Keep the Love

I spent much of this year supporting a few charities and campaigning for integration, equality and mutual respect. 

I firmly believe that especially now, in this unstable geo-political context, we all should focus on things that unite us, rather than contribute to division.
I thought for quite a while what images I wanted to end the year with and I wasn't yet decided which ones express unity better. Then the opportunity presented itself in a very fortuitous way.
My 5yo loves spending time in one of his special places, at Ginninderry Link building. He likes admiring the aboriginal artwork and enjoys spending time making up stories about the images. My 8Yo loves it too, so we headed there for a last visit this year. To our delight we found this beautifully decorated Christmas tree. While the kids made a wish, this beautifully adorned tree struck a chord with me. I couldn't help but think of the snows of the yesteryears back in my native Romania. We used to decorate real trees. My grandparents had two fir trees in their courtyard and on a few occasions I got to decorate them festively for Christmas.
These images are so quintessentially Australian - I couldn't think of a better way to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. The gum tree, the blue sky and the peaceful grasslands are very different from the winters in my beloved village, yet they tie together so well. The symbolism is just the same: we all live under the same sky and the greatest thing that unites us all is Love.
My gift to you all is nothing but Love. Close your eyes for a second and imagine you are with us, in front of the tree. Enjoy this beautiful moment wherever around the world you may be.

Stories from My Grasslands

About the roundness of a circle

I don't do new year resolutions. I don't live in the spur of the moment promises, nor am I good planner. 

I do have a list with things I want to do during 2017. It's a hefty list, with the little things, as well as the bold and daring dreams. The key word here is "do". Not achieve.

They are all things that mean a lot to me; I want to do all these because they are things I believe in, or things that make others - and me - happy.

Whether I achieve anything by doing them, that is another story.

I haven't set that expectation of me, this time.

In fact, I haven't set any expectations at all for 2017. I want to look at it as a clean, crisp Canson paper where I can play with my pastels as long as I like, add the colours gradually and see what comes out of it. No rush, no pressure. 2016 has been a very challenging year for many. For me personally, it meant a lot of self-search and reflection. And at times, it felt like going around in circles.

Therefore It seems fit to leave you with this text I wrote a while ago, when a friend challenged me to think about a circle of reflections. I was never thinking of publishing it, but by the way our year has been hitting all the wrong notes, it makes sense to write it down again.

To all my friends in all four cardinal points: before the year leaves us, I wish you Love, Strength, Unity and Patience. May your circles stay round and may love reflect onto you.

About the roundness of the circle:
Nobody ever saw the face of God yet I am sure he is everywhere, at every step and can take any shape; in fact, I am sure creation has the form of a circle. Life starts in the roundness of a womb. Or an egg. Planets are round; we all live enclosed in a big round circle and people died for their belief in its roundness. 

I am sure as hell that lines and rectangles have been artificially made so we can be easily put in a corner, forgetting about our own wholeness and about the roundness of our circles.
We live in all kind of circles - and the most miraculous of all, we call it circle of life. We surround ourselves in more of these concentric circles: circle of friends, circle of trust, circle of love. The lucky ones even get to intersect these circles. Their tangents are a joke though; they are merely lines.
Coming full circle is not a coincidence either, is it? We start as helpless babies, learning everything and then we come around, forgetting, getting weaker and ending up just as helpless as we started.
We round up: our wealth, in rounding up amounts, we round up the cattle, the sheep, we round up the family for news. We gather around the table.

And all around and inside these circles, our world is made entirely of reflections. Each object, each colour is more or less defined by the amount of light absorbed, emitted or reflected. We are reflected - yet we are also reflecting.
I find it amazing that the English language gives the act of thinking the same word as the act of throwing back the light without absorbing or retaining it. And it is also amazing that the eye globe is round; the iris through which we filter these reflections has a circle shape too.
Unfortunately we are unable to retain the light but we are able to retain a thought. 

Sometimes we skip around these circles, without giving it too much thought or even without being aware of it all. And then again, we seem to come to a full circle. A circle of reflection.

 

 

 

About Love, after the Storm

The trees stood tall in the grasslands last night while the little people cuddled a bit closer and asked me to hold them tight.
- "We've been through storms before and we will see some more", I said to them. "Don't let fear guide you - hope should always be the last to leave".
We could see the trees from our window - the grasslands were bathed in light and the thunders were roaring, seconds apart. All throughout these crazy winds, the trees stood tall. And then the rhythmic raindrops falling on the window sent the little people to sleep.
 
In the morning, the trees were still there, with no visible sign of the battering they've just been through.
One thing that never ceased to amaze me at my grandparents' farm was how the grass would always come afresh after a good rain. Even the most trampled, crushed blades of grass would raise anew, greener and taller.

If you know me personally, you know how reticent I am, when it comes to candy pink tones. Yet seeing the state of the world today, I think I will throw some pink shades at you, my friends.
Just like the grass of my yesteryears, the beautiful pink freesias from our front gardens were revived and full of life this morning. Last night, they were one with the ground.

Everything has been said already, during the last 24 hours. I have nothing more to add, but to many of my friends going through this unbelievable turn of events, I just want to say this:

Remember, we've been through storms before. I see your pain. Please don't ever forget the beauty of the human spirit and how in its darkest hours, humankind finds its strength in togetherness, unity and love.
Love always trumps hate. Good always wins - even if it will take some time.

Perspective

It is superfluous, perhaps to talk about perspective. But perhaps it's not. This morning, Mother Nature decided to remind me one of life's most important lessons, by putting things in perspective.
We get carried away and it's easy to forget this one,simple thing: always remember to see the whole picture.
We get to a point where we're stuck and we think we're going around in circles at a snail's pace,without achieving much. Look closely and it seems that way. But if you take a step back, perhaps your perspective will change. The snail is the most tenacious creature I know.
So, if you're ever feeling down, here is a timely reminder to please remember to look back. Always remember where you have started from and then you'll never overlook again how far you got on the way to your goal. You might be really surprised.

On 105

For the uninitiated, 105mm is the focal length of a macro lens. It is a lens that I absolutely love using to collect a few shapes and colours impressions.
While I had a bit of fun playing with movie maker, I am also slowly working on building up an images portfolio based on my eternal search, trying to better understand Synaesthesia.

The Promise

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's going to be a long, stiff climb;
So you better steel yourself ahead.
Some days, we'll run against the time
Some others, our limbs will turn to lead.

Some days you'll feel as strong as ever.
Some days you will be weak and shaking;
Some others we will be silent and demur
Some days we'll look at all the dreams that you were making;
Some others, you will loose it in the dreamland
And I'll be right along to hold your hand.

Some days you'll hate the sight of me and everything on earth.
Some others, you'll enjoy my hand on yours.
There will be days of long despair - unsaid, unheard.
Days of evading on cooler, misty shores
And others of high hopes and endless hours.
For now, just take my hand and dream of Autumn colours.

 

 

 

The rain

It feels like we have lived through thousand kinds of summer
Searching for words of truth where there were none.
'Been craving for a shelter in some thoughts of wonder
But where there's shelter, there's no room for sun.

'Been waiting for that rain since thousand seasons;
This falling rain kissing my salty lips
I craved its frozen blues since eons.
But nothing good comes out of howling winds.