Weekly Photo Challenge: Hope
“Know where to find the sunrise and sunset times and note how the sky looks at those times, at least once.”~ Marilyn vos Savant
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“Always the Sky“
All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2012.
One And Only
“I am you; you are me.
You are the waves; I am the ocean.
Know this and be free, be divine.”
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba
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“One And Only“
All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2012.
Momentum
Here is an extract from By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept: A Novel of Forgiveness, by Paulo Coelho.
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“You have to take risks”- he said.
“We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.
“Every day, God gives us the sun–and also one moment in which we have the ability to change everything that makes us unhappy.
“Every day, we try to pretend that we haven’t perceived that moment, that it doesn’t exist–that today is the same as yesterday and will be the same as tomorrow.
But if people really pay attention to their everyday lives, they will discover that magic moment.
It may arrive in the instant when we are doing something mundane, like putting our front-door key in the lock.
It may lie hidden in the quiet that follows the lunch hour or in the thousand and one things that all seem the same to us.
But that moment exists–a moment when all the power of the stars becomes a part of us and enables us to perform miracles.”
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“Momentum“
All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2012.
Determined
Here is another “teaching” that has inspired me from Paulo Coelho’s Masterpiece, Warrior of the Light: A Manual.
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Every warrior of the light has been afraid to enter a combat.
Every warrior of the light has betrayed and lied in the past.
Every warrior of the light has lost faith in the future.
Every warrior of the light has trodden a path which was not his own.
Every warrior of the light has suffered because of unimportant things.
Every warrior of the light has doubted that he is a warrior of the light.
Every warrior of the light has failed in his spiritual obligations.
Every warrior of the light has said yes when he meant no.
Every warrior of the light has hurt someone he loved.
That is why he and she are warriors of the light:
They had endured all this without losing the hope to improve.
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“Determined“
All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2012.
The Invitation.
“It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.
It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon…
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.
I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.
I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.
It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.
I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”
It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.
It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep.”
~ The Invitation by Oriah
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“With Yourself“
All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2012.
Past, Present, Future
“For time is the longest distance between two places.” ~ Tennessee Williams
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“Past“
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“Present“
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“Future“
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All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2012.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Between
“Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.” ~ Khalil Gibran
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“Illusion“
(This photo is not a montage but an actual image of a pool by the ocean)
All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2012.
Enfance
“Know you what it is to be a child? It is to be something very different from the man of to-day. It is to have a spirit yet streaming from the waters of baptism; it is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief; it is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear; it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, and mice into horses, lowness into loftiness, and nothing into everything, for each child has its fairy godmother in its own soul.” ~ Francis Thompson
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“Enfance“
All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2011.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Sunset
“Know where to find the sunrise and sunset times and note how the sky looks at those times, at least once.” ~ Marilyn Vos Savant
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“Celestial Instant“
All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2011.
Lovers
If You Forget Me
I want you to know
one thing.
You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.
Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.
If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.
If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.
But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.
~ Pablo Neruda
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“Lovers“
All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2011.
Painted Sunset
“Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer to your goal.”
~ Elbert Hubbard
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Sometimes, i wish i could paint, but i really can’t; so sometimes, i just imagine my camera being a brush…and pretend…
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“Painted Sunset“
All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2011.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Textured
“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.” ~ Henry David Thoreau
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“Unbreakable Beauty“
All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2011.
To Change
Often, as we get older, we realize that we cannot change people.
We can only change the way we look at them which, sometimes, also means to let go…
It is similar with photography… Sometimes, we simply need to look at things from a different angle to gain a brand new perspective.
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“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” ~ Victor Frankl
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All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2011.
Warrior of the Light
Warrior of the Light: A Manual, by Brazilian author, Paulo Coelho has been an inspiration for me for several years now… here’s one of my favorite “teachings”.
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A Warrior of the Light knows that certain moments repeat themselves.
He often finds himself faced by the same problems and situations, and seeing these difficult situations return, he grows depressed, thinking that he is incapable of making any progress in life.
“I’ve been through all this before”, he says to his heart.
“Yes, you have been through all this before”, replies his heart. “But you have never been beyond it.”
Then the Warrior realizes that these repeated experiences have but one aim: to teach him what he does not want to learn.
~ Paulo Coelho
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All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2011.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Worn
“You’re not a wave, you’re a part of the ocean.” ~ Mitch Albom
“As Time Goes By“
All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2011.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Ocean
“Every drop in the ocean counts.” ~ Yoko Ono
“My Priceless Ocean Views“
All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2011.
Ocean, I still love Thee, but?
Yesterday, the Ocean – once again – harmed Humanity… taking with Him thousands of lives.
Like many people, i spent a large part of the last 24 hours in front of the news, shocked, sad, and incredulous in front of such tragedy. The ocean is one of my favorite subjects to shoot, and i usually photograph it several times a week. Today more than ever, i felt like i had to go visit it, and see for myself what my beloved one looked like… And there it was, a little bit agitated but peaceful still. As i walked as close as possible to the waves with the camera in my hand, i started to wonder. How a same body of water can appear so harmless on one side of the world and have just killed so many on another one?
From as far as i can remember, i have always been fascinated by water. As a kid, when washing my hands, i secretly thought that someday i’d be able to “catch” this transparent liquid coming out of the faucet; that, somehow, i would become the first person able to control it. A few years later, while i only had a few swimming notions behind me, i jumped in the big pool at a public swimming-pool… and sank. A lifeguard rescued me and i decided to learn how to swim before attempting this again. A few more years passed, and as a teenager, i started to spend my summers in French Polynesia, in the South Pacific. One day, while on vacation there, two other teenagers and i decided to swim from a Hotel beach to a desert island only half a mile away. Going there was quite easy and quick… Coming back against the strong currents was not. I found out afterwards that tourists had died in this area before.. I still don’t know how we made it back, but from then on, i developed both a sincere fear and respect for the ocean… Feelings that kept on growing as i later on established myself in this region of the world and woke up several times to ”light” floods and their consequences. The Ocean is in my eyes the most powerful of all the elements. No one can go against it, control it, or prevent it from destroying. Yet, it also remains one of the most beautiful things Nature has ever given us and that’s why i believe it makes it so difficult to accept the pain it can sometimes cause us.
I still feel “numb” after the catastrophe that has just occurred because i can only imagine what it must have been (and what it actually still is), but all my prayers go to the people in Japan, and especially to all the families who have lost loved ones.
Today, the high surf brought on the beach different kind of items… this one immediately caught my attention.. A kick-boxing glove that i interpreted as a sign that Japan will fight and get back on its feet.
This is one of the last photos i took today… Looking back literally while on my way home. And there it was: a simple and beautiful scenery.. almost ironic and insulting after hours spent seeing the most horrific images of the Tsunami on TV.
All photos & texts © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2011.
The Artist, Ocean.
The Ocean is one of my favorite places to be… I like the sound of the waves, the smell of the water, the freshness of the wind…and the overall peaceful atmosphere.
At dawn, i love to walk on the beach and get closer to the surf for the light and shadows, the colors, the textures and the shapes are simply magical.
In these series, i believe the Ocean is the Artist… and i am just a privileged witness.
All photos © Copyright Sophie L. Meunier Photography 2011.
