the tree could be man's best friend

i don't like to make any partial posts on religion per se but i felt like writing about this thought. i'm taking a native american religions course and one of the main discussions is animism. i find it a very captivating subject. the idea that every person, animal, plant, even manmade objects could have souls or spirits. whatever religion or belief or way of life that you practice, i think there should still be an underlining importance to respect the world around us. i believe that by being one of many species/things/objects, our actions have consequences. even if you're atheist, there is an earth around us, there is a universe that we belong to and even if we are one little spec in a vast space, we do have an impact on a piece of that space. it's sad to me to think that as humans we make ourselves the most important beings. yes, we are important, but we aren't the only ones. look around you. there are living creatures that's lives and existence is affected by us. many probably think that going outside and communicating to a tree is a bit strange, but in a sense, by any interaction you have with it (i.e. planting, watering, cutting, climbing) you are communicating with it. at least, an animist would claim so. what or whom decided that because plants don't speak our language we can't speak to them? we talk to our pets. we talk to animals in the zoo or park. we even talk to the fly that keeps flying in our face. sometimes we end up talking to furniture or appliances. although maybe the latter is because of some complaint. still, why not plants?

either way, we should respect them. that is giving them care and possibly love and what living thing doesn't want to be cared for? sometimes people argue that we should take care of our earth so that our grandchildren will have a green earth. but is that really enough reason. shouldn't it be because they matter too? i don't know. maybe i'm just expecting that people would feel compelled to care for a plant the way that we care for a pet. that might just be the way i see things. well, to show you who i love, check out the pic. it's my basil plant. her name is Zola, which means "piece of earth". and yes, i do communicate with her. she's my sunshine and i love waking up and seeing her while i eat breakfast. hopefully, i will one day have a garden for her.

i encourage you at least to next time stop and think about what you see around you. our planet is beautiful place full of beautiful beings and things. maybe even try to communicate with it. you never know what might happen. i'm no shaman, but i do know that amazing things happen when i open up myself to the world around me.

i hope you had a restful and groovy holiday weekend, i know i did. now back to reality,

-Genevieve

summertime shots

a promise is a promise. here they are. i went to a park near my friends house and took a small nature walk. i felt like i was in the everglades when we were near the swampy areas. hope to be back soon. until then, hope you like these.

-Genevieve

lazy rainy day

today was a day off that i spent at home. the weather has been really hot and sunny in the past few days, but today was thunderstorm after thunderstorm. i was supposed to go to the beach with a friend, but this morning we decided that it wouldn't be such a great idea lol. i've spent the day watching law & order (both c.i. and s.v.u.), it's my guilty pleasure. in my pj's all day, i've been trying to finish reading 'Into the Wild' by Jon Krakauer. i'm liking it so far, i want to see the movie but i thought that it would be better to read the book first. after seeing 'Milk', i youtubed interviews of sean penn and emile hirsch and came across the 'Into the Wild' interviews. so naturally, i was interested and wanted to experience it myself. especially since i find something so compeling about nature. i'm hoping tomorrow's weather isn't too rainy because i'm supposed to go to the park with a friend and take some shots. i love the way the streets look after it rains, especially when it's night time and the lights reflect off the concrete. but i'd like it to be just a little bright, whether sunny or grey, so that the light is good. my poor camera hasn't had a proper day of attention in a while. i can't wait to go to a new place to take pics, it always feel like a small adventure to take shots of a new place. so i'm hoping to be back tomorrow or thursday to share with you the shots.

i was thinking about music i've recently discovered, but i've drawn a blank. i have a long list of music that i want to download. at the top part of the list is the new Dave Matthews Band cd. i haven't listened to the whole cd, but what i have heard, i like. this list was started at the end of spring semester and hasn't been touched much in the past month sadly. and i'm thinking of dedicating a few hours in the next few days to downloading my list and anything else that comes to mind. i'm open to any suggestions, i know i get a lot of inspiration from blogs i follow. but if there's any 'you-must-listen-to-this-it-will-change-your-life' kinda of stuff, let me know.

i hope your week is going well, be back soon,

-Genevieve

beauty and inspiration that never fail

this weekend i went on a nature hike with a friend at a park near by. we spent the afternoon taking pictures, and i just wanted to share some with you. i took about 275 total, but here is just a sampling of the ones that stood out. it's incredible how complex and intricate some things in nature are. it just makes me wonder how there must but some perfect order to it all. many things just seem too difficult to have just happened out of coincidence. no matter what you believe, nature still leaves you awestruck. hope these make you smile, be back soon,

-Genevieve

it's the little things

i was sitting outside on one of the picnic tables reading my textbook when out of the corner of my eye i see a red bird fly by. i was startled because it was a bright red, almost orange in color. i followed it's path until it came down to the ground about five or six feet away from me. today was the first time i have ever seen a red cardinal in my life. i thought the bright red color of cardinals was an exaggeration by the cartoons and team slogans. my mouth fell open and i couldn't help but stare in wonder at this beautiful creature. it was a shame that i didn't have my camera on me because this cardinal was so peacefully walking around trying to find something to eat. i still can't get over how amazing it's color was. i really hope that i encounter another one and that i have my camera on me next time, i would love to try to capture how graceful and beautiful they are. i found these pictures on flickr, i especially liked the mosaic.

hope you're off to a good start this week and that a breathtaking bird flies your way,

-Genevieve

spring nirvana

ok, this time it has been a while. it has been an entire week since the last time i blogged. which isn't really that much time but it feels like a long while. i'm back, no worries. i am recharged and ready to face the last few weeks of school before summer. and i'm back to share some shots i took over my break. of all of them, these are my favorites. i was very interested with the contrast of nature vs. concrete. i love concrete's texture and appearance. although it is rough, cold and hard, it has some sort of beauty in my eyes. i enjoy taking pics with interesting angles of it. the song at the bottom, "Syndicate" by The Fray seems to capture the vibe of the pics and my current mood. if you haven't checked out their new cd, i highly suggest you do. they came back with a bang. the entire cd is worth purchasing, all of the songs are amazing. it's hard to pick one favorite. 

hope you like the pics and the music, be back really soon with more...

-Genevieve

pure, uncontrolled, unrestrained

i came across this randomly. it made me smile, so i thought i would share it with you.

and here's something i wrote today...procrastinating as usual...

happiness

bittersweet

the thought

of happiness

pure

uncontrolled

unrestrained

happiness.

i want

to be at peace

at peace

with the world

with everything

everyone around me.

feel the wind

tossle my hair

nothing mattering

only the thought

of happiness.

when even

the flowers

smile back

showing their life

feeling, breathing

pure

uncontrolled

unrestrained

happiness.

when i won't

need a soul

to be me

to smile

and laugh

and have

the thought

of happiness

pure

uncontrolled

unrestrained

happiness.

for when

i do find this

i hope to

be able to

put it in

my heart to keep

to one day share

with the world

with everything

everyone around me

so that they too

can feel

the happiness

pure

uncontrolled

unrestrained

happiness.

hope you are having a good week,

-Genevieve

stop and smell the tulips

being caught of guard by nature is one of the most incredible things. at least for me it is. to be walking and then suddenly notice flowers or a tree or a beautiful sky are some of the moments of awe that i crave. i can't wait for more flowers to bloom and it to be officially spring. as much as i love fall, spring brings a peaceful time, nice weather and flowers. it's as if everything is waking up from a long sleep, and my eyes feel like they witness something new every year. i love when flowers catch me off guard and i can't help but smile. they radiate happiness and beauty. Renoir always makes me smile because most of his paintings of nature are uplifting. the painting above is Summer Landscape (1873) and the idea of this garden made me wish i could be there to take some shots.

although roses are beautiful, my favorite flower is tulips. when i was little i went to a tulip festival and i remember the rows and rows of different colored tulips there was. i remember picking up seeds in hopes of growing my own tulip garden. unfortunately, i was unsuccessful in this venture, but one day i hope to have a garden. a garden much like the one in the Renoir painting but it must have tulips. so with this thought, i started searching for paintings of tulips. i came across  A Field of Tulips in Holland (1886) by Monet. not only did it make me smile because it's a field of tulips but because of the windmill. a few years ago, i went to Germany and i will never forget driving on the highway by the windmills. they are massive in size and yet seem so peaceful in the fields. i could watch them for hours. this painting combined two of my favorite things. i really can't wait for spring. i hope you like the paintings and don't forget to stop and smell the roses.

-Genevieve

a picture from my world

well i wish i could say that i took this a while back, but truth is that i took it this afternoon. i live in florida, so this is what we know to be winter. i was walking this afternoon in 65 degree weather, the sun was shining and the sky was cloudless. i hope this brightens your day like it did mine...

-Genevieve

sunlight in your eyes

there is something about looking at the sun and its rays that is breathtaking. to witness a sunrise or sunset is a spectacular sight to me. all i want to do is capture it on film to remember the moment or look at it long enough to try to memorize it. but even though it occurs every day and even though i could catch it whenever i please, each time seems and feels like the first time all over again. one morning, i awoke at the crack of dawn to take pictures of the leaves changing colors. i fell in love with the sight of the sunrise once again. it's like a blind man seeing for the first time. these are a few of the pictures from the folder that contains about 300 lol. the leaves changing colors is something almost as equally breathtaking. i couldnt help but take millions of pictures. nature awes me. it's art on earth that people neglect at times. it can captivate you as much as a painting or a picture. and artists have tried to capture this beauty to portray what is around them, but sometimes it doesn't seem to quite fulfill the same sensation. although the artwork can be beautiful and be as realistic as the actual flower or tree, there is an element of something missing. the presense of that part of nature, that can only be witnessed in person. nature truly is art's muse and art is breathing because nature is giving it the air to breathe. 

hope you like them...

-Genevieve