Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Round Robin Challenge: TBRRC! Happy 2nd Anniversary!

"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them every day begin the task anew."

-St. Francis de Sales

Wow! It's been 2 years? Really? It sure doesn't seem like it's been that long, since Karen and I challenged each other to "go out and be photographers!" :) She and I had a lot of fun with those first two challenges, and all the amazing ones that were to follow! Happy 2nd Anniversary everyone! :) It wasn't easy to choose just one past challenge to revisit, they have all inspired me in some way, but as the time to decide began to run out, and I knew I had to pick just one, I decided on one of our earliest challenges, from back in the days when we played the challenges on AOL. I chose "Wabi-Sabi," which was suggested by our friend, and fellow Robin, Coy, author of the journal, "Dancing in the Rain."

Wabi-Sabi celebrates finding the joy and aesthetic appreciation in the imperfect, impermanent, or incomplete. I have always been drawn to things that are just slightly off center. I tease a lot about being in love with David Duchovny, but I would more than likely have never accepted a date with him. He is too gorgeous, and therefore I would have been a blithering idiot throughout the date, never able to mutter a single understandable word, or worse yet merely making weird sounds instead of actual words which would sound a little like this... "Myathingflapingiabag." Which when loosely translated means, "Hello." Sigh. LOL.

Now on the other hand, Albert Einstein, would be someone who I would definitely date! His hair makes me crazy with attraction. He had a wonderful sense of humor, and for that reason alone, I think he would have understood me. Too bad we were born in different times. Sigh. When I get to Heaven, I am certainly going to look him up, and ask him to go bicycle riding with me. :) So, as you can see, I like searching for the beauty, in non-traditional places and faces. Especially in autumn...


Wabi-Sabi also refers to desolation and solitude, and a transcendence to a simpler way of life. A less materialistic view of life. As a person with Fibromyalgia, I have learned to scale back life a bit. One suggestion, made by one of the books I read about learning to live with the disease, is to plan meals ahead of time, when my energy level is up, so when those inevitable times come up when I simply haven't got the energy to do much, dinner is just a matter of putting a casserole or Lasagna in the oven. As for the times of solitude, well don't we all need that from time to time? For those times, I open the window, and let the natural sounds outside guide me into a short passage of meditation. I try to do this daily, just to process whatever might be distracting me, or tugging at my energy. Life lived in beautiful, imperfect simplicity... ahhh... that's the stuff! :)

Be sure to pay a visit to all the Robins who are participating in this special anniversary round. Simply follow the links below. And don't forget to pay a visit to the Round Robin Photo Challenge Blog this Thursday, to find out what our next topic will be! :)



Linking List

1. Karen... Outpost Mavarin
POSTED!

2. Carly... Ellipsis... Suddenly Carly
POSTED!

3. Kat... In My Dreams I Can Fly
POSTED!

4. Steven... (sometimes photoblog)
POSTED!

5. Suzanne R... New Suzanne R's Life
POSTED!

6. Annie... Pictures of Craziness


7. Nancy... Nancy Luvs Pics
POSTED!

8. Valorie... Retrospect USA
POSTED!

9. Janet... Fond of Photography


10. Gattina... Keyhole Pictures
POSTED!

11. Marie... Photographs & Memories Too/Photographs & Memories Blog Too
POSTED!

12. Gina... Gina's Space
POSTED!

13. rRose... WAIT- NOT YET


14. Tammy... The Daily Warrior
POSTED!

15. Kerrin... Macro Capture
POSTED!

17. Tammie Jean... Long Drives To Nowhere **Welcome New Member**
POSTED!

18. Julie... Julie's Web Journal
POSTED!


12 comments:

kmm said...

Fantastic entry as usual. Your imperfection shots are perfect.
The early japanese potters practiced this and always put a small imperfection into there pots

Tammie Jean said...

Hi Carly! Nice to meet you too :)
Well I've learned something new today - I didn't know what Wabi-Sabi meant, but I absolutely love the concept of finding beauty in the imperfect. The photos are wonderful, and the one of the butterfly with the damaged wings is my favorite!

Tammy Brierly said...

Carly! Thank you for all your hard work on this wonderful site! Your photography is always stunning! You rock girl!

MariesImages said...

I love how you capture color, all the photos have wonderful vivid color, that just pops out at you. Beautiful shots as usual!
Marie

Anonymous said...

beautiful selections!

Steven said...

I went with Wabi-Sabi too. Love the wing worn gulf fritillary butterfly. My fave.

Karen Funk Blocher said...

Well done - as usual! My favorites are the leaf shot (a perfect illustration of imperfection and impermanence!) and fog shrouding the bridge.

Gattina said...

I love your butterfly pictures ! they look so pretty, spring and full of joy, that's at least what I feel. But Einstein, isn't he a little old for you, or have you seen pictures of him as a young man ? He was not bad looking by the way !

Anonymous said...

Wow! I love your floral photography. Great selections.

sunflowerkat said...

what a lovely entry to go with these wonderful images. All perfect examples of Wabi-Sabi. It's a great theme to keep in mind any day we're out with a camera.

XOXO

Suzanne R said...

Thank you for your explanation and examples of Wabi-Sabi. I had never heard of it before so this has been a learning experience for me. A lovely entry, as always!

TropicRedbird said...

WOW ... thanks for your presentation of Wabi Sabi. I look at your butterfly ... and am in awe at how these flawed beauties go about business without being concerned by vanity! Oh, to be like a butterfly! I enjoy reading your thoughts as much as viewing your photographs.