Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil.
–Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
Below is the original photo used to create this image. I found this container of pansies on a lunchtime walk around downtown Richmond, VA. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my Kodak Share digital camera. And it’s even a little blurry…
With all the darkness in the world right now, I’m trying to remind myself to see the beauty. Not to forget the darkness, but just to remember there is light, too. If you’re having trouble finding it, make your own. We’re all in this together.
–Nathan Fillion, via Instagram
Below is the original photo used to create this image. It’s a lichen and moss covered tree trunk and exposed roots from my backyard. Taken on an overcast day with no special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.
Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.
–Alan Cohen
Below is the original photo used to create this image. It’s water flowing along the sidewalk into a storm drain. This was taken last year on a bright fall afternoon, no special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my Kodak Share digital camera.
When the people of the world all know beauty as beauty, there arises the recognition of ugliness. When they all know the good as good, there arises the recognition of evil.
–Lao Tzu, The Tao Te Ching
Below is the original photo used to create this image. It’s my car’s engine, no special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.
Being is desirable because it is identical with Beauty, and Beauty is loved because it is Being. We ourselves possess Beauty when we are true to our own being; ugliness is in going over to another order; knowing ourselves, we are beautiful; in self-ignorance, we are ugly.
–Plotinus
Below is the original photo used to create this image. It’s the big blue sky pic I took on a recent trip to Illinois. No special lighting or retouching, simply a snap from my smart phone. Yes, the sky really was that blue…
We create order out of chaos, beauty and meaning out of ugly randomness.
–Rick Riordan, The Throne of Fire
Below is the original photo used to create this image. I caught this lovely sunset on a random Sunday evening as I was leaving a grocery store. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.
Funny how a beautiful song could tell such as ugly story. It seemed unfair, like a trick.
–Sarah Dessen, Lock and Key
Below is the original photo used to create this image. I found this container of pansies on a lunchtime walk around downtown Richmond, VA. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my Kodak Share digital camera. And it’s even a little blurry…
A woman who cannot be ugly is not beautiful.
–Karl Kraus
Below is the original photo used to create this image. Awesome clouds just before sunset, taken last month after dinner. No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.
Maybe it’s not about having a beautiful day, but about finding beautiful moments. Maybe a whole day is just too much to ask. I could choose to believe that in every day, in all things, no matter how dark and ugly, there are shards of beauty if I look for them.
–Anna White, Mended: Thoughts on Life, Love, and Leaps of Faith
As promised, below is the original photo used to create this image. It’s a maple sapling growing between stone pavers in my backyard. Taken on an overcast day with no special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my smart phone.
But even the coldest hate can shift into something warmer if given enough time, just as an ugly caterpillar can turn into a beautiful butterfly.
–Morgan Rhodes, Rebel Spring
Below is the original photo used to create this image. It’s a candle in a cracked-glass hurricane. This was taken in the spring of 2016 for a Photography 101 challenge called “Warmth.” No special lighting or retouching, just a snap from my Kodak Share digital camera.
TELL YOUR STORIES, LOVE YOUR LIFE
Travel stories and culture, with a twist.
Breaking free of darkness to find the healing in life
Where cameras and kaleidoscopes come together.
A Blog on Writing, Life & Everything in Between
Your Brain is a Radio that Does What its Told
the writers store room
News and Events in Quantum Computing
Articles On Writing Your First Draft in 6 Months
Stay Motivated. Stay Connected.
visions from earth....
Scribbles on Cocktail Napkins
The writings of an Orthodox Christian and her publishing journey
For those who enjoy fiction
Oh! Take a shit, read a story. - My Mother on flash fiction
Suspense thriller: The Poison Cup
Advice for authors of fantasy, science fiction, and horror
The journey of self-healing through yoga, meditation, and writing-it-out.
Writer/Game Designer
Kirsten Georgi, DipWSET, CSW
my dreaming butterfly
Novelist, Poet, Wordsmith
Tarot - Astrology - Feng Shui
my dreaming butterfly
I want to be rich. Rich in love, rich in health, rich in laughter, rich in adventure and rich in knowledge. You?
Tales of humour, whimsy and courgettes
"A Word of Substance"
exploring our world and beyond, one page at a time
reflections on a passing life
A Blog About Ocular Melanoma, Multiple Sclerosis, Religion, Writing, Life, and Death
the purpose of reality
Poetry, Fiction and Art
I suppose I am a born novelist, for the things that I imagine are more vital and vivid to me than the things I remember. ~Ellen Glasgow
*Head over to http://www.inthezenzone.wordpress.com*
Conversations with the Heartmind
ARTIST // OIL PAINTER
Epic fantasy & military sci-fi author.
The inner light guides us in our journey to wholeness
delivered directly to my computer monitor on an all too regular basis...
my dreaming butterfly
Reading my way through Time Magazine's 100 Greatest Novels since 1923 (plus Ulysses)
196 countries, countless stories...
D.M. Sessous: writer, artist & dreamer 