Scavenger Hunt Sunday

It is time for some Scavenger Hunt Sunday pictures again. This time I actually went hunting outside rather than hunting from my archives ;)! Without much further ado, here are my interpretations…

 

1. Capturing Movement

This also could have been facing my fears as I don’t like to be outside when it’s storming, not in Bulgaria. The storms here get quite wild and I’ve already had a bad experience when I was just looking at the storm and since then I’ve been a little scared… I wanted to try and capture the storm, it would have been even better to have captured the lightning but maybe better luck next time. You can just see the storm rolling in though…

2. Currently

I currently live in this beautiful little village in Bulgaria that I call home. I see this car nearly everyday as I go to the bus stop or go get some groceries. This village, and the city of Veliko Tûrnovo, is so picturesque. It inspires me so much and I love taking pictures from here!

3. Beneath Your Feet

This is just the rawness of the beautiful nature around here. This was taken a day after the crazy storm I showed you in the beginning. As I live in a very hilly neighborhood, the water flows down. I tried to capture this but I don’t think it does justice to the real thing, unfortunately.

4. Face Your Fears

Darkness can be scary to me. I need light just to make sure that no one or nothing can scare me.

5.Texture

These sheep come by our backyard nearly daily. I see the herders walking their animals nearly daily. It’s definitely something I’ve had to get used to! It’s a very lovely sight to get used to though, it makes me smile every time I see that. So, the main ‘texture’ is the fur of the sheep.

Next week’s items are shine, fast, left, peace, plain.

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Scavenger Hunt (late) Sunday

It is not Sunday anymore. I was planning on doing this post yesterday but then Ice Hockey World Championship took my attention as Finland was playing in the bronze game against Czech. I fell asleep while watching it as Finland lost the game. I don’t even know who won the whole championship, either Russia or Slovakia. After that I talked to one of my best friends for nearly two hours! I always laugh the hardest with her, I’m finding that she is the second person I fully feel at ease and comfortable with. That is a huge thing for me!

 

Anyways, you didn’t come here to check my rants. You probably came here to check the Scavenger Hunt pictures. This week, I felt the need to go back to my archives to find what I have there. I have taken thousands and thousands of pictures so sometimes, it is good to just go back and see what I could use from there. Otherwise, they’re just there. Only seen by me. Not being admired by others. These pictures are maximum of 14 months old.

 

1. Fluffy (March, 2011)

This was taken in March 2011 in the Netherlands, when we went for a walk in the beach with my very first puppy. Sadly, he is no longer ours. We know he is in a very good home – the best one could ever hope for – but he is in our minds more than we’d like to admit. Oh, and the breed is called Samoyed,  they are the best breed ever!

2. Rainbow (September, 2011)

This is quite me – colorful, and love music no matter what. I took this picture back in September 2011, when I was visiting Finland. I believe my parents were not home, so I just left my stuff on the dining table like that. Thought it would make a good picture. ;)

3. Letters (October, 2011)

If there is something that I love – besides music – it is being spiritual. Spirituality means the world to me. I’ve been delving into the world of spirituality bit by bit, and tarot cards were the first step. The cards you see a glimpse of is part of a deck called Shadowscapes, which is my second deck. Through this deck, I’ve also gotten more into art and paintings…

I love writing, especially on my journal. So, to me, letters meant the alphabet and writing itself rather than letters you send out to your loved ones.

The picture was taken as part of a school assignment back in October, 2011 in the Netherlands.

4. Metal (March, 2012)

This was taken one evening, that was turning into a night. I was walking home with A, and I had my camera with me. A got tired of waiting for me to snap this photo among the many I others I took that night. I personally think this is one of my favorite shots yet. This was taken in March, 2012 in Ireland.

5. Tree(s) (March, 2012)

A and I wanted to take a walk and get to know the area where we lived in Ireland a little bit more. So, we wanted to find a park but we didn’t know where it was. Once we found it, we saw this cool tree! And we had a few shots taken here (mainly of A, as I like to behind the camera, not in front). How cool is the tree?!

This was also taken in March, 2012 in Ireland.

Next week, I promise, I will take new photos and go on an actual hunt!! ;)

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday

It’s time for the scavenger hunt again! Unfortunately, life has been keeping me busy and it doesn’t help that it’s been raining quite a lot lately. I know this is not encouraged, but I think every once in awhile you should go to your archive and see what it has to offer. I have thousands and thousands of photo’s to be used, so I decided that this week I’d go to my archive. This week’s photographs are from last summer back in Finland.

 

 

1. Something that makes me you smile

Summer in Finland makes me smile, but even more so seeing and being surrounded in nature. Nature and water are something that I must have close by me!

2. Antique (or Ancient)

This is from my home town, and I get the feeling of an old, antique kind of town when I go back there.

3. Yellow

There’s yellow, and different shades of yellow…

4. Splash

Water splashes, I love to watch these…

5. In the Sun

I love the contrasts of the shade and sun shining through. This is a place where I go get quiet.

So, there you have my interpretations of Scavenger Hunt Sunday. What do you think?

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday

This week has been a photo filled week for me, or the fact that I’m sharing my photo’s here. I love anything visual (hence the blog), which has led me to take photographs in the first place. That, and someone kept telling me that I’m a good photographer, I have a nice eye for the setups or layouts for the photo, and I should continue doing that. This led me to get my very first digital single-lens reflex camera (dslr). I got it back in 2008 or 2009, not sure anymore. It was only last summer back at home in Finland that I started messing around with my Canon. Through that I’ve learned to go from full auto to full manual, even the focus! I keep learning each time I use my camera, and I try to take it with me almost everywhere I go. My inspirations mainly started from nature, which still remains one of my biggest inspirations. I’m slowly starting to get more comfortable photographing people (‘models’?). I have a couple of ideas for setups but don’t really have anyone who would want to be my model (or maybe I don’t dare to ask anyone…) ;-)

 

Last week I wasn’t well-prepared, so I didn’t participate for the Scavanger Hunt Sunday. Instead, I participated in Wordless Wednesday, where I could go back to my archives, and finally was able to show some of my favorite shots! This week, I went and took some of these photo’s early on in the week, making sure I can choose which ones I’d like to use for this week’s Scavanger Hunt..

 

1. Grains

What better way to start the spring than to see these lovely flowers blooming already? I didn’t think it would be easy for me to find a fitting picture for grains, and then I came across this on my little walk earlier this week. I think this fits perfectly for the theme! I also love the colors they bring..

2. Stitch

This was a hard one for me… or so I thought. I had a couple of ideas that I could have done for this but as I was browsing the pictures I took earlier this week on my walk, I came across this one. It was the last photo I took on my walk. It was an accidental photo as I didn’t have too much time to concentrate anymore when I took this photo. It turned out so much better than what I had thought. I think that this is a creative interpretation of  stitch, as it’s laid on the ground.

3. Transportation

At first, I thought I would take some pictures of the local public transportation. It was too obvious. I nearly passed by this car without noticing it. I thought it was adorable, small and somewhat old  fashioned car – exactly what I was looking for!

 4. Bubble(s)

Ever since moving here, I’ve been wanting to get this drink called WKD. As soon as I read this week’s SHS includes bubbles, I knew that I would get the drink and use it. I also love the color of the drink, especially when blue/turqoise are some of my favorite colors! The bubbles may be small but they’re bubbles regardless! (WKD is even better than I remembered, it tastes like soda. I’d recommend it to anyone, especially those who don’t like the taste of alcohol.)

5. Simple

 This was one of the hardest ones to come up with. What is simple to me? What does simplicity mean to me? Those questions I asked a lot. Then suddenly, it hit me – simple to me is going back to basics, to nature. I started with the stones (rose quartz, fluorite and I’m not sure what the small stone is anymore). The wooden background fitted perfectly to this theme! In the small box, there is a form of incense I still have yet to figure out how to use. I also love how my traditional Finnish ring, from Kalevala Koru collection was given to me by my God parents when I was about 15 or so. This is my favorite piece of jewelry I own! It also keeps reminding me of my spirit guides, especially animal spirit guides. So, this is what simple, and simplicity means to me.

 

So, there you have my interpretations of this week’s Scavanger Hunt. Let me know what you think in the comments. From now on, I will try and participate to Wordless Wednesday as well as to Scavanger Hunt Sunday. I think they’re quite a lot of fun, also gives me the opportunity to use my creativity each week!

 

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Anxiety

What is anxiety? It comes out of worry, stress, fear. Why do we get it? How can we make it go away? I believe it to be an illusion. It is a feeling that man has made. It embraces negativity. Most often than not, you don’t even know where it comes from. I believe it is something this world lives on. In fact it feeds it. When is the last time you saw a good piece of news in the newspaper or on TV? Can’t think of any? That’s is one way to feed the fear in you.

Anxiety is a spiral of other negative feelings. Anxiety triggers worry, making you doubt your whole belief system, which makes you want to be over-controlling, which in the end will trigger panic. Recognize at least part of this cycle? Personally, I do. I have felt anxious for a long time. That is until I learned to put it in control, it took me a very long time to get it under control. I tried so many different things. I stopped following the news for one. I do realize that there are a lot of negativity and wrong doings in this world of ours but by listening to it, seeing it everywhere, only makes you feel worse about yourself.

It even went to the point where I felt trapped. I felt that I cannot do anything, or better yet, go anywhere. Everything started closing in on me, and all  I just wanted was to get out. If you’re a frequent reader of my blog, you know that I needed to make a change in my life this year. This is partly the reason. I’m a huge optimist, I think in each situation there is a positive side, there is a lesson to be learned. Without going through what I went through this year, I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this blog, hoping that there is someone out there who can resonate with me, and that this blog will help them get out of that spiral. I broke free, so can  you!

If not taken care of, anxiety can lead to depression. Anxiety can lead to panic attacks. Anxiety is negative, causing stress, which in the end will harm your body. One of the reasons why I personally felt anxious was because I didn’t have nature around me. When I went back to nature, to listen to the sounds of Mother Earth, that really revised my view. Water is a very important element in my life. I love to go swimming. You wouldn’t believe how much it affects you and your body if you don’t drink water. As of recently, I’ve started to truly take my time when I drink water, making sure that my feet are completely on ground from toes to sole of my feet. As crazy as that sounds, water is very important to your body and make sure that you drink real water every day!

One way to break free of anxiety is through meditation, through opening your chakra’s. I haven’t fully been able to open my chakra’s completely, but I know that I get one step closer each time I meditate. Meditation is important because you concentrate on the now, and nothing else. In this busy world of ours, we forget to stop, even for five minutes or just a minute. You listen to your body through meditation. Listening to your body, and its needs, is extremely important! Without it, you won’t know what your body needs, and which parts of your body need attention at that moment.

I still battle with anxiety at times. Some of my own wounds need to heal. It will take a little while, but like every wound heals with time, I know mine will, too. I just need to give it time. So, my advice to you in regards to anxiety is, acknowledge it. Listen to your body, listen to what needs most attention, through meditation or another way. Remember to stop every once in awhile. Love and nurture yourself. Nourish yourself with water and other real foods. Learn to love yourself, and accept who you are, unconditionally.

These are just a couple of things I have learned to be helpful when I have dealt with anxiety, to find inner-harmony.  Give yourself time.

Inspirations