Kaleidoscope #406

by Denise M. SessousSeptember 30, 2018September 2, 2018

Once upon a time, the princess rose from the ashes her dragon lovers made of her & crowned herself the mother-fucking queen of herself. – how’s that for a happily ever after?
― Amanda Lovelace, The Princess Saves Herself in this One

Below is the original photo used to create this image. This was taken at a scenic view and hiking trail outside of Sedona, AZ during a recent vacation. I was surprised and delighted to find this patch of royal-purple irises. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.

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Kaleidoscope #392

by Denise M. SessousSeptember 16, 2018September 2, 2018

I was born to catch dragons in their dens
And pick flowers
To tell tales and laugh away the morning
To drift and dream like a lazy stream
And walk barefoot across sunshine days.
― James Kavanaugh, Sunshine Days and Foggy Nights

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Kaleidoscope #345

by Denise M. SessousJuly 31, 2018July 8, 2018

I can speak to my soul only when the two of us are off exploring deserts or cities or mountains or roads.
― Paulo Coelho, Aleph

Below is the original photo used to create this image. This was taken on my last night in Arizona, just outside of Mesa during a recent vacation. The skies had been almost crystal clear, and I was grateful to have a vibrant sunset, I kept excusing myself from dinner to run out to the parking lot to take more pictures. I especially love how the cloud formation looks like a bird in flight, a Phoenix perhaps…? No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.

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Kaleidoscope #344

by Denise M. SessousJuly 30, 2018July 8, 2018

“I’ve crossed these sands many times,” said one of the camel drivers one night. “But the desert is so huge, and the horizons so distant, that they make a person feel small, and as if he should remain silent.”
The boy understood intuitively what he meant, even without ever having set foot in the desert before. Whenever he saw the sea, or a fire, he fell silent, impressed by their elemental force.
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Below is the original photo used to create this image. This was taken at the Grand Canyon during a morning hike along the southern rim on the Greenway Trail. I’m still fascinated by the stark beauty of this dead tree, juxtaposed against the vibrant green of the pine and the watercolor sky. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.

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Kaleidoscope #343

by Denise M. SessousJuly 29, 2018July 8, 2018

At that moment, it seemed to him that time stood still, and the Soul of the World surged within him. When he looked into her dark eyes, and saw that her lips were poised between a laugh and silence, he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke—the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was love. Something older than humanity, more ancient than the desert. Something that exerted the same force whenever two pairs of eyes met, as had theirs here at the well.
― Paulo Coelho

Below is the original photo used to create this image. This gathering of saguaro and funky gourd-like cacti were part of the landscaping in front of my Gramma’s house in Mesa, AZ. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.

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Kaleidoscope #342

by Denise M. SessousJuly 28, 2018July 8, 2018

The camel has a big dumb ugly hump. But in the desert, where prettier, more streamlined beasts die quickly of thirst, the camel survives quite nicely. As legend has it, the camel carries its own water, stores it in its stupid hump. If individuals, like camels, perfect their inner resources, if we have the power within us, then we can cross any wasteland in relative comfort and survive in arid surroundings without relying on the external. Often, moreover, it is our “hump” – that aspect of our being that society finds eccentric, ridiculous, or disagreeable – that holds our sweet waters, our secret well of happiness, the key to our equanimity in malevolent climes.
― Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker

Below is the original photo used to create this image. This was taken at the Grand Canyon during the tail end of the sunset golden hour. The colors were glorious and I’m so pleased with the watercolor intensity. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.

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Kaleidoscope #341

by Denise M. SessousJuly 27, 2018July 8, 2018

Before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point at which most people give up. It’s the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one ‘dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

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Kaleidoscope #340

by Denise M. SessousJuly 26, 2018July 8, 2018

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, “Is it good, friend?”
“It is bitter—bitter,” he answered;
“But I like it
“Because it is bitter,
“And because it is my heart.”
― Stephen Crane, The Black Riders and Other Lines

Below is the original photo used to create this image. This is a close-up of a vibrant flowering bush taken outside our hotel in Mesa, AZ while on a recent vacation visiting family in the area. April was truly a lovely time to visit, everything was in bloom! No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.

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Kaleidoscope #339

by Denise M. SessousJuly 25, 2018July 8, 2018

You have to protect yourself from sadness. Sadness is very close to hate. Let me tell you this. This is the thing I learned. If you take in someone else’s poison – thinking you can cure them by sharing it – you will instead store it within you. Those men in the desert were smarter than you. They assumed he could be useful. So they saved him, but when he was no longer useful they left him.
― Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient

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Kaleidoscope #338

by Denise M. SessousJuly 24, 2018July 8, 2018

Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens…Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now.
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist