Loved Ones

March 2013 - Nafplio, Greece

I'm Rusty

and I can't decide...

March 2012 - Dallas, TX

Upon Closer Inspection

May 2012 - Dallas, TX

Branching Out

April 2012 - Columbia University, New York, NY

Blushed

April 2012 - Mt. Vernon, Baltimore, MD

Distance

I've been gone. But I will always come back.


Not the best shot, but I loved the glow in the sky this evening through the branches of the blooming trees.

March 2012 - Penn Station, Baltimore, MD

It will have to suffice for now.

Just One

March 2012 - Dallas, TX

Yes, I found Instagram. And the iPhone4S camera. (I did pine after it a bit even back in October).

Bunches

Spring is coming...

August 2008 - Baltimore, MD

Orange Bloom 2

November 2011 - Dallas, TX

Happy Thoughts

August 2011 - Santa Fe, NM

Wish me luck today!

Winter Rose

December 2011 - Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore, MD

Orange Bloom

November 2011 - Dallas, TX

Salt, Pepper, and

Sumac.

November 2011 - Westwood, Los Angeles, CA

Essential Persian kabob table setting.

Bloom

May 2006 - Dallas, TX

Balancing Act: Part 2

That long beam on the red box in the middle of a forgotten and gray, gloomy alley - its sturdy and precarious state - caught my attention. Everything is a balance and even slight immoderation, excess, lack... can destroy a moment, mood, or venture.


Here's the follow-up: In my life, I'm often in my own way. I lose the balance. Shake it. Or fail to act on the first quivering signs of trouble. In a Newsweek article on Andre Agassi (and tennis and mental athleticism), Timothy Gallwey asserted:

“There are more players that have the talent to be the best in the world than there are winners [...] winners get in their own way less. They interfere with the raw expression of talent less. And to do that, first they win the war against fear, against doubt, against insecurity—which are no minor victories.”

Every day, we somehow win or lose the balance of all these negatives against our motivations. But, aside from the mental battle with obstacles keeping us from greatness, something else is happening. Economists (of course it was economists) have shown that winner's euphoria comes from the power and success experienced in our own heads - especially when we can compare our achievement to someone's failure -  

"What's better than winning? Doing it while someone else loses." 

Which really, in essence, is linked to the right mix of testosterone and the hormone that regulates it: cortisol. The appropriate amounts have been found to increase winning and dominant behaviors. So, scientists working with business schools have tried to teach students how to activate these hormones through diet and other strategies.

If you're like me and that theory's not really your style, there's also the "do one thing really well" and just that one thing approach (which makes me feel less like we're just a sack of chemicals and life is meaningless because that seems to be what the scientists want you to believe). Study Hacks blog has been touting this mantra for quite some time and I also recently read the same thought on Zen Habits. The idea is that besides trying to manipulate the hormones in your body to help you "win" at things, you'll find success (and happiness) by focusing your energy and talent on being expert at one particular area. Namaste.
This flies in the face of the Renaissance Man and "well-roundedness," like we used to say (I guess this pursuit is so 2000s now).

But I can't let that go. I like having a million things that keep me busy and happy. I hate to think that I'm just one-dimensional and so is everyone else.

I get lost in inspirations.
And I can't realistically toss my other aspirations aside and become a Nat Geo explorer/adventurer/photographer tomorrow (real title - seriously). Can I?

So I just keep trying to balance. And a lot of days, I'll still lose.

October 2007 - Baltimore, MD

Small town, Bright colors

Visited a new spot with some familiar sights...

and gorgeous, vibrant, summer colors.

     July 2011 - Havre de Grace, MD

<< Si quelqu'un aime une fleur qui n'existe qu'à un exemplaire dans les millions et les millions d'étoiles, ça suffit pour qu'il soit heureux quand il les regarde. Il se dit: "Ma fleur est là quelque part..." Mais si le mouton mange la fleur, c'est pour lui comme si, brusquement, toutes les étoiles s'éteignaient ! Et ce n'est pas important ça ! >>

June 2011 - Dallas, TX

<< Que vous êtes belle ! 
- N'est-ce pas, répondit doucement la fleur. Et je suis née en même temps que le soleil... >>

In the Garden

One of my favorite places...

June 2011 - Dallas, TX

Mustard and Ketchup on Pickles

I love how the yellow blooms almost seem to be floating or butterfly-flitting above the little patch of cacti.

May 2011 - Tempe, AZ