Kaleidoscope #62

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.

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Kaleidoscope #61

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…

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Kaleidoscope #60

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.

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Kaleidoscope #59

 

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…

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Kaleidoscope #57

 

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.

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Kaleidoscope #56

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.

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Kaleidoscope #55

 

I had a microscopic eye for the blemish, for the grain of ugliness which to me constituted the sole beauty of the object.
–Henry Miller, Tropic of Capricorn 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

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Kaleidoscope #54

Life has its ugliness and ups and downs, but look for the beauty and you will find it.
–Debasish Mridha

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

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Kaleidoscope #53

The only ugly girls are the ones that don’t know beauty comes from within.
–Dan Howell 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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…

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