a cooking pot and twisted tales
Thoughts and Tales…A Lifestyle Blog with a Zing.
Divine is the sound of silence
actively, I seek solitude
to hear myself think.
©
Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
To be an artist is to believe in life – Henry Moore
The just concluded World Art Exhibition in Dubai was sublime. My eyes fed on the creativity of talented artists from different parts of the world with such greed and pleasure that I went away sated and feeling fuller than one who had gorged on a 5-course meal continental buffet.
The huge display of artwork that ranged from the simple to magnificent pieces evoked all possible emotions that you can think of except anger. I tittered in laughter, I sighed, I gaped, I felt wistful, happy, melancholic, inspired…. Some pieces were simple to understand, some frightened you with their darkness, but the greatest feeling that I had was to take all of them home with me.
Unfortunately, at this present time, my heart is willing but my pocket is lean. The prices of some of these pieces could keep yours truly fed fat for a year. The wonderful thing about exhibitions is that for the token fee charged at the entrance you get to enjoy the lovely ambiance and window shop for free 😉
Here are some of the photos taken out of over 600 shots that need to be curated and enjoyed.
Take a peek. Lady Lee inspires me with her photos. I’ve got an idea for this weekend.
Spring follows Winter seamlessly as it has done over the ages and time passes by so quickly, sometimes in a blur that we tend to take the itty-bitty parts of our lives for granted.
In Spring the heat of the sun gathers in momentum over here, that by Summer time it’s literally steaming and baking at such a degree that the heat wallops you in the face and every hidden part that it can get. I consider myself a child of the Sun, I love warmth, but not the unbelievable scorching sun of the Middle East that makes you feel as if you are dough brought out to rise and bake in the torrid desert heat.
As I drive around pursuing the days business, I see dots of umbrella’s waving down the streets sheltering the heads of their owners and I know untold pleasure and gratitude over having the comfort of my car and the air conditioner that keeps me from perspiring and swimming in my own sweat.
I am thankful for the gift of being their mother as I listen to my children chatter and squabble over what radio channel to listen to as we drive home from school and I wonder how we take such comfort for granted.
Sometimes, my heart knows untold joy for things that I can’t explain and I wish I could freeze frame those moments so that I may look at the beautiful, divine colours that these moments make.
Spring is such a beautiful season, so does every other season that we are given hold its own beauty. We are only given a handful of Springs in our lifetime and one thought that stays with me as I write this is, may we thankfully plant in the Spring of opportunity of our lives so that we do have a great harvest in the Fall.
Peace be with you. What are you grateful for today?
Jacqueline
If you wish to participate in a gratitude challenge, there are several gratitude/thankful platforms in the blogosphere that you can tune into and get your ithankful going on. I can’t express in words the enormity of Joy and fulfillment that comes from having a heart of gratitude. Please check out Maria’s blog, Colline’s blog and Bernadette’s for thankful/gratitude challenges.
It is said that one’s hands can tell tales about the owner, from details of their background to character, health, relationship bliss, future, and fortune. Therefore, it’s no wonder that hands are fascinating appendages of human structure that’s worth admiring and photographing.
For the H letter of the photo theme challenge, it was a tussle between doing photos for History or Hands. I love history and I am one of those who haunts museums and soaks up stories of long past history, but I settled for Hands in this case.
Close-up portraits of body parts can be magnificent. They can also have a meaning and send a strong message. Such photographic portraits imply which sex the part belongs to, the possible age of the owner, their social condition, and a lot of other things. Our body parts portraits reveal many details than one would be tempted to believe.
While photographing these hands, my main interest is to tell the person’s story. For example, the first photo is the cobbler that I pass by occasionally. His hands were always busy repairing shoes and I wanted to take shots of them whilst he worked.
The second photo is a perfumer at work. She makes fragrance from natural ingredients and always had some henna painting on her hands. I wanted to capture her painted hands as she worked and filled the bottles.
Nothing like a warm cuppa good brew to set the body and creative juices flowing. Have one on me today with love 😉
The unblemished truth about our lives is that we are who we think we are, therefore, if we are dissatisfied with who we are in our present time, then we must change our thinking.
Reaching for the greatness in you is a choice. The greatness is a given, but it takes your service to bring it out. You’ve got to run after it.
It’s easy to sit down and make wishes, but success is achieved by ordinary people who make fewer excuses, who procrastinate less. The small things in life add up to the bigger picture, each day counts. Everything you do must be done to the best of your ability, even in the smallest things like picking up your own trash.
Show up every day for life with your best attitude and leave the rest for the power higher than you. Life takes notice and the Universe rewards.
Connect with me on my channel let’s chat.
When I saw this week’s prompt ‘beautiful & curse,’ by Ronovan, I smiled. Easier than the past two weeks. What I wanted to write sprouted so fast in my mind.
©
Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
Never forget that the measure you give,
is the measure you will receive.
You can’t sow corn and harvest pumpkins.
You can’t sow hatred and reap a bounty of love.
When you uplift others, you rise up with them.
However, when you spend time holding someone down,
you stay down with them because you need all your energy
to keep them pressed to the floor or the wall.
If only you can remember this,
apply it in your relationship with everyone that you meet.
You, my dear friend, will have a good measure,
pressed down, shaken and running over
added continuously to your life.
©
Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
‘PLEASE SEND IN YOUR LINKS.’
Today’s featured blogs are:
Do step in, explore these blogs and show some love.
Dorathy’s Story You can’t begin to outline the importance of planned, spaced parenting. Read Dorathy’s story.
Hear Me Beautifully penned and a delight to read. She tricked me with her words 😉
Wishful Wednesday Bloom Short and hopeful. Lovely post that inspires.
Energy Boost Vitamins for Healthy Lifestyle Hey ladies, you need to read this.
My Crowning Glory Check this out. You might find something useful, especially for those of us of African descent with nappy hair 😉
Do you want more eyes on your words?’
Well then, add your LINK INTO THIS LOOP.
Comments are disabled here to keep the loop tidy. Any comments or link you want to send can be added through the link in the post.
Thank you for your understanding and regards.
Clarisse held the silver urn close to her chest for several minutes, caressing it absentmindedly. Maybe it was her imagination, but the gentle wind grew stronger and the breeze teased her hair at the nape just the way Tim had loved to play with her hair. She felt the beautiful urn become warm in her hands, she felt his presence surround her and her eyes welled up with bittersweet tears.
This would be the final time she would hold him in her arms. She gently opened the jar and cast his ashes into the stream, watching as the gushing water carried away the remains of her love.
He had wanted to be free after being debilitated and confined for so long from an autoimmune disease. He had wanted this stream, his favourite spot on Earth to be his final resting place and she had fulfilled his last wish.
© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
Thank you, Maria for the interesting photo prompt and my lady PJ, I appreciate this platform that you host.
a cooking pot and twisted tales 