The Need of Ideal to Live the Real

“The human soul has still greater need of the ideal than of the real. It is by the real that we exist; it is by the ideal that we live.”- Victor Hugo

A Look into the Real

The real, no Longer ideal, or is it?

Learn from Yesterday….

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”

Albert Einstein

An Old Buck’s County Barn on a Cold Winter Day

 

The Ladder of Life

“If you’re climbing the ladder of life, you go rung by rung, one step at a time. Don’t look too far up, set your goals high but take one step at a time. Sometimes you don’t think you’re progressing until you step back and see how high you’ve really gone.” – Donny Osmond

It’s the climb that matters – take one step at a time.

Chipped Paint

There are moments when life appears to be nothing more

Than the mirror image

Of a wall of chipped paint.

It may be the sorrow experienced through loss, anger, or rage.

Or maybe the surge of pain that made you faint.

But do not despair,

For when life feels fragmented or blue,

And we need another hue,

There is something we can do;

Scrape off the broken pieces,

Pick up a brush,

And dip into the paint,

For it’s never too late for our hearts to reacquaint.

Perhaps our brush can be found in the form of a hug,

Or a prayer that we say while kneeling on the beside rug.

Could it be as simple as a natural brush,

Immersed in warm color that allows anxieties to hush?

No matter your brush, your stroke, or your faith,

My prayer is for you to gain strength from the

Chips that land in your way.

copyright Robyn Graham

A Wall of Chipped Paint

If ungrateful…

“Lately I’ve begun to notice that the more I give thanks, the better my life goes.  When I become ungrateful, things tend to fall apart.” – A Coworker

The Barn Falling Apart

The Side of an Old Buck’s County Barn

The sight of an old barn moves me.  Why?  I am not completely sure, but it must have something to do with the Sunday afternoons I spent on my great grandfather’s farm as a child.  The sight, the smell, the size, the history, all move me.  I want to take in every inch of the structure.  Today’s post includes two images of the same side of an old Buck’s County barn.  The sun was setting and gave such warmth to the barn.  It reflects the  heritage of the barn, the families who worked in it, the animals who lived in, the labor of love that went into maintaining it.

I typically convert images of old structures to black and white. I didn’t do the conversion for this image because the setting sun on the white barn gave the glow of warmth and history.

Despite the warm glow of the setting sun, I did convert this image to black and white. It speaks of the age of the barn and reminds us not only of the warmth, and love associated with it, but also the labor and distressing moments that went into making the farm the barn supports successful all those years ago.

Create a New Ending

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” – Maria Robinson

I saw this quote today and thought of an image I recently took.  The image includes a wall of an old barn.  The barn will never again be in it’s original state – built in the 1800’s, but it can certainly be refurbished and be used to create new endings.  The quote above reminds me to think positive, not to focus on the past, or on mistakes, nor to look back.  It won’t do any good.  I can’t go back and start over.  What I can do is renew my mindset and make a fresh start today, and every day.  It’s never to late to create a new ending!

A New Ending