Sale on canvas prints! Use code ABCXYZ at checkout for a special discount!

Blog

Displaying: 1 - 10 of 79

  |  

Show All

  |

[1]

2 3 4 5 6 Next

Dimensions feature count

October 13th, 2023

12,222 12 October 2023

8751 05 August 2013

8459 08 June 2013

8405 30 May 2013

8152 26 April 2013

7122 15 December 2012

7021 01 December 2012

6870 21 November 2012

6352 24 October 2012

6154 - 06 October 2012

New Stats And Links

July 20th, 2021

New Stats And Links

✽ sharon mau photography ✽
https://sharon-mau.pixels.com 646378xb7pmu4huz.gif

✽ social media :
https://twitter.com/sharonmau @sharonmau
https://plus.google.com/+SharonMau
https://www.pinterest.com/sharonmau
https://www.facebook.com/sharonmau


582742ushqzxxkph.jpg

Poetry

July 20th, 2021

>^..^<

I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains,
bluebells, dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses - Pablo Neruda

From New and Selected Poems: Volume One:
The Kookaburras

In every heart there is a coward and a procrastinator.
In every heart there is a god of flowers, just waiting
to come out of its cloud and lift its wings.
The kookaburras, kingfishers, pressed against the edge of
their cage, they asked me to open the door.
Years later I wake in the night and remember how I said to them,
no, and walked away.
They had the brown eyes of soft-hearted dogs.
They didn't want to do anything so extraordinary, only to fly
home to their river.
By now I suppose the great darkness has covered them.
As for myself, I am not yet the god of even the palest flowers.
Nothing else has changed either.
Someone tosses their white bones to the dung-heap.
The sun shines on the latch of their cage.
I lie in the dark, my heart pounding - Mary Oliver


The Poet With His Face in His Hands

You want to cry aloud for your
mistakes. But to tell the truth the world
doesn't need any more of that sound.

So if you're going to do it and can't
stop yourself, if your pretty mouth can't
hold it in, at least go by yourself across

the forty fields and the forty dark inclines
of rocks and water to the place where
the falls are flinging out their white sheets

like crazy, and there is a cave behind all that
jubilation and water-fun and you can
stand there, under it, and roar all you

want and nothing will be disturbed; you can
drip with despair all afternoon and still,
on a green branch, its wings just lightly touched

by the passing foil of the water, the thrush,
puffing out its spotted breast, will sing
of the perfect, stone-hard beauty of everything - Mary Oliver


Last night the ocean was full of starfish
drifting . floating . carrying dreams upon their backs
The sky had fallen into the waves
where by-the-wind sailors
gathered moondust on cobalt sails
to illuminate the rolling tide . . .
My dream self stood at the water's edge
gathering sand dollars in the hem of my skirt
just so I could throw them back into the sea
with the same wish kissed upon every one
And the starfish swam
across deep worlds
to deliver them all to you . . .

link for beautifullotus
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryo19680849/9474871821/in/pool-floralessence

A Prayer in Spring

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil.
Robert Frost
((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

We pass on to Sadi of Shiraz, who flourished in the thir-
teenth century, and whose Gulistan or Rose-garden has long
enjoyed something of a European celebrity, having been pub-
lished at Amsterdam in 1651, by Gentius, with an uncouth
Latin translation. Sadi's writings are a very favorable speci-
men of those collections of moral apologues which are so
popular in the East. His two best works are the Gulistan
and Bostan ; the former in prose, interspersed with distichs
and quatrains, and sometimes with longer poems ; the latter
entirely in verse. The Gulistan has been translated by Pro-
fessor Eastwick, who has also edited the original text, and from
his translation we give the following very graceful fable :

I saw some handfuls of the rose in bloom,

With bands of grass suspended from a dome.

I said, '' What means this worthless grass, that it

Should in the rose's fairy circle sit ? "

Then wept the grass, and said, '^ Be still ! and know

The kind their old associates ne'er forego.

Mine is no beauty, hue, or fragrance, true !

But in the garden of my Lord I grew."


*****************************
Don't forget love,
it will bring you all the madness you need
to unfurl yourself across the universe - Meerabai

Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination - Voltaire

Re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem. - Walt Whitman


Give yourself completely to the act of listening. Beyond the sounds there is something greater, a Sacredness that cannot be understood through thought. - Eckhart Tolle


The sea of joy yearns to attain your presence - Baha'u'llah


There is another world, but it is in this one - W.B. Yeats


Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves... Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now - Rainer Maria Rilke


❝There are beings in this universe whose winking is of the duration of an epoch. Space and time have no fixed span, both are appearances, both imagination. Because the substratum is real; space too appears very real. Giving illusions of separateness between elements within itself. Time too arose as a notion (another dimension). Time is threaded and animated by the power of this reality. It is the finite space of individual consciousness that creates the divisions in time. ❞ ~ Yoga Vashishta



Against Certainty, by Jane Hirshfield

There is something out in the dark that wants to correct us.
Each time I think �this,� it answers �that.�
Answers hard, in the heart-grammar�s strictness.

If I then say �that,� it too is taken away.

Between certainty and the real, an ancient enmity.
When the cat waits in the path-hedge,
no cell of her body is not waiting.
This is how she is able so completely to disappear.

I would like to enter the silence portion as she does.

To live amid the great vanishing as a cat must live,
one shadow fully at ease inside another.





I do not cease swimming in the seas of love, rising with the wave, then descending; now the wave sustains me, and then I sink beneath it; love bears me away where there is no longer any shore - Al-Hallaj


In humility is the greatest freedom. As long as you have to defend the imaginary self that you think is important, you lose your peace of heart. As soon as you compare that shadow with the shadows of other people, you lose all joy. - Thomas Merton


In meditation, silence is the Mother." (Ammaji)
"Silence is the mother of creation." (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar)

You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day - unless you are too busy; then you should sit for an hour - Zen Proverb


The main impediment of many seekers in the path is that they want to surrender. Don't say that you want to surrender; know that you already are surrendered. "Wanting to surrender becomes an impediment on the path. This is like a child saying to the mother, I want to love you. No child ever tells the mother, I want to love you. Love is already there. Surrender is not an act, it is a state of your being. Whether you acknowledge it or not, it is there. "The wise wake up and see: You have no choice, you are in a state of surrender deep within you. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar


People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is a confession of character - Emerson


First realize that your world is only a reflection of yourself and stop finding fault with the reflection - Nisargadatta


In order to change an existing paradigm, do not struggle with the problematic model. Create a new model and make the old one obsolete - Buckminster Fuller


If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea - Antoine de Saint-Exup�ry

You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist - Nietzsche

The real miracle is not to walk on water. The real miracle is to walk on the green earth - Thich Nath Hanh

There is only one Road. It is like a great river: its springs are at every doorstep, and every path is its tributary. It's a dangerous business, going out of your door. You step into the Road.... - Bilbo Baggins


There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle - Albert Einstein

The world needs more sages than anything else right now - more prayer wheels, more visions, more poems, more magic - Zen poet Philip Whalen

Good People, most royal greening verdancy, rooted in the sun, you shine with radiant light. In this circle of earthly existence, your shining surpasses understanding. God hugs you. You are encircled by the arms of the mystery - Hildegard of Bingen, 11th Century

Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you. - Dr. Seuss


Every one who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe, a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble... Life and death flow into one, and there is neither evolution nor destiny- only Being - Albert Einstein








The Garden of Dreams

My heart is a garden of dreams
Where you walk when day is done,
Fair as the royal flowers,
Calm as the lingering sun.
Never a drouth comes there,

Nor any frost that mars,
Only the wind of love
Under the early stars,�
The living breath that moves
Whispering to and fro,
Like the voice of God in the dusk
Of the garden long ago - by Bliss Carman

The woods are lovely . dark and deep . . but i have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep - Robert Frost

Be as a bird perched on a frail branch
that she feels bending beneath her,
still she sings away all the same,
knowing she has wings - Victor Hugo



Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the world will not grind you under, it will lift you up. This is the trick. This is what all these teachers and philosophers who really counted, who really touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. This is the shamanic dance in the waterfall. This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering its a feather bed - Terence McKenna

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit - Robert Louis Stevenson

The symbolism of . purity and grace . . . . . Chinese literati believe that a lotus is a pure world unto itself in which both body and soul are clean. According to the book Jian Nan Shi Gao, when the Song dynasty poet Lu Yu was 78 years old, he once dreamt that an ancient spoke to him: "I am the lotus scholar and responsible for the mirror lake," he said. "But now I am leaving, and I was wondering if you could take my place minding the moonlight, wind and dew and protecting the lotuses?

"Leap into the boundless, and make it your home" quote by Chuang Tzu

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before - Edgar Allan Poe

Power and passion well up like an artesian spring and creativity dances in celebration of life -- poetry by David N. Elkins

Sadness is but a wall between two gardens . . . -- Kahlil Gibran

Our most sacred tears never seek our eyes -- Kahlil Gibran

The just are close to the people's heart . but the merciful are close to the heart of God -- Kahlil Gibran

Love one another . but make not a bond of love . . Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls -- Kahlil Gibran

There is a path from me to you that I am constantly looking for -- Rumi

In prayer . it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart . . Mohandas Ghandi



I can endure my own despair but not another's hope -- William Walsh


This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meaness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
... He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whomever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Jalal ad-Din Rumi
Beloved Persian Poet


I hold this to be the highest task for a bond between two people . . that each protects the solitude of the other -- Rainer Maria Rilke

The world is but a canvas to our imaginations -- Henry David Thoreau

It is wrong to think that love comes from long companionship and persevering courtship . . Love is the offspring of spiritual affinity and unless that affinity is created in a moment . it will not be created for years or even generations -- Kahlil Gibran

It is always what I have already said: always the wish that you may find patience enough in yourself to endure, and simplicity enough to believe; that you may acquire more and more confidence in that which is difficult, and in your solitude among others. And for the rest, let life happen to you. Believe me: life is right, in any case ― Rainer Maria Rilke


The smile that flickers on a baby's lips when he sleeps . does anyone know where it was born? Yes . there is a rumour that a young pale beam of a crescent moon touched the edge of a vanishing autumn cloud . and there the smile was first born in the dream of a dew-washed morning -- Rabindranath Tagore

You . that turn stones to gold . . change me -- Rumi

What we speak becomes the house we live in -- Hafiz

Take away Love and our Earth is a Tomb -- Robert Browning

..

As with all great journeys . the vision is the beginning . .
Dreams of all the possibilities . of the many paths widening to the future
Of all the great and extraordinary things our mind can imagine
The persistence of our own opportunistic souls reaching for what is yet unabridged
An unconscious decision to struggle forward yet again
And without even knowing of our focus
We start forward

All of our past . our teachings . our experience . are brought into play . .
The trials of our past giving us the tools that we need to find our way
Our way to fulfilling this newest quest for our dream

No obstacle too great . no argument rebuff
The journey begun . we will not allow defeat

We can only see the unfolding . as it will be
And as always . the goal is reached

And there . sated in the peace of our newly added thread in the web of our life
We rest
and the vision comes again -- Steve Whitacre

Let me bathe my soul in colours . let me swallow the sunset and drink the rainbow -- Khalil Gibran



About seven miles from the southwest coast of Maui is the island Kaho'olawe . historically known as Kohemalamalama O Kanaloa
Kahoolawe is separated from Maui only by a narrow channel . the beautiful blue waters of Alalakeiki Channel
Maui Hawaii
Copyright (C) Sharon Mau - All Rights Reserved


In Contemplation of Nature and as Lovers of Wisdom
Pythagoras, his teacher, instructed Socrates:
Offer sacrifice and worship with thy shoes off.
According to Pythagoras:
'Life is like a gathering at the Olympic festival, to which, having set forth from different lives and backgrounds, people flock for three motives.
To compete for the glory of the crown, to buy and sell or as spectators.

So in life, some enter the services of fame and others of money, but the best choice is that of these few who spend their time in the contemplation of nature, and as lovers of wisdom." ~ Socrates [c. 469 - 399 B.C.] was the greatest Greek philosopher according to the Oracle of Delphi.



The Universal Incarnation - There is a Wisdom like a brooding Sun, A Bliss in the heart's crypt grown fiery white, The heart of a world in which all hearts are one, A Silence on the mountains of delight. A Calm that cradles Fate upon its knees; A wide Compassion leans to embrace earth's pain; A Witness dwells within our secrecies, The incarnate Godhead in the body of man. Our mind is a glimmering curtain of that Ray, Our strength a parody of the Immortal's power, Our joy a dreamer on the Eternal's way Hunting the fugitive beauty of an hour. Only on the heart's veiled door the word of flame Is written, the secret and tremendous Name -- by Sri Aurobindo


Bright, flowing and free, love transcends all pain of the heart. The universe, filled with the love of Spirit, knows me well. Daily greetings from the sun, nightly nods from the moon, I am a part of the great cycle of life. As the tree sprouts to life, so do I. As the flower grows, so do I. As the leaves fall to the earth once more, so do I. Nature, Spirit and I are one in the never ending dance of love. -- Journey with Spirit


Love, the hidden spring of life, and souls desire.
Celestial gold, secreted, laid by fire.
In every heart, in every thing that lives.
In every thought that human impulse gives.
The coin of heaven, the treasure of earth.
. . The rarest gift and joy of largest worth . . . - Edwin Leibfreed

Because I cannot sleep I make music in the night -- Rumi


Touch of Divine
. . . Hear me now:
If this life is meant for anything,
it is for knowing Love.
Experiencing the touch of divine oneness is gifted in this way:
to bask in the glow of the Beloved and be loved -- Poetry by Darren (Stone) Nelson



ourjrny
The Heart Within the Art

Time is a cruel thief to rob us of our former selves. We lose as much to life as we do to death.
Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey


You are the Essence of the Essence,
The intoxication of Love.
I long to sing Your Praises but stand mute
with the agony of wishing in my heart -- Rumi

Words . . . even if they come from the soul . hide the soul . . as . . . fog
rising off the sea covers the sea . the coast . the fish . the pearls . . . It is noble work to build coherent philosophical discourses . . but they block out the sun of truth . . . See God's qualities as an ocean . this world as foam on the purity of that . . . Brush away and look through the alphabet to essence . as you do the hair
covering your beloved's eyes -- Rumi

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter . and sharing of pleasures . . for in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed -- Khalil Gibran



A lake of gold in the desert sand
Is less than a cool fresh spring
And to one lost sheep, a shepherd boy
Is greater than the richest king
If a man lose ev'rything he owns
Has he truly lost his worth?
Or is it the beginning
Of a new and brighter birth?

So how do you measure the worth of a man
In wealth or strength or size?
In how much he gained or how much he gave?
The answer will come
The answer will come to him who tries
To look at his life through heaven's eyes -- Through Heavens Eyes - in the Prince of Egypt Sound


The archetype of Wild Woman resides in the guts, not in the head. She can track and run and summon and repel. She can sense, camouflage, and love deeply. She is intuitive, typical, and normative. She is utterly essential to women's mental and soul health. She is the female soul. Yet she is more; she is the source of the feminine. She is all that is of instinct, of the worlds both seen and hidden -she is the basis. She is intuition, she is far-seer, she is deep listener, she is loyal heart. She encourages humans to remain multilingual; fluent in the languages of dreams, passion, and poetry. She is the voice that says, "This way, this way." She is the one who thunders after injustice. She is the one we leave home to look for. She is the one we come home to. She is the things that keep us going when we think that we're done for. To adjoin the instinctual nature does not mean to come undone, change everything from left to right, from black to white, to move the east to west, to act crazy or out of control. It does not mean to lose one's primary socializations, or to become less human. It means quite the opposite. The wild nature has a vast integrity to it. It means to establish territory, to find one's pack, to be in one's body with certainty and pride regardless of the body's gifts and limitations, to speak and act in one's behalf, to be aware, alert, to draw on the innate feminine powers of intuition and sensing, to come into one's cycles, to find what one belongs to, to rise with dignity, to retain as much consciousness as we can - Women Who Run With Wolves

He who does not understand your silence . . will probably not understand your words - Elbert Hubbard

==========

Since we live where everything is music,
everything is dancing.
Watch the dust grains moving
in the light near the window.
Their dance is our dance.

We rarely hear the inward music,
but we're all dancing to it nevertheless,
directed by the one who teaches us,
the pure joy of the sun,
our music master - Dschalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi


Yesterday we obeyed Kings and bent our necks before Emperors . . But today we kneel
only to Truth . . follow only Beauty . . and obey only Love . . - Kahlil Gibran

The sea does not reward those who are too anxious . too greedy . or too impatient . . One should lie empty . open . choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea - Anne Morrow Lindbergh


The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes . but in having new eyes - Marcel Proust

Truth is . everyone is going to hurt you . . you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for - Bob Marley

Looking at my life . I see that only Love has been my soul�s companion . . From deep inside . . my soul cries out: Do not wait . surrender . . Surrender . . for the sake of Love - Rumi

Those with a clear mind . .those who are wise and ever watchful . they feel the joy of watchfulness . . - quote from an ancient Buddhist scripture . . the Dhammapada .

(To be watchful is to feel your essential presence (which is consciousness itself) even while thinking and engaged in daily activities. It is a joy to feel that. Without it, you mistake the conditioning of your mind for who you are)

When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky - Buddha

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy . if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you . if the simple things in nature have a message you understand . . Rejoice . for your soul is alive - Eleanora Duse

coquelicot - a beautiful poppy red colour

It has been said that an original artist is not a person who emulates no one, but rather is somebody that no one can emulate - author unknown

If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, also we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world - C. S. Lewis (1898 - 1963)

We are near waking when we dream we are dreaming - Novalis (1772-1801); German Poet

You cannot depend on your eyes if your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

Perfection does not exist. To understand it is the triumph of human intelligence; to desire to possess it is the most dangerous kind of madness - De Musset (1810-1857)

Before you agree to do anything that might add even the smallest amount of stress to your life, ask yourself: What is my truest intention? Give yourself time to let a yes resound within you. When it's right, I guarantee that your entire body will feel it. ~ Oprah Winfrey

Your true evolution is not what you do out there. That's secondary. Your true evolution is to do with the arising of awareness in you as you go about your life - Eckhart Tolle

Believe in a love that is being
stored up for you like
an inheritance,
and have faith that in
this love there is a strength and a
blessing so large
that you can travel as far
as you wish
without having to step
outside it.
― Rainer Maria Rilke
Ren� Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke better known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was a Bohemian�Austrian poet


Ua hekili Pukalani


Entwined within Hawaiian song and poetry, rain may signify joy, life, growth, greenery, the presence of gods or royalty, sexual relations, beauty or hardship.

Light rains and mist might be a sign of good fortune, and heavy rains may be indicative of grief, sorrow and tears.

In the richness of the Hawaiian language, every type of rain has it’s own name and meaning, and is often associated with particular places:

*
kili, much beloved rain
*
ko’iawe, light moving rain
*
kili hau, chilly rain
*
ua nāulu, showery rain
*
ua hō’e’ele, drenching rain
*
ua lani pili, rain downpour
*
ua ho’okina, continuous rain
*
ua hekili, rain with large drops
*
ua hikiki’i, slanting rain
*
ililani, unexpected rain
*
uakoko, rainbow-hued rain
*
kuāua hope, spring rain
*
ka ua ‘awa, bitter rain (grief)


Ua like nô a like (It is like the rain)

Me ka ua Kanilehua (That produces the lehua blossom)

Me he ala e `i mai ana (It seems to say to me)

Aia i laila ke aloha (Love is there)


Copyright © Sharon Mau - All Rights Reserved
P H O T O G R A P H Y
_______________

The blowing of the Pu (conch shell trumpet) in ancient Hawai'i often signified a herald of significance that was to occur. It could have served as the announcement of an arrival of a person of high ranking, or even a call to arms of the warriors. The sounding of the shell in contemporary times is still used to draw attention to a person(s), event, or the initiation of ceremony and protocol. Legends of magical Pu are found throughout Hawai'i. The area of Waikapu (waters of the conch), located within the ahupua'a (land division) of Na Wai Eha (The Four Waters) is not excluded from these mo'olelo (stories).

There was an entrance to a lava tube located somewhere in the deep valleys of Waikapu that stretched to the other end of the island. There existed a Pu that when sounded correctly within the cave, its trumpet could be heard for miles. So well-known was this mo'olelo that a prophet from the island of Kaua'i journeyed to Maui in search of this shell. One of the residents of this area was a very mischievous dog named "Puapualenalena." He lived near a cliff that faced the lava tube where the magical pu was kept. Puapualenalena found the shell and whisked it to safety, silencing the shell forever…but keeping the pu on Maui.

_________________


May the sun
bring you new energy by day.
May the moon
softly restore you by night.
May the rain
... wash away your worries.
May the breeze
blow new strength into your being.
May you walk gently through the world
and know its beauty all the days of your life.

Apache blessing


Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. Rumi

It is possible to live twenty-four hours a day in a state of love.
Native American Prayer
"I give you this one thought to keep -
I am with you still - I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
... I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not think of me as gone -
I am with you still - in each new dawn."
Anon

Every moment, every glance, every thought and every word, can be infused with love.
Thich Nhat Hanh

The measure of your life will not be in what you accumulate, but in what you give away. ~ Wayne Dyer


Spirit is the essence of consciousness, the energy of the universe that creates all things. Each one of us is a part of that spirit - a divine entity. So the spirit is the higher self, the eternal being that lives within us.
Shakti Gawain




The bhakti path winds in a delicate way.
On this path there is no asking and no not asking.

The ego simply disappears the moment you touch him.

The joy of looking for him is so immense that you just dive in,
and coast around like a fish in the water.

If anyone needs a head, the lover leaps up to offer his - Kabir




I root myself into the earth
and
I rise to the stars.





"One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice-- though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. "Mend my life!" each voice cried. But you didn't stop. You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible. It was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones. But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do-- determined to save the only life you could save" ~ Poetry by Mary Oliver


Now I really feel the landscape . I can be bold and include every tone of blue and pink . . it's enchanting . it's delicious . . . - Claude Monet


All finite things reveal infinitude .
The mountain with it's singular bright shade like the blue shine on freshly frozen snow .
. the after-light upon ice-burdoned pines .
. odor of basswood upon a mountain slope .
a scene beloved of bees .
Silence of water above a sunken tree .
The pure serene of memory of one man .
A ripple widening from a single stone .
Winding around the waters of the world - Theodore Roethke

KANALOA

Naupaka Kahakai growing on the lava rocks
overlooking Polo Beach.

"There is a voice within you that no one, not
even you, has ever heard. There is a welcome for you at the heart of solitude.

When you realize this, most of the fear that
governs your life falls away. The moment your fear transfigures, you come into
rhythm with your own self."

John O'Donohue from his book Anam Cara
(which means soul friend in Gaelic)




Hawai`i nei
--------------


I pull a sun from my coin purse each day. And at night I let my pet the moon Run freely into the sky meadow. If I whistled, She would turn her head and look at me. If I then waved my arms, She would come back wagging a marvelous tail Of stars. There are always a few men like me In this world Who are house-sitting for God. We share His royal duties: I water each day a favorite potted plant Of His -- This earth. Ask the Friend for love. Ask Him again. For I have learned that every heart will get What it prays for Most. From: 'The Subject Tonight Is Love' Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

KA MAKAU

"The makau (fish hook) holds the past while grasping the thread of the future. We need to reach forward using nä mea kapu, those sacred things, those customs and mo‘olelo to set the rudder. To look back at the wake of your coming, pick your star in the future and set the steering paddle.

The fish hook, like the cross of Christianity, has both a mundane and a spiritual form. In Hawai‘i it is the central philosophical and spiritual symbol. It symbolizes the connection between heaven and earth; it helps us reach to the heavens.

Cast a hook and catch a star in heaven; hold it fast so that we may partake of the collective ancestral spirit and wisdom and be spiritually sustained.

In the mundane, the hook fetches up the secrets of the kai hohonu (deep ocean). Cast a hook and partake of the gifts from below so we may be physically sustained on our life’s journey....

"If you are blinded by the many lights on the byways of Hawaii today, all you have to do is look to the heavens. The stars have shifted constantly, and yet are in the same place upon the appointed hour. They're solid as the fluid world of Te Moananui (the vast ocean). Everything is changing and yet everything is the same." - Sam Kaai

WITH DREAMING EYES

A sound as if from bells of silver . or elfin cymbals smitten clear . through the frost-pictured panes I hear . a brightness which outshines the morning . A splendor brooking no delay . beckons and tempts my feet away .

I leave the trodden village highway for virgin snow-paths glimmering through a jewelled elm-tree avenue . where . keen against the walls of sapphire . the gleaming tree-bolls . ice-embossed . hold up their chandeliers of frost . I tread in Orient halls enchanted . I dream the Saga's dream of caves . Gem-lit beneath the North Sea waves .

I walk the land of Eldorado . I touch its mimic garden bowers . its silver leaves and diamond flowers . .
The flora of the mystic mine-world around me lifts on crystal stems . the petals of its clustered gems . .

What miracle of weird transformingin this wild work of frost and light . this glimpse of glory infinite . .

This foregleam of the Holy City Like that to him of Patmos given . the white bride coming down from heaven . .

How flash the ranked and mail-clad alders . through what sharp-glancing spears of reeds .
the brook its muffled water leads . .

Yon maple . like the bush of Horeb . burns unconsumed . . a white . cold firerays out from every grassy spire . Each slender rush and spike of mullein . low laurel shrub and drooping fern . transfigured . blaze where'er I turn . How yonder Ethiopian hemlock crowned with his glistening circlet stands . .

What jewels light his swarthy hands . .
Here . where the forest opens southward . between its hospitable pines . as through a door .
the warm sun shines . The jewels loosen on the branches . and lightly . as the soft winds blow . fall . tinkling . on the ice below . .

And through the clashing of their cymbals I hear the old familiar fall . of water down the rocky wall . where . from its wintry prison breaking . in dark and silence hidden long . the brook repeats its summer song . . .

One instant flashing in the sunshine . keen as a sabre from its sheath . then lost again the ice beneath . I hear the rabbit lightly leaping . the foolish screaming of the jay . the chopper's axe-stroke far away . . the clamor of some neighboring barn-yard . the lazy ass's belated crow . or cattle-tramp in crispy snow . . and . as in some enchanted forest . the lost knight hears his comrades sing . and . near at hand . their bridles ring, . so welcome I these sounds and voices . These airs from far-off summer blown . this life that leaves me not alone . . .

For the white glory overawes me . the crystal terror of the seer Of Chebar's vision blinds me here . . .
Rebuke me not . O sapphire heaven . . .

Thou stainless earth . lay not on me . thy keen reproach of purity . if, in this August presence-chambe . I sigh for summer's leaf-green gloom and warm airs thick with odorous bloom . . .

Let the strange frost-work sink and crumble . and let the loosened tree-boughs swing . till all their bells of silver ring . . . Shine warmly down . thou sun of noontime . on this chill pageant . melt and move the winter's frozen heart with Love . . .

And . soft and low . thou wind south-blowing . Breathe through a veil of tenderest haze thy prophecy of summer days . . .

Come with thy green relief of promise . and to this dead . cold splendour bring . the living jewels of the spring . . poetry by John Greenleaf Whittier 1869


DREAM OF ME
In the half light of distant memory I sense the shape of the place
It's outline upon a vague horizon
and a knowing voice calling
.
Urging
. remember me, remember me .

In the clear light of day
the reality of the place is so much more .
An air of ancient serenity Settles upon the earth . whispering . .
come to me . come to me . .

In the fading light of dusk .
I step upon the holy ground Bound to past and future . .
The stones tell their own tales . Murmuring .
Be with me . be with me . .

In the darkness of the night .
The moon shadows flit from tree to tree .
And the spirits move .
Touching the soul with joy . Inviting .
stay with me . stay with me . .

In the cold light of dawn .
the embers die . fading red .
Knowledge gained is stored away . .
Until the time comes again . Renewing .
. Dream of me . dream of me . . - Vanora





Sunset Conceptual Art Square Format
Paako Beach Honuaula Makena Maui Hawaii



Aloha mai e
Copyright � 2011 Sharon Mau - All Rights Reserved


JOIN ME IN THE PURE ATMOSPHERE

"I slip in and out of the Sea at night with this Amazed soul I have. I am like a magnificent, magic ocean turtle Who sets aside his vast wings of Blue effulgence When I crawl upon your shores To leave my divine seed of verse. Let me remain cryptic tonight All the way till dawn As I orbit God In this holy, ecstatic mood. Grab hold of the corners Of my luminous, tender shell And I will whirl for you, For I am covered with eminent crystals That I have gathered from the infinite depths Of Love. Follow my tracks in the sand that lead Beyond thought and space, For I can see deep down That you are really a golden bird That needs to Dance With your spirit enraptured and ascending On the currents of Light. On the currents of His Breath. Join me with your hands, wings, hoofs or fins In my sublime applause. Join me in the pure atmosphere of gratitude For Life. I slip in and out of the Moon each night With a gracious ease With this brilliant heart I have. The Beautiful Friend, the Exquisite One, Sometimes steps from His Invisible Body And walks upon our shore So that we might see and know His radiant Tender Shell ~ His eminent crowns That are the three worlds. 'O grab hold of the hem of His skirt As He spins this Universe on an emerald Dance floor! Cling to the Transcendent Elements in His glance As the Beloved forever whirls His Love. Hafiz Slips in and out of God at night Tied to his own amazed Soul." Poetry of Hafiz


:: THE UNIVERSE IS AN EXPRESSION OF LOVE :: "I was a hidden treasure and I longed to be known, so I created both worlds, the visible and the invisible,
in order that my hidden treasure of generosity and loving kindness would be known." ::

"The sun
Won a beauty contest and became a jewel
Set upon God�s right hand.

The earth agreed to be a toe ring on the
Beloved�s foot
And has never regretted its decision.

The mountains got tired
Of sitting amongst a sleeping audience

And are now stretching their arms
Toward the Roof.

The clouds gave my soul an idea
So I pawned my gills
And rose like a winged diamond

Ever trying to be near
More love, more love
Like you.

The Mountain got tired of sitting
Amongst a snoring crowd inside of me
And rose like a rip sun
Into my eye.

My soul gave my heart a brilliant idea
So Hafiz is rising like a
Winged diamond.


Hafiz - �The Gift� � translation by Daniel Ladinsky" ::



:: "The Universe is an expression of Love. We live in an ocean of Love " :: "Every being and thing in creation is set in motion by Love" :: "Everything is seeking union with the object of it's desire" :: "And all of these desires are the derivatives of one Love" ::




:: "Love is the motivation behind every yearning" :: "The fundamental Love is the pure experience Being" :: "See how the hand is invisible while the pen is writing; the horse careening, yet the rider is unseen; the arrow flying, but the bow out of sight; individual souls existing, while the Soul of souls is hidden. Rumi, Mathnawi II,1303-4" ::

"The Spectrum of Love: Eros, Philos, Agape" :: "Strive to discover the mystery before life is taken from you.
If while living you fail to find yourself, to know yourself,
how will you be able to understand
the secret of your existence when you die?

Farid ud Din Attar" :: "Intoxicated by the Wine of Love.
From each a mystic silence Love demands.
What do all seek so earnestly? 'Tis Love.
What do they whisper to each other? Love.
Love is the subject of their inmost thoughts.
In Love no longer 'thou' and 'I' exist,
For Self has passed away in the Beloved.
Now will I draw aside the veil from Love,
And in the temple of mine inmost soul,
Behold the Friend; Incomparable Love.
He who would know the secret of both worlds,
Will find the secret of them both, is Love.


Farid ud Din Attar - translation Margaret Smith -The Jawhar Al-Dhat" ::

"He Pua Laha'ole" :: "a flower not common" :: "Ulu Wehi" :: "beautifully adorned" ::
:: "Aloha ":: "Sharon Mau 09 April 2011 Copyright - All Rights Reserved"



EVOLUTION OF THOUGHT
Pythagoras and his disciples developed the idea that numbers are invested with qualities. "One," being the source of all combinations and permutations rather than an ordinary number, stood for Divine Reason. "Two," denoted opinion - that is one set against another one. "Three," as harmony, brought the opposites together in a trinity representing thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. "Four," became justice, the principle which rules the material world. (Esotericists speak of the "four lords of karma.") "Five," was marriage because it brought the union of the first male number (three) and the first female number (two). In this way it was believed that the entire universe is organized on a numerical basis. According to the Pythagorean system, odd numbers are positive, masculine, and associated with Spirit, while even numbers are negative, feminine, and associated with Matter. Odd numbers are said to be indissoluble, while even numbers are soluble (capable of equal division with nothing remaining) and hence ephemeral. Therefore, sacrifices of odd numbers of objects were differed to the gods while even numbers were offered to goddesses and subterranean spirits." ~ from The Evolution of Thought

Land of lost gods and godlike men...
Heart of Joy

THE MELODY OF LOVE
All Nature is taught in radiant ways to move, All beings are in myself embraced. O fiery boundless Heart of joy and love, How art thou beating in a mortal's breast ! It is Thy rapture flaming through my nerves And all my cells and atoms thrill with Thee ; My body thy vessel is and only serves As a living wine-cup of Thy ecstasy. I am a centre of Thy golden light And I its vast and vague circumference, Thou art my soul great, luminous and white And Thine my mind and will and glowing sense. Thy spirit's infinite breath I feel in me; My life is a throb of Thy eternity." ~ Sri Aurobindo



"Once in the dream of a night I stood Lone in the light of a magical wood, Soul-deep in visions that poppy-like sprang; And spirits of Truth were the birds that sang, And spirits of Love were the stars that glowed, And spirits of Peace were the streams that flowed In that magical wood in the land of sleep." ~ Sarojini Naidu


Aegir
Aegir was a fierce god of the sea. He had fingers like claws. His wife was named Ran, by whom he had nine daughters, said to be the maidens who move the waves. Aegir would appear on the surface of the sea to destroy ships, or with his wife would catch sailors with a net to bring them into his underwater kingdom. Captains would give coins to each sailor, so if they were captured they had a gift for the gods. It was believed that if the sailor's spirit was present at the funeral, Ran had given them a good welcome. There they were said to feast with Aegir and Ran. Sacrifices were offered by Saxon pirates, who used to drown every tenth man among their prisoners so that they could assure themselves a secure return home. Aegir is often shown as a strong god with a spear in his hand. An old name for the sea, garsecg, literally means "spear-man". Aegir was very similar to the Greek god Poseidon. Poseidon was known for holding his trident." The source of this quote is Windows to the Universe at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)

The Descent
"And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship." Your friend is your needs answered. He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. And he is your board and your fireside. For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace. When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay." And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart; For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed. When you part from your friend, you grieve not; For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain. And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit. For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught. And let your best be for your friend. If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also. For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill? Seek him always with hours to live. For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness. And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed." ~ Khalil Gibran





"All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore love for love's sake, because it is law of life, just as you breathe to live." Poetry by Swami Vivekananda




"The Stairway of Existence"

"We Are not In pursuit of formalities Or fake religious Laws,

For through the stairway of existence We have come to God's Door.
We are People who need to love, because Love is the soul's life,

Love is simply creation's greatest joy.

Through The stairway of existence, O, through the stairway of existence, Hafiz

Have You now come, Have we all now come to The Beloved's Door.

(The Stairway of Existence - A poem by Hafiz)





Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life, The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray! The Bride of Abydos. Canto i. Canto ii. Stanza 20. Lord George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron. (1788 � 1824)

Love, compassion, and concern for others are real sources of happiness. With these in abundance, you will not be disturbed by even the most uncomfortable circumstances. If you nurse hatred, however, you will not be happy even in the lap of luxury. Thus, if we really want happiness, we must widen the sphere of love. This is both religious thinking and basic common sense. -- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

... we are part of a group sharing experiences
our thoughts are 'music' that attract or repel
'time' is a measure of our conscousness unfolding
we can go down one level of consciousness to help
we can go up one level of consciousness to learn
- author unknown

The human heart feels things the eyes cannot see, and knows what the mind cannot understand - Robert Valett


Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication ~ Leonardo DaVinci

Join the photographer at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sharon-Mau-Photography/108367762566505

:: Arie Sacre :: Sacred Song

Oli Hakea Pue Hoolaha o ke Alii Aloha nui mai ke Akua O Keanae

"Leave the familiar for a while. Let your senses and bodies stretch out Like a welcomed season
Onto the meadows and shores and hills.
Open up to the Roof.
Make a new water-mark on your excitement
And love.
Like a blooming night flower,
Bestow your vital fragrance of happiness
And giving
Upon our intimate assembly.

Change rooms in your mind for a day.

All the hemispheres in existence
Lie beside an equator
In your heart.

Greet Yourself
In your thousand other forms
As you mount the hidden tide and travel
Back home.

All the hemispheres in heaven
Are sitting around a fire
Chatting
While stitching themselves together
Into the Great Circle inside of You."

from the Ecstatic Poetry of Hafiz.......


"All the Hemispheres Leave the familiar for a while. Let your senses and bodies stretch out Like a welcomed season Onto the meadows and shores and hills. Open up to the Roof. Make a new water-mark on your excitement And love. Like a blooming night flower, Bestow your vital fragrance of happiness And giving Upon our intimate assembly. Change rooms in your mind for a day. All the hemispheres in existence Lie beside an equator In your heart. Greet Yourself In your thousand other forms As you mount the hidden tide and travel Back home. All the hemispheres in heaven Are sitting around a fire Chatting While stitching themselves together Into the Great Circle inside of You." ~ Poetry of Hafiz







Pua Melia o Keanae Tropical Pink Plumeria

Copyright 2011 © Sharon Mau

My images do not belong to the public domain.
No form of reproduction, including copying or saving of digital image files, or the alteration or manipulation of said image is authorized unless accompanied by a written sales and/or licensing agreement issued by Sharon Mau
All rights reserved


Sharon Mau

P H O T O G R A P H Y

To purchase my prints and other products please visit me on my websites

http://sharon-mau.artistwebsites.com

http://sharonmau.imagekind.com/store

http://www.zazzle.com/ourjrny*

http://sharonmau.blogspot.com




Join the photographer on my fan page

http://www.facebook.com/sharon.mau



Waikamoi is the most accessible native rainforest on Maui, and one of the best in the state. Most are too remote for anyone but the serious researcher or gung-ho hiker. The U.S. Park Service conducts free interpretive hikes through Waikamoi, starting from Hosmer Campground in Haleakala National Park every Monday and Thursday at 9 a.m. The Nature Conservancy also leads hikes through the area on the second Saturday of each month. Reservations are required. The 1.25-mile loop trail takes two and a half hours, "mostly because we stop and talk a lot on the trail," says White. To step into a native Hawaiian rainforest is to experience sensory bombardment. Your nose, ears, eyes and even feet rush to get the message to the brain first: This place is special, and oh so different from any other you've been. There's the air, clean and cool -- this part of Waikamoi is about 6,000 feet above sea level -- and filled with the smell of green life, primeval and fresh all at once. The songs of strange and unseen birds fill the air. These are songs that just a couple of generations ago blessed lower elevations now populated by people and covered with their homes and streets and stores, but now are heard only in the mountains. Waikamoi is home to eight endangered birds, including the Crested Honey Creeper. Known to ancient Hawaiians as `Akohekohe, it was feared to be extinct until researchers found three active nests in February 1992. It was the first time that the bird, a brown creature about seven inches long with a blond forehead crest, an orange-red patch at the back of its neck and flecks of orange on its belly, had been seen since 1860 -- 132 years before! Waikamoi is it's entire range, the only place on Earth it is found. While you may have seen a koa tree or a tree fern or an ohia growing in the wild, only in a rainforest will you see them together, their roots and fates intertwined in the same web of life. Huge ohias spread overhead in a canopy that even on the rare sunny day blocks the sun and creates a shadow world below where light slants in dim and filtered at odd angles. Ferns create a sub-canopy, waist-high to the hiker, that keeps the ground dark and moist. The strongest sensation, and the one that lingers still, is the feel of the Earth underfoot. It's spongy and soft with humus and dendritus, decaying former life that gives new life a medium in which to take root and grow. You can feel this life cycle through your boot soles. But walk softly. Freshly broken ground is an invitation for seeds and spores of alien species to move in. That's why the first rule of hiking a Hawaiian rainforest is to clean your shoes or boots before hand (so to speak), to prevent introducing seeds from other areas. A second rule is to stay on the trail, to limit damage to the soil. Bogs, a feature of many local rainforests, are especially sensitive to human foot traffic. Randy Bartlett, watershed manager at Pu`u Kukui preserve above Kapalua in the West Maui Mountains, site of a large, pristine bog, says: "It can take months, even years for the bog to repair one human footprint. The reason is that it takes 10,000 to 12,000 years to build up enough organic matter to create 12 inches (deep) of bog. These are not areas that can withstand a lot of human contact." Excerpts from http://www.hotspots.hawaii.com/Chapman3. html


O Sapphire Heaven Soft and Low
John Greenleaf Whittier poetry

A sound as if from bells of silver,
Or elfin cymbals smitten clear,
Through the frost-pictured panes I hear.

A brightness which outshines the morning,
A splendor brooking no delay,
Beckons and tempts my feet away.

I leave the trodden village highway
For virgin snow-paths glimmering through
A jewelled elm-tree avenue;

Where, keen against the walls of sapphire,
The gleaming tree-bolls, ice-embossed,
Hold up their chandeliers of frost.

I tread in Orient halls enchanted,
I dream the Saga's dream of caves
Gem-lit beneath the North Sea waves!

I walk the land of Eldorado,
I touch its mimic garden bowers,
Its silver leaves and diamond flowers!

The flora of the mystic mine-world
Around me lifts on crystal stems
The petals of its clustered gems!

What miracle of weird transforming
In this wild work of frost and light,
This glimpse of glory infinite!

This foregleam of the Holy City
Like that to him of Patmos given,
The white bride coming down from heaven!

How flash the ranked and mail-clad alders,
Through what sharp-glancing spears of reeds
The brook its muffled water leads!

Yon maple, like the bush of Horeb,
Burns unconsumed: a white, cold fire
Rays out from every grassy spire.

Each slender rush and spike of mullein,
Low laurel shrub and drooping fern,
Transfigured, blaze where'er I turn.

How yonder Ethiopian hemlock
Crowned with his glistening circlet stands!
What jewels light his swarthy hands!

Here, where the forest opens southward,
Between its hospitable pines,
As through a door, the warm sun shines.

The jewels loosen on the branches,
And lightly, as the soft winds blow,
Fall, tinkling, on the ice below.

And through the clashing of their cymbals
I hear the old familiar fall
Of water down the rocky wall,

Where, from its wintry prison breaking,
In dark and silence hidden long,
The brook repeats its summer song.

One instant flashing in the sunshine,
Keen as a sabre from its sheath,
Then lost again the ice beneath.

I hear the rabbit lightly leaping,
The foolish screaming of the jay,
The chopper's axe-stroke far away;

The clamor of some neighboring barn-yard,
The lazy cock's belated crow,
Or cattle-tramp in crispy snow.

And, as in some enchanted forest
The lost knight hears his comrades sing,
And, near at hand, their bridles ring,--

So welcome I these sounds and voices,
These airs from far-off summer blown,
This life that leaves me not alone.

For the white glory overawes me;
The crystal terror of the seer
Of Chebar's vision blinds me here.

Rebuke me not, O sapphire heaven!
Thou stainless earth, lay not on me,
Thy keen reproach of purity,

If, in this August presence-chamber,
I sigh for summer's leaf-green gloom
And warm airs thick with odorous bloom!

Let the strange frost-work sink and crumble,
And let the loosened tree-boughs swing,
Till all their bells of silver ring.

Shine warmly down, thou sun of noontime,
On this chill pageant, melt and move
The winter's frozen heart with love.

And, soft and low, thou wind south-blowing,
Breathe through a veil of tenderest haze
Thy prophecy of summer days.

Come with thy green relief of promise,
And to this dead, cold splendor bring
The living jewels of the spring!

1869
John Greenleaf Whittier's poem: Pageant

Sizes

May 19th, 2017

https://help.society6.com/hc/en-us/articles/227119388?flash_digest=4e312bc4a742a7c1f76d7e5b2771f78efe417882

White Balance - Photography Tips

April 23rd, 2017

White Balance - Photography Tips

. . ★ . . :: Let's talk about White Balance . . you are welcome to add your thoughts and share your process in a comment below :: . .

I always shoot in RAW . post production in photoshop and/or lightroom to reveal the colours will help tremendously . .
Use a very subtle super light touch when processing your images making adjustments to your temperature and tint to maintain natural colours unless you are going for a more creative approach .

About colours . .

Adjust your hues using your slider on the HSL / Grayscale for a creative split-tone effect which often is effective for brightening colours . .
Adjust Luminance on specific colours to brighten or deepen colours as well as to add depth and dimension to the image . .
I almost never touch saturation . . if you do . take care to not saturate too much when you are trying to maintain a more natural appearance to your final image . .
Vibrancy is also something you would want to be very careful with as it will flatten your image . .
Black and White is a wonderful choice to "save" an image which has turned out to be overall flat . . .

Mostly focus on White Balance / Hue / Luminance and Curves . . .
Then if you like you could make adjustments in Split Toning for more creative expression . . .

White balance is so important in all circumstances . especially in low light conditions . ie. overcast "grey" skies . . Yet in all light conditions it is so important . .
Light is the key for beautiful photography and when the sun is not cooperating you must meter correctly for the lower light conditions (using a tripod helps tremendously)

You may make post production changes for your white balance to adjust your colour casts by making adjustments in temperature and tint .
Many images have a colour cast and you can solve this issue by adjusting your white balance . . especially when you have a very cool colours with winter skies or shadows . you may warm them up a bit and brighten them by adjusting your temperature and tint . .

For in-camera white balance options your DLSR has presets and Auto is much too unpredictable . . . basically an auto setting on your camera is your camera telling you what colour white is . .
You want to tell your camera what white is . . When shooting outdoors or especially indoors setting your white balance is important . .

For your camera settings try selecting your camera White Balance mode on Shade or Cloudy to warm things up a bit . .
You may choose to create your own white balance preset . . .

Then make adjustments in photoshop and/or Lightroom to your white balance by adjusting the temperature | tine | highlights | midtones and shadows . .
Use Parametric on your Tone Curve to make adjustments then also use Point . play with it until you like the results . .
Always remember never to touch your original images . . only process copies of your work to preserve the integrity of your portfolio .
That is one of the things I really love about Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom . . there is no photo degradation . .
You can make endless copies of your work with many variations for your final images . . .

In Photoshop for Curves you may choose on your drop-down tab Medium Contrast | Strong Contrast | Linear . . or Custom . .
Slide your points and adjust the curves until you like what you see . . .
Lower your contrast and adjust the blacks and/or clarity to soften an image . .

You may choose to use a vignette to create an interesting effect for focusing the eye on the light within your image . .

Create your own presets . . . they are a tremendous resource you may custom create to save yourself time in your work flow . .



Using lens filters will help as well in all light conditions . . . . .
These are only a few suggestions to help you . . . .

I shoot in RAW . often use lens filters and tripod . . try to get everything as perfect as possible in-camera when I initially take the photograph . . then post-process in Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended and finish my images in Adobe Lightroom 5.5 :: . . ★ . .

. . . . ★ . .

Colour correction cards || colour calibrated reference cards are handy
. . do you create your own or purchase them?


Photoshop Elements
Applies to: Colour and camera raw
Adobe Community Help
Using the histogram and RGB values in camera raw
White balance controls for camera raw
Tonal and image adjustments in camera raw files
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/using/color-camera-raw.html


:: more useful links and resources :: . .

DGK Color Tools DKK 5" x 7" Set of 2 White Balance and Colour Calibration Charts with 12% and 18% Gray - Includes Frame Stand and User Guide
http://www.amazon.com/DGK-Color-Tools-Balance-Calibration/dp/B00AWT2QCE/ref=pd_sim_p_6/176-7804790-5800554?ie=UTF8&refRID=0QYW49PT3W69BG0GF5H3

Introduction to White Balance
http://digital-photography-school.com/introduction-to-white-balance/

Using White Balance to Control Colour Casts
http://www.red.com/learn/red-101/color-cast-tutorial

Adobe Controlling White Balance Video Tutorials
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-lightroom-5/controlling-white-balance/

http://pixels.com/showmessages.php?messageid=1955727

18 June 2014
Sharon Mau

*****************************

. this is an interesting forum on Histogram: Luminosity and Colour
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/forums/thread37685.htm


. :: more Colour Calibration Charts resources :: . .


http://www.amazon.com/Color-Calibration-Charts/b?ie=UTF8&node=3109910011

http://www.kayellaustralia.com.au/colour-calibration-cards-c-203_239.html


http://www.photoreview.com.au/tips/shooting/Getting-Colour-Balance-Right
. . :: Getting Colour Balance Right :: . .
"Although cameras with manual white balance measurement systems can provide almost cast-free colour photographs, there are times when additional colour reference tools should also be used to ensure you achieve a correct colour balance in any shooting situation. Including a colour balance reference target in shots is particularly handy if you shoot JPEGs. It's less important for raw file shooters because colour tweaking is possible when converting raw files to editable formats. However, having a target in a reference shot can make the task quicker and easier when you're editing image files."

Creative White Balance
Control the relative colour tonalities in your photos to create a better sense of mood and atmosphere
https://www.outdoorphotographer.com/tips-techniques/nature-landscapes/creative-white-balance/

Photoshop Elements
Applies to: Colour and camera raw
Adobe Community Help
Using the histogram and RGB values in camera raw
White balance controls for camera raw
Tonal and image adjustments in camera raw files
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/using/color-camera-raw.html


:: more useful links and resources :: . .

DGK Color Tools DKK 5" x 7" Set of 2 White Balance and Colour Calibration Charts with 12% and 18% Gray - Includes Frame Stand and User Guide
http://www.amazon.com/DGK-Color-Tools-Balance-Calibration/dp/B00AWT2QCE/ref=pd_sim_p_6/176-7804790-5800554?ie=UTF8&refRID=0QYW49PT3W69BG0GF5H3

Introduction to White Balance
http://digital-photography-school.com/introduction-to-white-balance/

Using White Balance to Control Colour Casts
http://www.red.com/learn/red-101/color-cast-tutorial

Adobe Controlling White Balance Video Tutorials
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-lightroom-5/controlling-white-balance/

. . ★ . . Colour correction cards || colour calibrated reference cards are handy




If any of these suggestions and tips help you let me know with a comment . . .


Aloha

Sharon Mau
http://sharon-mau.pixels.com









Aloha Happy 2017 Limited Time Sales Promo Discount Code

January 6th, 2017

Aloha Happy 2017 Limited Time Sales Promo Discount Code

༺⭐️༻ . . ★ . . :: Aloha . . Happy 2017 : Sales Promo offer : 45% Off throughout my store : Shop Now and Save! This discount code is unlimited : Enter this code at checkout YNZDPJ : Offer Expires 16 January 2017 at 11:59 PM EST : Mahalo! :: . . ★ . . .*.☆ ✿☆.*. ✿ ✤ *`*..*`*.✽ ❥ http://sharonmau.pixels.com

#maui
#hawaii
#beaches
#theocean
#myislandhome
#nature
#ocean
#pacificislands
#thetropics
#hawaiianislands
#tropical
#paradise
#islands
#tropicalflowers
#coastal
#beachlife
#photography
#mauiphotographer
#hawaiiphotography

🍃🌸🍃 . . ★ . . :: #happynewyear #happynewyear2017 May all our dreams come true 🍃🌸🍃 #bliadhnaMhathr . .
#bhliainnuassta . .
#FrohesneuesJahr . .
#gottnyttr . .
#blwyddynNewyddDda . .
#hyvuuttavuotta .
#HauoliMakahikiHou . .
#щасливогоНовогороку . .
#szczęśliwegoNowegoRoku . .
#TauHouhari . .
#feliceannonuovo . .
#Gleilegtnttr . .
#bonneanne . .

🍃🌸🍃🏝 ✩ ☾ ♫ ✨💫💖💛💖 🎀💖🌴🌴🌴🌿🌺🌿

SEO Public Suffix Elixir

May 21st, 2016

#SEO #Elixir #PublicSuffix

New on the Dev Blog "Public Suffix: An Open-Source Elixir Library." https://goo.gl/1eNYZA

" #Moz Pro team wrote a Public Suffix parsing library for Elixir, and now it's open-source!"

You can find #PublicSuffixElixir on

#Github https://goo.gl/jKlCcO

and

#Hex https://goo.gl/1lDfPf

"Operate on domain names using the public suffix rules provided by" https://goo.gl/hkOdQI

Beautiful Celtic Music Playlist

November 20th, 2015

The Song of the Soul by Edwin Leibfreed

November 20th, 2015

The Song of the Soul by: Edwin Leibfreed

Oh to be naked!
My body? Yes, if need be.
My Soul, more than all else.
To be as I am. As small or as large as my Soul.
To speak truth, and scorn man's wrath.
To laugh at convention.
To rejoice at freedom.
To be hated, as well as loved, for Truth's sake.
To care no more for reputation
Than reputation cares for me.
For he who worries about reputation,
Has a reputation to worry about.
II
To believe in all things.
To defy nothing but wrong.
To spring at the ivory throat of wrong,
And strangle it with bleeding hands!
To slay it in public or private.
To let the blazing sandals of the feet of the Soul
Burn every evil they tread upon.
To know that every reformer's life is an avatar.
That reform is justifiable murder.
That every reformer bears a cross.
That the sword, and not the olive-branch,
Is the symbol of regeneration.
And that peace and harmony are its triumphs.
III
To dip into mysteries,
Artlessly, candidly.
To regard life as the Soul's sacred trust.
To know that every longing of the Soul is holy.
That life, with the Soul predominant,
Is a noble mosaic, a bewitching arabesque.
To answer my mother's call to my Soul
My sweet mother, Earth, who loves me!
To satisfy any desire I feel,
So long as I bring happiness to some other.
Not wanton waste of life, but holy use.
IV
To live as would a child, in its cradle, unashamed.
For they who feel shame have not grown wise;
They have lost the purity of innocence!
To do whatsoever my Soul suggests,
And do it openly.
To know that Thought is greater than words.
That words are but the shining garments of Thought.
To know that Thought creates.
That it is greater than the thing it creates;
That it creates Love;
That it is higher than Love;
That it is holier than Love;
That Love is Thought's first-born.
Oh for the courage of Truth!
For the courage of honesty!
What beauteous nakedness in these!
V
Only man can blush.
No other creature knows of shame.
Why have we wandered so far away
From simple honesty?
Who taught us so much that is shameful?
Or, is it only our vain imaginings?
Yet, after all, God is not shocked
At anything he sees.
Or else, seeing, and feeling shame,
He would not tolerate what he sees.
VI
To what extent shall I glory in my passions?
I glory not at all.
Nor do I reproach myself because of them.
I glory in normality;
In strength, and natural desire.
And when my soul calls on these,
They shall answer, and not shame me.
I believe in all that I am.
I believe in more than I am.
I believe in all that I should be,
Because Nature and God believe in me,
Therefore I am,
And, therefore, have I confidence!
Seeing I have been so honored,
Shall I have less respect for myself than God?
Shall I pervert and destroy?
Nay, rather I will conserve.
I will sacredly cherish.
Then shall I rejoice in my abundance.
I shall not know poverty.
VII
What a conservator is God!
And, yet, the abundance withal!
The normal soul is ever rich.
Poverty of soul, or of mind, or of body
Is a crime.
Nature punishes every crime.
Her honesty forbids dishonesty.
How merciful is nature! How just!
Nature is very kind.
Nature and I are happy friends.
VIII
Now let me speak my mind to you.
One assertion of yourself, and you are born.
One fearless sentence, and you are strong.
One battle with your darling vice,
And you become a champion.
A knowledge of one fragment of Truth,
And you have entered heaven's kingdom.
One glance of purity at a human form,
And you are saved.
One cry to God, and the answer of the universe.
One feast of true love, and hunger no more.
He who strives for happiness is a fool.
The wise man makes happiness for another.
IX
There is one forum to which all may go,
And be heard--the Mind.
One eager auditor--the Soul.
One kind old servitor--the Body.
There is more genius undiscovered,
Than genius to discover.
Not all of us shall have his song heard.
Some, who only rehearse the song here,
Shall sing it in triumph and honor
In Music's ultimate realms,
Before all the great singers of Time,
And before the King of Songs.
The blackest murder is the killing
Of the Soul's aspirations!
Ten thousand deaths do they inflict
Who strangle the ambition of the Soul!
X
Let the drawn curtains of the House of the Soul
Be parted. Others need the sight.
How sensitive is the Soul! The tenderest dove
Is an adventurer compared with it.
The Soul can hear the violets grow!
It can hear the throbbing heart of God!
Who would scotch my Soul?
Who would make me afraid of myself?
Is a man ashamed when he bathes?
Of what should he be ashamed?
Not of what he bathes,
But of what he does not bathe.
Tears are the Soul's baptism of cleansing.
Describe a smile, and you deserve immortality;
The pleasure of a kiss,
And you deserve them all;
The value of a tear,
And you have knowledge like unto God's!
XI
Love is the sweetest, yet the saddest thing.
The portal of the heart is emotion.
Motion and emotion are kin.
I sob over colors as some men over music.
Music is the highest expression of any art.
All art resolves itself at last into music.
All life seeks harmony.
Love is the Soul's exquisite vibrations,
Slow or rapid, sad or gay.
Love is the Soul at song.
All sense must have feeling, focus, form.
The highest form is harmony.
The fine art of Life is to make
Another Soul vibrate with a song of joy.
Technique is as elastic as Mind.
Perfection is as fixed as Divine Will.
The azure is alive with motion.
The Soul is most alive
When stirred by emotion.
The message is the thing!
XII
Oh to sing my song that is bursting my heart!
To sing it, and let others sing it, too,
Until such time as their own songs
Shall break the chrysalis that binds them,
And, on the lightest-feathered wings,
Go unto God who sings a deathless song.
Who would not journey thus?
And with my song liberated,
Go sauntering on to willing ears,
Enter in, and be at home,
Because of kindred life.
A vesper bell shall toll for the Soul.
Oh, take me, you who love sincerity and truth!
Take me, and embrace me. Kiss me!
I am but a traveler from the sky.
Home! Home! I journey to the only home I know.
The only heaven that I care to know.
There all is love. There all receive all.
Suspicion cannot flourish there,
Nor hate breathe one single gasp of life.
XIII
Let me begin to undress my Soul before you.
It is as pure as thought.
It is as sweet as jessamine.
It is as melancholy as sorrow.
It is as merry as joy.
It is as clean as the running water
In a cress-fringed brook.
It is as warm as the human breath.
It is as open as the eye.
Yea, it is as clear, too.
It is as tender as love.
It is as yielding as the flesh.
It is as modest as the dew.
It is as chaste as falling snow.
It is as true as the stars.
It is as old as God, Himself.
It is as young as life.
It is as far removed from malice
As is death itself.
Lo, it lies white and waiting!
Waiting what? Waiting whom?
Waiting expression;
Waiting the one who can interpret it;
Waiting the one who needs it;
Waiting the eternal purpose for which it came.
Who knows its throbbing tenderness? Who cares?
Oh the pity of onlooking disinterestedness!
Oh the pain of unrequited hope!
XIV
I stand in the presence of the Eternal!
I am not afraid. He made me thus.
He admits me to His sacred places.
He scorns me not;
Oh men, men, why have ye scorned?
Lo, some day we shall be striding together
Through the infinite worlds!
And you? I shall be helping you to the heights
That have been revealed to me through fearless thought.
I will unlock for you the iron doors of Truth.
You shall see all I see,
And seeing, be no more afraid than I.
And you will love me for my very nakedness,
Just as you will love Truth.
Oh, love me now! I hunger so.
XV
Let me be naked awhile before the holiest thing.
For nothing can harm me, but myself.
See, I am refreshed!
The shower sends its silver arrows
Into my warm flesh.
I am not afraid. I am renewed.
My Soul lives many lives.
Each life a thought, each thought a life.
I am but Thought.
See, now, how you would revile!
Revile me then. I shall hear you not.
A sexual blunder would you make of me!
Will God have need to breed thought
In dying protoplasm?
Thought is not born of flesh,
And needs not flesh to live.
It enters, only, into flesh as would light,
Or more potent still, as love.
XVI
I pass into flesh. I am light.
Oh, let me shine in the dark flesh of eagerness!
Let me enter into the bosom of ignorance
And split it with my golden radiance!
The Soul's dreams are titanic, not satanic.
Let me kiss Truth once more!
Let me taste the bliss of wedlock with Truth!
I would breed thoughts, but not in flesh;
For they would be but dead, and deadly things.
XVII
I would suffice for myself,
And then for all who need me.
I make no cross. It is already made for me.
How gladly do I climb the Hill of the Skull
To die for Truth, since Truth has lived for me!
For death is but a passing phase of Life;
A change of dress, a disrobing;
A birth into the unborn again;
A commencing where we ended;
A starting where we stopped to rest;
A crossroad of Eternity;
A giving up of something, to possess all things.
The end of the unreal, the beginning of the real;
Not cessation, but continuance;
Not exit, but entrance;
Not destruction, but life;
How wise the plan of death!
Death sanctifies everything;
Forgives everything; understands everything.
There is light in the darkest room.
There is light in the blackest night.
There is light in the tomb.
There is hope in the darkest hour.
There is hope in the blackest heart.
There is hope in the dead.
How rhapsodical is the Song of the Soul!
It cannot bide restraint or measure.
Sweeter than melody, loftier than harmony,
It is music itself!
XVIII
Come, naked Soul, be never dressed again.
Go in unto God, more naked still,
And fear no evil, for He knoweth none.
Into His presence come, and talk of Life--
Your life of broken song.
What notes of joy He will supply!
He will not rob me of my Soul.
My Song, my Hope, nor destroy aught.
He will share His matchless Home with me.
And why not?
Did he not grant me here a Palace
In which to dwell, and shall I doubt
The value of a Soul to Him
Who found it worthy of a first solicitude,
And then a constant care?
Would He deny me now, when face to face?
XIX
Alone with God! How shall I further speak?
I seem to feel the hush of Time,
The end of mortal things.
A thrill, unknown before, possesses me.
How near to God I seem!
Some larger purpose holds my view.
I thought to stay here,
Resigned, contented, all alive.
Oh bliss of fuller life!
Oh the sublime gestures of the Soul!
My nakedness to me is very sweet!


Return me if thou wilt, O God,
To earth, or commend me to
Some other sphere if destiny speak so.
I feel the thrill of an eternal plan.
Lo, nothing is lost, not even Time that ceased!
It was the marker, Truth required for this day.
How sweet to be with Truth!
And, yet, still sweeter is it to be Truth, itself! - poetry by Edwin Leibfreed

 

Displaying: 1 - 10 of 79

  |  

Show All

  |

[1]

2 3 4 5 6 Next