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compassion

This is one of my favorite photos.  A heart shaped leaf caught up in the skeletal arms of a blossom gone by.  I look at this photo often, trying to understand what about it has won my favor.  Perhaps it is the beauty of transience.  A reminder that even in death there is unspeakable splendor to be found and experienced.  After rereading the recent poem post and the posts preceding, I had to chuckle.  How interesting to dedicate a year to happiness in one post and devote the following post to sadness.  It is perfect really.  The humor in it begs clarification for my dedication and apparent inconsistencies.  I don't consider happiness separate from sorrow, rather I think happiness may only be found in the peaceful acceptance of the "is-ness" of life.  Devoid of my beliefs and concepts of what life is, or should be, or could be, what is there.  When sadness arises in the "is-ness" of life, or "happiness" arises, wouldn't it be lovely to witness beauty within the transience.  Like a dried leaf caught in the arms of a dying bloom, a spaciousness of experience...an invitation for compassion.

Comments

Rose Turner said…
This photo is fantastic!
Small or large scale, this is a work of art. Thank you for sharing.
January 24, 2011 at 8:30 PM
Wind said…
It is your heart and the deep expression of it's voice that is the truest work of art.
January 24, 2011 at 11:24 PM
Traci Hendrix Hart said…
Gorgeous, thought provoking, and peaceful. Your words, your images, and YOU.
Thank you for the brain and spirit food!...
January 25, 2011 at 10:57 AM
china cat said…
or perhaps to look at "sadness" without getting sad about it - what does it really look like? I am always swept away before I ever had time to investigate... miss you and am thinking of you often. As a side note, Mina deals with sadness by bending forward, laying the top of her head on the floor, letting out a good scream and then walking away.
January 25, 2011 at 9:12 PM
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