i guess three photographic odes to mark rothko isn’t really very many, given that my blog is over two years old.

• photographic ode the first
• photographic ode the second

wait. only three? clearly i need to do more of them.

mark rothko for everyone!

speaking of mark rothko, did you know that the portland art museum is curating a mark rothko exhibition? it opens in february. i will be visiting. i’d invite you to come with me, only i suspect i will sit myself in front of a painting and not be able to move for ages, which is what i did the last time i saw one of his paintings in person. did i mention that i am kind of a fan?

i have been recording the occasional story for my little niece savannah and posting them on a secret page just for her. that way, her mom can play the stories for her and hopefully she won’t forget her auntie who loves her so very much.

i listen to this particular story every once in a while because it makes me giggle. (this also makes me giggle, because i made it up, so you’d think i could just think about it and that would make me giggle, which it actually does, but it’s even funnier when i hear myself giggle on the recording.)

i am feeling a little silly today, so i thought i’d share it, in case it makes you giggle too.

when the world was flat

{a photo project honoring radiance, one of my words for 2012 :: 52 photos that represent radiance, 52 photos that represent luminosity.}

my words for 2012 are power and radiance.

well, they weren't exactly my words. i wanted to choose flow.

but then, back in november – when i realized that i was going to have to learn to dance with the light – power and radiance presented themselves.

when i say power, what i mean is something very much like wholeness. it is the power that comes from honoring and integrating all of me: body, mind, and spirit.

when i say radiance, what i mean is something very much like luminosity. it is not so much radiating outward as it is finding (or recognizing and owning) the instrinsic lightness inside of me.

i knew in november that that was my work for 2012, so i thought wholeness and luminosity would be my words for 2012.

as you can see, they are not. my sense at the end of the year was that there is something important about the words power and radiance, and that i need to use those words, even if what i mean when i say them seems more like wholeness and luminosity.

i was also puzzled about my photo project.

i was excited about a year with luminosity but, when i decided to use the word radiance, i figured that i would have to spend a year with radiance instead. (i am working with power through my body and physical strength.)

when i took my photo on thursday, i still hadn't decided, so i took two photos.

but then, when i was drinking tea out of my favorite mug – it has a sun on one side and a moon on the other – i realized that i could do both. radiance and luminosity seem like two facets of radiance, so it fits perfectly.

(part of me thinks that i have clearly not thought this through at all and i am going to be very sorry. the other part of me thinks that this will be fun. after all, i do love matchmaking, and i am always up for a challenge. plus, is "the dawning of the light" not the best photo project title ever?! it's so much better than a title with just radiance or just luminosity could ever be.)

{my attempt to capture 52 photos that represent trust – my word for 2011}.

i cannot think of a more perfect way for me to celebrate 2011 than with a final trust photo.

when i look at this image, i see a girl dancing. quietly and slowly and softly, but with more trust in herself, and with an even greater sense of connection to the magic and mystery that surrounds us.

i am full of gratitude and apprecation for what my year with trust has given me.

happy merry new year, everyone! may your 2012 be full of daydreams, daisies, and more delight than you can even imagine.

i must confess that i am feeling extraordinarily lonely today. though it sounds somewhat paradoxical, it has nothing to do with being alone, and nothing to do with being lonely, and nothing to do with anything in this moment at all.

but it reminded me that while the holiday season can be merry and joyous and festive, it can also be lonely and sad, whether you are on your own, or with a few loved ones, or surrounded by a roomful of people.

my wish for you today, if you need or want it, is that you are filled to the brim with a sense of belonging, with the knowledge that you are loved and appreciated and wanted, exactly as you are, right now, in this moment.

{my attempt to capture 52 photos that represent trust – my word for 2011}.

frost-covered grasses, sparkling in the cold winter sunshine.

"Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering."

– Winnie the Pooh

{my attempt to capture 52 photos that represent trust – my word for 2011}.

after a year of looking for trust, i must say that i will never again see most of nature without being reminded of it, especially – for some reason – grasses.

joy to the world, indeed.

once upon a time, there lived a teeny-tiny girl.

she lived in a teeny-tiny house in a teeny-tiny forest in a teeny-tiny world. she was so teeny-tiny that, to her, her house and her forest and her world seemed just the right size.

every so often, her world would shake and rattle. this startled the teeny-tiny girl at first, but soon she became accustomed to it.

she grew to love it because, as soon as the shaking would subside, snow would begin falling from the sky and the ground outside her home would slowly become covered in white. she thought it was the most beautiful thing ever.

every time it happened, she would run outside and let the flakes fall on her face and in her open mouth.

have you guessed where the teeny-tiny girl lived yet?

she lived in a snow globe!