“A good photograph is knowing where to stand.” Ansel Adams
The Stand
Tag: Direction
This Side of Paradise
No. 475 at the Strasburg Rail Road station will take you on a scenic forty five minute trip to Paradise.
But as a wise man once said: “When fears are screaming in your ears, try to hear the whispers of your faith and run into that dark path. That is how you reach the paradise.”
Note: If you feel like running you can save $20 minimum.
The Wrong Train
“Sometimes the wrong train can take us to the right place.” Paulo Coelho
Crossing the Line
It’s better to cross the line and suffer the consequences than to just stare at that line for the rest of your life.
Right Action on the Path
“Always listen to experts. They’ll tell you what can’t be done, and why. Then do it.” Robert A. Heinlein
Drowning in the Mainstream
“You don’t accomplish much by swimming with the mainstream. Hell, a dead fish can do that.” Kinky Friedman
From the Withered Tree
The Buddha (allegedly) said: “From a withered tree, a flower blooms.” But what exactly does that mean? The best explanation I could find is on a site called Zen Dirt. This is from a post called From the Withered Tree:
“In Zen quotes and sayings, we have many reminders of the impermanence of everything. Life, as all things in the universe, exists in cycles and nothing is permanent. Being mindful of non-duality however, means that all things never cease to exist either. From a withered, old, lifeless tree, a new flower blooms, a new life grows. This reminds us of the cycle of life, of how we are all related, elder and young, old and new, and how we are all of the same being.
This quote also speaks of how beauty, new life, and new thoughts can blossom from an otherwise old, lifeless, withered tree. Just because a tree is shrunken and has been around a long time, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the capacity to flower new life from it.
We can interpret this several ways. We can see this as a message that no matter what stage we are at in life, we can always start fresh. It’s never too late to let our lives blossom into a beautiful new flower. There is no such thing as “it’s too late now.”
As we all exist in cycles, we should not underestimate the profound effect of changing our lives and relationships with others. Even at a late stage in life we can positively affect our attitudes and the perspectives of those around us. This can ripple out and create positive energy around the world, or at the very least, the lives of the ones around us.
Another way to see it is simple. We were all young flowers, growing from the fruits of our parents, and we will all grow old, into a withered tree. Flowers may bloom from us, or they may not. This is not just children, the flowers are also seeds of happiness we plant in the hearts and minds of others.”
Bend with the Wind
The fierce wind rages
And I see how trees survive
They have learned to bend
Haiku by Don Raye, wind by Mother Nature
Catfish
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Leave the dude alone and he’ll figure it out.” Louis C.K.
Topping from the bottom
“It’s a long way to the top, if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll.” AC/DC
