A few of my favourite things

The following are some of my favourite photos, all of which I’ve taken in the past 3 months.  I love vibrant colours but I also love soft tones. Five of the six photos were taken either in my garden or in the reserve behind our house. All photos were taken in Wellington, New Zealand and all taken on my iPhone 4S. These are a few of my current favourite things:

 

Thought for the day: 9 March 2017

I took this photo this afternoon while standing in a friend’s garden. He wasn’t at home at the time! Not sure what his neighbours might have thought had they seen me. Several days ago he and I were chatting and discussing our gardens and he was telling me about how lovely and vibrant his blue hydrangeas were. I asked if I could pop down one day to photograph them and he said “of course, come over any time”- so I did. And he was right, they were really lovely and so vibrant!  I often play with colour (along with clarity, light, tone, etc) when I’m looking at my photos but in this case I haven’t altered the colour of the flowers at all. So in a way, this is a photo of my friend’s hydrangeas being authentically themselves – this is simply how they were. And I guess that’s the point of this saying – about being yourself over and above, and before anything else.

And my steps may be slow but I think I’m getting the hang of this ‘being yourself’ business. And this is today’s reminder to myself.

Thought for the day: 8 March 2017

I really love how empowering this quote is. It makes me smile. It says to me ‘It’s ok that you see life differently – you’re allowed. And if you take pleasure in the little things, the tiny specks of beauty that no-one else appreciates, that’s great!’ Which is how I feel about grasses and weeds – I love finding beauty in weeds, or a clump of grasses, or in a tiny flower growing up through a crack in the driveway, a shell I found on the beach or a feather. And I really enjoy living outside the stereotypical bounds that the world defines as ‘beauty’ – so I guess I’m embracing that part of myself that sees life (and beauty) a little differently. And I’m proud of that part of me!

One of my aims this year is to embrace self love – something I’ve really battled with in the past. In terms of how I see myself in regards to my perspective on beauty – I think I’m doing OK!