With the change of seasons upon us - Spring/Summer in the Northern Hemisphere and Autumn/Winter in the Southern - time for some changes.
New beginings, fresh take on old habits, fresh air and water, fresh insights and opinions and fresh ideas.
definitions of fresh: recently made, produced, or harvested | beginning | vitality and energy | original | not rotten | clean: free from impurities | lively, clean and fruity character | stimulating and refreshing | youthfulness and vibrancy |
OK, OK, I know it’s not still Friday but I looked at this picture and I immediately understood. It’s an absurdity so constant in my own life that I don’t even see it any more (except maybe when I visit the stash backup storage in the laundry). Everyone I’ve ever met who sews or knits or does some other material based craft will have a stash. We like to look at it, add to it, re-arrange it and sometimes even cull it, or give some away. Most importantly we like to have the stash there so we can make what we make with it, when the idea and the material come together. But like Rebekah says, sometimes it feels absurd to have more than one could use in the span of their days.
fabric, by Rebekah of Sunnybrook Farm Designs. Go and have a look at the beautiful things she makes with it. Maybe the stash isn’t so absurd after all.
I don’t want to go too crazy with this post, because I can completely see it turning into the great American novel.. but Nicole’s picture (and caption) struck a chord. Lately I’ve been reflecting - not so much on the things I’ve done… but on the voids and gaps that remain scattered around me because of the things I haven’t.
I must be realistic - I’m getting older, and I need to stop being afraid to break out of my shell and really live. Whatever it is that has forced me to seek shelter needs to be cast to the side - and I must create my own dandelion chains and soak up the sun.
When I think of all the “must do’s” I’ve left undone - it truly is absurd.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Photo courtesy of Nicole Owens, 60piggies.
The light seemed brighter and when I washed my face, I felt some whiskers above my lips. My first impulse was to rip them off, but later on, as I was walking over the balcony to get a bit of sun, they were very useful to help me keep my balance. I think I should have noticed I was becoming a cat.
The oddest thing was that I never thought, for even a second, that it was absurd. Or, at least to me, it didn’t seem absurd. In fact, it felt normal to put a bowl on the floor and lick my meal from there. My friend, at work, tried to pull the bowl from me and I automatically hissed at him. I guess he didn’t enjoy it, but I didn’t enjoy when he interrupted my afternoon nap, at the balcony. It was so warm there!
Today I woke up and stretched my back, and it felt so great to spend the whole morning licking my fur and my hands - hands? No, no, they are looking more like paws right now –that I didn’t even care to miss work. Why should I work? What should I work for? What’s the point of going out if I have everything I need right here?
I just hope my boyfriend doesn’t mind me being a cat and does not go away. I still need him to clean up my litter box!
And if I can wake up and be a cat, bellydancing in public doesn’t seem so absurd.
(A little piece of literature-of-the-fantastic. But what is really absurd nowadays? And it would be so absurd if from now on I decide to be a cat? Or a dog? Or a bird? The outside may still be human-like, but it’s the inside that matters. And why should be any absurd for everyone of us to live up to our desires and thoughts and dreams?)
This was me, Cris, being a cat today. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Good grief, my post titles are just way too long - I should have thought that through a little better. Now THAT is absurd.
I can’t figure out if this theme is throwing everyone for a loop this month - or people are just bogged down by the inevitable taxes. I actually have pictures sitting on my camera - but we’re traveling and I’m having to borrow such antiquated computer equipment, my RAW files would probably explode the hard drive in 5 seconds flat. Technology!!
This is a difficult theme - but I’m trying to think of how ridiculous various circumstances around me are, and shoot from that. I don’t know if that’s correct or not.
The post I picked this week totally reminds me of my first garden - I had no idea how much preparation went into something enjoyed in spring and summer while you were literally freezing your ass off in the dead of winter. My mother is a master gardener and she had me burying bulbs in hay and blankets as sheets of ice were plummeting from the sky - I will never forget thinking my fingers were going to fall off my hands… But the peonies that bloomed were the most beautiful things I had ever been solely responsible for in my life. I was so proud. And so PISSED when I found out the people who bought my house literally mowed down those bushes.
Now THAT IS ABSURD!!! Those things had grown for 5 years - they were HUGE! GAH!!!
There are so many things I love about gardening.. and so many things I hate - like the bugs, the back breaking bending required.. but I can’t wait to sell our houses so we can have a yard again.. I’m ready for the abuse. Absurd.
There is nothing absurd about how fantastic Deb’s picture is, with the vivid colors - I love it 100%..
Picture courtesy of DebR - Red Shoe Ramblings. (note: Red Shoes are pictured, rambling is not).
Nicole’s timely post teaches an important lesson to us all: If you’ve got to do your taxes anyway, you may as well do them in AMAZING window light and get a fantastic self portrait while you’re at it.
Christy at blytheandbonnie finds something absurd hiding in her kitchen. Click the photo to go to her post and learn the what and why.
Finally, below, we see that great minds do, indeed, think alike:
Betty is looking for a ‘breather’ from a hectic schedule. With this face, perhaps she should do it underwater?
Janet at muppinstuff may have an absurd fish on her face, but she’s got some serious issues on her mind, as well.
There are so many times we find ourselves complaining about one thing or another on any given day. It’s hard to remember to be happy when faced with enormous mounds of laundry, a crying baby, the car that’s stalled again, the boss that’s a jerk. We fuss and gripe about this and that. I’ll go on for close to an hour sometimes about how bad my day’s been.
Not pausing to realize how much we all have that should make us happy. Our families and friends. The roof over our heads. The fridge full of food. The dog’s wagging tail waiting to greet us. Most of us live pretty nice existences compared to the plight of some others in this world. Griping about our my day in light of that is pretty absurd.
This week, one self portrait keeps coming back to my mind. I’ll be going about my day and suddenly, this silly image is bobbing before my eyes. It makes me happy. Even if only for a fleeting moment.
Sometimes that’s all you need to remind you to appreciate what you’ve got. It got me thinking.
Peace til next month, Rachel
I have never liked being in front of a camera. Until I started my blog - really, until I started SPC - there are very few pictures of me in this universe. I had this grand idea that my child might like proof that we lived on the earth together in unison - so I specifically decided to start being part of the picture.
It wasn’t easy to overcome this bizarre fear associated with public portraiture. I still flush when people stop and stare when I’m snapping away in public - and dear Lord, if they ask to help. I don’t know how famous photographers take some of the shots they do. I am in awe of their balls.
I have used my self portraits as therapy - they inspire me to write, and I’ve become more comfortable with my physical appearance.. when in all honesty it’s been a problem for me. I won’t write my personal list of “Holli hates” in this post… my broken bones, my scars - all the things wrong with my face - wouldn’t that be absurd?
I started this post and just naturally I lean towards the negative. Why don’t I feel comfortable writing towards the positive? Sometimes I feel like it’s not a good thing to like me, to like the way I look at all. I find myself beating me up frequently because that seems like a better alternative.
Absurd.
Words… Camera… Which one is worse - or does it even matter?
Every purpled contusion and blemish is proof that I’ve attempted greatness, that I have both failed and triumphed with gusto. That I’ve sought treasures worth the pain.
The limitations of our work should be based on the potential of our human form’s creative capability and imagination, greeting the dawn everyday with a salutation of joy of gratefulness. Isn’t that absurd?
A photograph of my computer screen as Daniel points his webcam toward his computer screen which shows me taking a picture of my computer screen while we talk on Skype. Did you catch that? Good, because the absurdity of that overwhelms me!
a situation in which life seems irrational and meaningless
- The absurd is the essential concept and the first truth Albert Camus -
Absurdism: Camus considers absurdity as a confrontation / conflict between two ideals. He defines the human condition as absurd, as the confrontation between man’s desire for significance/meaning/clarity and the silent, cold universe. He says that there are specific human experiences that evoke notions of absurdity and leaves the individual with a choice: suicide, a leap of faith, or acceptance - where man can choose to embrace his own absurd condition.
This is your assignment - to show us how you have embraced the absurdities in your life…
