My Photo Journal: My Sunset Sky

Clouds come floating into my life,
no longer to carry rain or usher storm,
but to add color to my sunset sky.
― Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds

Life is full of beauty. Notice it.
Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces.
Smell the rain, and feel the wind.
Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.
― Ashley Smith

Burning red, outrageously orange, and moody purple sky at sunset over a nearby park.
Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

My Photo Journal: Happiness (1)

We can complain because rose bushes have thorns,
or rejoice because thorns have roses.
― Alphonse Karr, A Tour Round My Garden

When life is not coming up roses
Look to the weeds
and find the beauty hidden within them.
― L.F.Young

We all live with the objective of being happy;
our lives are all different and yet the same.
― Anne Frank

Lightly textured pink rose with backlighting.
Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

My Photo Journal: Just a Little Early Autumn Stroll

Many people lose the small joys in the hope for the big happiness.
― Pearl S. Buck

I am content; that is a blessing greater than riches;
and he to whom that is given need ask no more.
― Henry Fielding

Two contented-looking ducks taking an early autumn stroll at the Ed Broadbent Waterfront Park in Oshawa, Ontario.

Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.


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My Photo Journal: Linden Leaves in Sunlight

leave me a smile
just warm enough...
to spend a million
golden afternoons in.
― Sanober Khan, Turquoise Silence

Happiness is not found in anything,
nor can it be achieved by any means;
It is a state of being your true self,
It is your very nature;
Happiness lies in self-knowledge.
― Shiva Negi

Newly emerged foliage of the little-leaf linden (Tilia cordata) glowing in the spring sunlight.

Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

My Photo Journal: Abstract Views of the Common Pepperweed

If you pursue happiness, you are an ordinary person.
If happiness pursues you, you are an extraordinary person.
Do not chase happiness; let it chase you.
― Peter Deunov

Whereas the beautiful is limited, the sublime is limitless,
so that the mind in the presence of the sublime,
attempting to imagine what it cannot, has pain in the failure
but pleasure in contemplating the immensity of the attempt.
― Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason

Three abstract views of the common pepperweed (Lepidium densiflorum).

Photos © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Joys of Spring by René Lelong

Joys of Spring, (ca 1890-1900)
by René Lelong (1871–1933)

Love is that condition in which the happiness
of another person is essential to your own.
― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.
― Marthe Troly-Curtin, Phrynette Married

You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of.
You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.
― Albert Camus

Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice.
Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice.
Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

Vintage Art Appreciation: The Quiet of the Lake, Roundhay Park by John Atkinson Grimshaw

The Quiet of the Lake, Roundhay Park, 1870
by John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836 - 1893)
You cannot wait for an untroubled world to have an untroubled moment. The terrible phone call, the rainstorm, the sinister knock on the door—they will all come. Soon enough arrive the treacherous villain and the unfair trial and the smoke and the flames of the suspicious fires to burn everything away. In the meantime, it is best to grab what wonderful moments you find lying around.
― Lemony Snicket, Shouldn't You Be in School?

Therefore, dear Sir, love your solitude and try to sing out with the pain it causes you. For those who are near you are far away... and this shows that the space around you is beginning to grow vast.... be happy about your growth, in which of course you can't take anyone with you, and be gentle with those who stay behind; be confident and calm in front of them and don't torment them with your doubts and don't frighten them with your faith or joy, which they wouldn't be able to comprehend. Seek out some simple and true feeling of what you have in common with them, which doesn't necessarily have to alter when you yourself change again and again; when you see them, love life in a form that is not your own and be indulgent toward those who are growing old, who are afraid of the aloneness that you trust.... and don't expect any understanding; but 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, Letters to a Young Poet

I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Vintage Art Appreciation: Last Flowers by Jules Breton

Last Flowers, 1890
by Jules Breton (1827 – 1906)

The magic fades too fast
the scent of summer never lasts
the nights turn hollow and vast
but nothing remains...nothing lasts.
― Sanober Khan

If today is not your day,
then be happy
for this day shall never return.
And if today is your day,
then be happy now
for this day shall never return.
― Kamand Kojouri

Life is made up of a collection of moments that are not ours to keep. The pain we encounter throughout our days spent on this earth comes from the illusion that some moments can be held onto. Clinging to people and experiences that were never ours in the first place is what causes us to miss out on the beauty of the miracle that is the now. All of this is yours, yet none of it is. How could it be? Look around you. Everything is fleeting.

To love and let go, love and let go, love and let go...it's the single most important thing we can learn in this lifetime.
― Rachel Brathen

Vintage Art Appreciation: Hydrangeas by Louis Icart

Hydrangeas, 1929
by Louis Icart (1888 - 1950)
Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
― Marcel Proust

Dare to Be
When a new day begins, dare to smile gratefully.
When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light.
When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it.
When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway.
When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back.
When there seems to be no hope, dare to find some.
When you’re feeling tired, dare to keep going.
When times are tough, dare to be tougher.
When love hurts you, dare to love again.
When someone is hurting, dare to help them heal.
When another is lost, dare to help them find the way.
When a friend falls, dare to be the first to extend a hand.
When you cross paths with another, dare to make them smile.
When you feel great, dare to help someone else feel great too.
When the day has ended, dare to feel as you’ve done your best.
Dare to be the best you can –
At all times, Dare to be!
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

It's so hard to forget pain, but it's even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from peace.
― Chuck Palahniuk, Diary