselves. And so we see ourselves as just nothing. Nothing. How do I know that? Simple. I have friends who suffer this 'disease'.

So then we think that when we did something clearly brilliant that we were simply lucky? Or that when the soufle came out so perfect that it was because we had a good bake oven and not because we bake so well? Or that when a thief turns a new leaf that it was because he got scared of jail and not because we managed to talked him to change?

I'll tell you what. God never misses a target even if you think he missed you or that you missed catching it. Talent is a blessing God pours out in generous portions on everyone. But this too is true that oftentimes blessings come in plain wrappings, most times contained in very ordinary vessels.

Allow me to refresh your memory to this that "the 'essence' of a thing is far more valuable than its 'form'.."

That's how we should see ourselves. We have been blessed with gifts of talent, wisdom, goodness, intelligence, abilities, empathy, understanding, discernment, gentle demeanor, humility, strength of character, ingenuity, creativity, and so many more which we foolishly take for granted or are quite oblivious of. Or simply said just don't get it.

That's just the problem.. We think we're like empty vessels. Plain ordinary vessels maybe but certainly not empty. We have within us the essence of everything that is good, noble, genuine, and true. That no matter how we may appear on the outside it does not reflect who we are on the inside -- where essence resides unmatched by the form of our existence.

We are blessed far more than we realize or think or feel or deserve. But blessed we certainly are. So blessedly special - so specially blessed. That's who we are!

WHEN GOALS CANNOT BE REACHED

It's not everytime that we get to achieve our fond goals in life. Sometimes no matter how we try we just don't or can't. That's a sure fire guarantee for misery. But should it? What's misery, it's just disappointment for not having what we want or aimed for. Misery is believing that everything is lost because we didn't make the grade. It's feeling like the whole world has crumbled down because somebody else was brighter or smarter than us. That's why we feel miserable.

And then we give up. Just as easy as that. After all the hard work, sleepless nights, skipped meals and ulcer... we give it all up!

Oh sure, it's easier talking about it you'll say, but wait till it happens to you. Oh but it's happened to me. It's not your monopoly you see. Hundreds albeit thousands more out there don't always get their goal. Many know what's it like to be miserable. Many things can happen as you go down that road. You meet ugly characters who get a thrill out of messing up your plate, or unlikely events derail you from your aspirations, or sadly you realize that you don't measure up to its challenges. Ouch that hurts!

But you know what, if something is worth doing at all - you will fight for it. If you believe in your dreams - in yourself, then you have all the reason you need to stay and keep on punching back. Roll in your punches with new ideas, revised plans, paradigm shifts, work the principle of addition-and-subtraction where it best can serve you, and go learn if you need to learn some more. You see,

"When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps." -- Confucius

DON'T GIVE UP YOUR DREAMS

So you think that dreams belong only to the very young? When they arriving at this special point in their lives begin to think that the whole world beckons to them to experience its adventure, mystery, enigma, wonder, and new surprises? It's commonly the idea. It's a world of many firsts -- the first job, first major project, first recognition -- these and many more fire that passion in the heart. And truely off would they fly in pursuit of those dreams.

But.....

What if something unexpected takes you off that road? What if you are made to surrender or give up those dreams? What if you lose control of your destiny and somebody holds it in his hand? (we're not referring to god or religion this time)

You may feel that there is no reason for wanting to go on, that the chase would be pointless or useless anyhow, that life wants you to do this and not that, that when the dream has broken into bits and pieces it would be too late to put it back together again at anytime. So you resign yourself to your fate.

Are you sure?.....

Because I don't buy that. I know that dreams don't disappear. It's still there tucked up somewhere inside of you. Maybe pushed to the far back or corner, but it's there. And it's simply waiting to be resurrected, to be championed once more. It stays there with its small warm glow of hope and faith that one day YOU will come to your senses and pluck it out of the darness and bring it to the light where dreams truly belong.

It doesn't matter how much you have lost, or how much older you are now, or how strange or foolish it may look to others, or how much people will tell you that it will never work out. It doesn't matter. What matters, and you should etch this in your heart, is that you have picked up the shreded bits of your broken dreams and pieced them back together again. Oh it's true that you may or may not succeed but it's alright. Who cares?! (Lols, I'm taking my dream one tiny step at a time and I don't even know if I'll get there or not.) I think that the wonderful sense of joy and adventure would be enough to restore the glimmer in your eyes, brighten your smile, and put back that long lost bounce in your step! That makes it all worthwhile. Because, believe me, from there... tomorrows could be beautiful. Besides, God is delighted by dreamers with a lot of spunk.

"When you find a Dream inside your heart
Don't ever let it go
For Dreams are the tiny seeds from
Which beautiful Tomorrows Grow"

(Thanks to Parth for this lovely quote, author unknown.)

PUT THAT SPECIAL GLOW BACK IN YOUR SOUL

How did your morning start today? Did you rise with the sun shining and smiling with that special glow in your soul? You should; we should. The day is great, made special by the myriad of blessings strewn our way by a loving God. What others may think in their jaded minds as quite an ordinary day -- isn't really. But they can't see that because these awesomely wondrous things manifest themselves only to the simple trusting and childlike heart. Sadly that isn't what we are most times. We have shut ourselves - our minds, hearts, and souls - from that which is truly essential. All that we care about is being busy - like doing nothing is such a big crime. Busyness has its own place and time but we don't know how where and when to stop.

If we allow ourselves to be still for a moment from the hustle-and-bustle of our world, then we will be able to see the grandeur and magnificence of life and all that is in it on land, sea, and air.

--We can soar with our senses with the eagle on high,

--breathe in the fresh wisp of a gentle breeze,

--be soothed by a gentle flowing stream,

--be serenaded by the choir of birds song,

--be delighted by the sight of soft cotton clouds drifting by,

--be inspired by the height and majesty of the king mountains,

--marvel at the glorious arch of the rainbow,

--be awed by the infinite span and space of a clear blue sky,

--feel the tingling hug of cool waters at our feet on the seashore,

--savor the peace and calm of a serene sunset on the far horizon,

--and so much more; it's all up to you.

Think of these in your mind, feel it in your heart. Make these your first thoughts when you rise in the morn. The smile will come easy when the heart is full and the soul content and happy.