In an old Seinfeld episode, George’s father Frank was advised to say “serenity now” every time he got mad at something to keep his blood pressure down. The mantra was meant to control his outrage. These days, it seems we need to say it and say it often as we watch the killing of a black man, the ensuing protests, and more bizarre events that followed.
Click on the images to see them larger, uncropped, and read their titles.
Repeat, Serenity Now!
As I kept repeating “serenity now” more often in the last ten days, I tried to find things in the vicinity to help me stay calm. Nature, quiet neighborhood, and short walks came to the rescue. I tried to focus on flowers, plants, light, colors, trees, and even tree trunks pretending to be an elephant as in the opening photograph. (more)
But, I also picked a new subject, shadows. I had photographed shadows of the clouds from airplane windows and even wrote about them as part of my Infrared Earthscapes series.
This time, I noted the shadows of electric wires, poles, houses with shapes, and lines that caught my attention. But the most important thing that suited the huge shadows over the country was that shadows only happen when there is light. The feeling of the presence of light was as comforting as saying “serenity now,” maybe even more so.
Serenity now! There is light ahead!
A Simple Offering
Can EREL
There is light ahead; serenity now! There is light ahead!
Çok teşekkürler; sevgi ve saygılarımla,
CE
A. Cemal Ekin
Can, good to hear from you. Stay safe,
Cemal
Steve Mason
Indeed we all need it although choosing any of the Castanza clan as a metaphor is tenuous at best. A friend put up a FB post borrowing an old American Indian proverb I like that may be helpful.
Two Wolves – A Cherokee Parable
“An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life…
‘A fight is going on inside me,’ he said to the boy.
‘It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed,
arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies,
false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.
The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope,
serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy,
generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
This same fight is going on inside you
and inside every other person, too.’
The grandson thought about it for a minute
and then asked his grandfather,
‘Which wolf will win?’
The old chief simply replied,
‘The one you feed.”
~ Author Unknown
A. Cemal Ekin
A good parable, moral story, Steve. Unfortunately, there are feeders of both wolves; thus continue the struggle. Each wolf’s existence is eternally linked to the presence of the other. Good to hear from you, stay safe,
Serenity now!!
Cemal
Haluk Atamal
I try not to go mad and I am never unhappy about anything. I just try to convince myself to believe that every evil brings a big opportunity, only to be tapped out by high spirits only. I am usually successful.
I believe you are too!
Beautiful photos, Cemal. Thanks for sharing.
Best tegards from Tarsus (I was there yesterday).
Haluk
A. Cemal Ekin
Haluk, your positive look on life is a good trait for sure. Keep it up, and keep in mind the verbal pill you can take, “serenity now!” And, good to hear you are moving around (carefully) and good to hear from Tarsus too. Stay safe,
Cemal