Wednesday, March 31, 2010

A Thing Worth Accomplishing

IPhone photo.
The first motorcycle. A 1996 Yamaha Virago 750.


IPhone photo.
The second motorcycle. A 1988 Honda Shadow 600.

Today's entry will be short because I have things I wish to accomplish.

The main thing I have a need to accomplish is to purchase another mode of transportation, in this case a motorcycle. My family is currently a one vehicle family and it is creating a great deal of stress and forcing us to schedule more tightly.

I have not had much luck attracting a good deal or decent product, but I feel good that it will happen, (I'm believing sometime today).

There is meaning to the journey, and strength to the search. In the end there will also be purpose to the exercise and blessing in the experience.

Thanks to all who add their own blessing to my effort.

UPDATE - April 8, 2010.

Well it happened, but with a twist. And it all took place within a week.

The day of my original posting I found a beat up 1996 Yamaha Virago 750 to purchase. I bought it at a low price and turned around and sold it at a higher price. This placed me into a position to purchase a second higher priced and more desirable bike. It was a 1988 Honda Shadow 600 in showroom condition. The Shadow was also found the very day that I purchased the Virago, but at that time it was out of my reach financially speaking.

The extra step of buying and selling the first bike made the purchase of the second bike possible.

All the elements came together, when divine providence came into play, and the prayerful intention of others aimed their wishes at the same target I was aiming for.

A special thanks I extend all who added their intention to mine.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Four Dimensions

"Innocence"
Courtesy of Timothy Schildknecht - Visual Artistry and Magic.

Copyright Starfire Media Productions 2009 - all rights reserved.

Wishcasting Wednesday: March 24 - What do you wish to take a break from?


By being kept busy… in my waking hours - through the gathering, filtering, and processing, of sensory impulses captured through sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell, and… in my sleeping hours - with the work of dreams and nightmares, reviewing, twisting, distorting, trashing and rehashing a lifetime of experiences through processes of the sub-conscious, and then… by bundling up all the truths, perceptions, and distortions introduced through both of these seemingly conflicting processes, and… acting upon or reacting to them, developing and growing from them, or rejecting, failing, and falling because of them, I end up becoming… limited, stagnant, and somewhat two-dimensional as a human being.


One of these dimensions is made up by everything I experience in my physical environment. The other dimension is made up of everything I feel in my emotional environment. These two aspects of my person, continuously battle for top spot, one being logical, and the other being ego-driven.


Right now I could say that I am a 47-year-old son, brother, husband, father, step-father, provider, photographer, artist, adventurer, explorer, traveler, lover, servant, student, teacher, leader, follower, and… any other label that makes up the umbrella of identity (or ego) I’ve made for myself.


One can exist in this two-dimensional condition, but not truly thrive.


There is also a third dimension available to most people. It is a spiritual environment, and is based on absolute truth. Please do not confuse absolute truth (simply defined as a universal set of seen or unseen realities that apply to every man, woman, and child), and religion (simply defined as a custom made set of seen or unseen illusions, made by man to settle his or her own conscience or support his or her own ego). I have limited exposure to a spiritual environment, this because my spiritual tuning is off station, this due in part to past mistakes (both malicious and accidental) as well as other broken and dysfunctional aspects of my life. Therefore I do not feel qualified or credible to comment on spiritual elements at this juncture of my life. All I will say is that a spiritual environment is intuitive, peaceful, originates from the metaphorical heart, and completely obliterates ego when it’s present, active, and recognized.


A fourth dimension is available to everyone, and is responsible for creating an environment conducive to building our imagination and inspiring our creativity. We get to travel through this dimension (as an observer) every time we surrender our senses (first dimension) and emotions (second dimension) to truly inspiring works of literary, musical, performance or visual art. We get to pilot through this dimension (as a creator) every time we are inspired (third dimension) to imagine and create an expression of literary, musical, performance, or visual art.


I would love to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the demands of my everyday life and all the things that keep me trapped and floating around in the mire of my two dimensional existence. I would then reacquaint myself with my lost spirituality, and… delve deeply into a rich feast of imagination, and a profound manifestation of my own creativity and intent.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Shadow and Light

"Shadow and Light"
Courtesy of Timothy Schildknecht - Visual Artistry and Magic.

Copyright Starfire Media Productions 2009 - all rights reserved.

Photography being a visual medium; where differences in shadow and light are observed, controlled, manipulated, and captured; creates marvelous opportunity for photographer to become artist, historian, or storyteller.

Vision is one of five physical senses that have immediate power to influence the perceptions and conclusions of the mind, or inspire and depress the emotions of the heart.

Our mind wants to make sense of our world, and uses light to interpret it's environment.

Our heart wants to make sense of "itself" and uses shadow as the place to interpret it's own breadth, and depth.

Because of the magic of shadow and light, our eyes can tie us to both logic, and imagination at exactly the same time, and manifest that the mind and heart are inexplicably connected, making us both finite and human, and infinite and immortal.

Think about this the next time you really... REALLY, observe a live scene (current shadow and light) or, contemplate the meaning of a story told in a photograph (captured shadow and light).

Sometimes the mind will have dominant run of an interpretation, at others times, the heart will rule. Either way, there's always been and always will be an unseen connection between the two.

Contemplate this the next time you look into the eyes staring back at you in your bathroom mirror (light), or observe a pair of eyes staring back at you from the darkness of the wood (shadow). You will find these two images take you to very different places within yourself.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Saying "No" to Unfairness and Greed

"Earth Mother 2"
Courtesy of Timothy Schildknecht - Visual Artistry and Magic.
Copyright Starfire Media Productions 2009 - all rights reserved.

We live in a world that often gives us back what we put forth.

We share light and it returns to illuminate us.

Love brings us patience and the ability to heal.

Faith builds hope (for some it’s the other way around).

We give compassion and it’s opportunities silently creep from the shadows for fulfillment.

Trust brings us loyalty.

Dreams build opportunity.

Effort brings achievement.

Friendship builds bonds.

and so forth… 

or so it seems…

There are a pair of wild cards that are prevalent in our world, and they appear to trump my logic.

They are unfairness and greed.

These elements unravel our society, starting on a personal level at home, and expanding exponentially throughout the whole globe.

They divide us into the "haves" and the "have-nots".

Some individuals, organizations, governments, corporations, and religions, force their needs, objectives,
policies, mandates, and beliefs, ahead of an individuals right to live with comfort and dignity, thus impeding one's freedom of choice in making moral decisions, and obstructing principled rules of honorable conduct.

They are the "haves".

What’s left are the burdened, voiceless, weak, and victimized, who are left to their own devices, and whom often fall through the cracks of our social fabric.

They are the have-nots".


Unless our world learns to become communal (on an epic scale), with a sensitivity on becoming our brother’s keeper, and placing another’s needs ahead of our own, nothing can ever change.
But changes are possible. It all starts with one person, and with one foot being placed in front of the other.That’s why I say "NO" to unfairness and "NO" to greed. And that’s why I hope you will join me.

My Wishcast for Wednesday March 10, 2010 is that we all join together to say no to unfairness, and no to greed.