Category: challenges

challenges · daughter · enchanting · inspiration · photography · spiritual

The Psychology of Colours ~ The Colour Purple

Joanne20 Comments

purple

“Listen, God love everything you love – and a mess of stuff you don’t. But more than anything else, God love admiration.

You saying God vain? I ast.

Naw, she say. Not vain, just wanting to share a good thing. I think it pisses God off if you walk by the colour purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.”

~ Conversation between Shug and Celie, as told by Celie to her sister Nettie in a letter. From the book The Colour Purple written by Alice Walker.

If I were asked to pick one colour as my most favourite of all colours, I know that I would not choose the colour purple, yet I can totally relate to the quote above from the book “The Colour Purple”. I’m sure my heart skips a beat when I see a purple flower, or anything in nature showing the colour. I even love to see purple in the sky, although it is usually a sign of imminent, or earlier, bad weather.

After wild weather, as the colour purple shares the sky with some orange.
After wild weather, the colour purple shares the sky with an orange sunset.

As a child, one of my girls absolutely loved purple, everything she owned had to be purple, there were no if’s or but’s about it, so I did a bit of research on purple to find out, if anything, what a love for the colour signified. The one thing that struck me the most all those years ago was how purple was regarded as a spiritual colour. My daughter, who was crazy for the colour, could look deep inside a person’s soul. Even today, at age twenty, she “feels” her way through life, like no other young person I have ever met.

In the Catholic Church, the colour purple is worn by cardinals and bishops and during lent is regarded as the colour of pain and suffering. Up until the mid twentieth century, purple was regarded as the colour for mourning in England.

Thought of at one time as a regal colour, purple fabric was so expensive that only the rich in society could afford clothing made from purple, therefore purple became a status colour, worn only by the wealthy or privileged.

Buddleia's are also known as the Butterfly Bush. If I were a butterfly I'm sure I'd love to sit in the sunshine on this flower, enjoying the colour.
Buddleia’s are also known as the Butterfly Bush. If I were a butterfly I’m sure I’d love to sit in the sunshine on this flower, enjoying the colour.

So having established that purple has enjoyed quite a colourful history throughout the centuries, what effect does the colour have on our personalities?

Besides being a spiritual colour, purple, and the lighter shade of violet, are both connected to the imagination and intuition. Lovers of purple will want to run their own race as individuals, are often surrounded by mystery, can be psychic and can live in a world of fantasy, needing to escape the realities of the world. Purple lovers are often the daydreamers among us and being around the colour has a calming effect on the person.

The negative aspects of the colour purple, especially a liking for the darker shades, can be that the person is possibly immature, can be cynical and arrogant and can at times be seen as a social climber. It can also represent loneliness and mourning.

I love the plum coloured beading on this lamp.
I love the plum coloured beading on this lamp.

But lets not dwell too long on the negative aspects of this most distinguished of all colours. Something that you may not know about the colour purple, being a combination of the colours red and blue, it possesses the strength of the colour red, combined with the integrity of the colour blue.

And here’s another thing you may not know about what I have written here, and the photos I have added showing The Colour Purple in my life ~ this is my contribution to Karma’s “Colours of Your World” photo assignment. And it gets even better, after Karma red read my last post here, “The Psychology of Colours ~ Featuring the Colour Red”, it gave her the inspiration for her latest photo challenge!

It's lilac, and it features nature, so this picture gives me great enjoyment.
It’s lilac, and it features nature, so this picture gives me great enjoyment.

Karma has set the deadline to get the assignment in by April 28th (but she’s pretty cruisy about deadlines!) so if you too feel inspired, why not join in the challenge and add a post with photos of some of your favourite, or not so favourite, colours.

I’m enjoying learning about the psychology of colours so much, and there seemed to be quite a bit of interest in my findings on the colour red, so I’ve decided to feature a new colour each week, (until I run out of colours!)

How do you feel about the colour purple, do you love it, or loath it? It could be fascinating to look at the reasons why you feel the way you do. 🙂

These tiny violets are a beautiful ground cover in my garden.
These tiny violets are a beautiful ground cover in my garden.

The Violet ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Written 1773)

A violet blossom’d on the lea,
Half hidden from the eye,
As fair a flower as you might see;
When there came tripping by
A shepherd maiden fair and young,
Lightly, lightly o’er the lea;
Care she knew not, and she sung Merrily!

dark purple in excess can be strict, foreboding, lonely, mournful or even pompous. – See more at: http://www.feng-shui-and-beyond.com/meaning-of-purple.html#sthash.AgYDczVY.dpuf
Australia · challenges · didgeridoo · music · son · spiritual

Learning, growing, and loving the Didgeridoo.

Joanne11 Comments

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“We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home.” ~ Aboriginal quote.

The sound of the didgeridoo being played, as the throbbing sounds reverberated around and around the walls of the Jamieson Valley at Echo Point in Katoomba, New South Wales, is perhaps one of the most haunting sounds I have ever heard during my lifetime.

I cannot imagine anything more iconic in Australian culture than the didgeridoo, or yidaki, as it is known by the Yolngu Indigenous Australians from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

When I visited The Three Sisters at Echo Point in the New South Wales Blue Mountains eighteen months ago I took the photo above, and tonight, whilst searching for a link to add here so you could all hear the magical sounds of the didgeridoo, I just happened to find this very same man on YouTube, playing the didgeridoo at Echo Point!!

Click on the link and listen as you read, it will open in a new window, and here also is a photo I took of The Three Sisters while I was there, to help your imagination along. Of course it never is the same as actually being there and experiencing the sounds, but you should see and hear some of what totally enraptured me.

The Threee Sisters, Echo Point, Katoomba.
The Three Sisters, Echo Point, Katoomba.

If you watch the YouTube video it shows some scenes around Echo Point as well.

Just before Christmas arrived I spent a week in Noosa, Queensland and whilst there I visited the Eumundi Markets. Maybe I visited the markets more than once. Okay, I went to Eumundi for all three days that the markets were open during the week I was there!

The attraction may have been the atmosphere. It could also have been the old-fashioned ginger beer (a non alcoholic ginger flavoured drink we have here in Australia). Kenn may have also played a big part in why I felt the need to return.

At Kenn's shop at the markets could be found any shape, size or coloured didgeridoo imaginable.
At Kenn’s shop at the markets could be found any shape, size or coloured didgeridoo imaginable.

This photo shows my son on my second visit to Kenn’s shop. I felt sure that Adam would enjoy learning how to play the didgeridoo, being musically inclined, and I told Kenn about Adam on my first visit there. (Adam was with his brother and father that day, the boys had gone fishing.) He offered to teach Adam a thing or three about the techniques required to play the instrument (as opposed to blowing into the hollow piece of wood like a trumpet!)

On my next visit, with Adam in tow, we must have spent at least an hour with Kenn, Adam trying out various didgeridoo’s, under Kenn’s instruction. Whilst Adam put into practice what his teacher was telling him to do, Kenn and I chatted.

Kenn himself is a healer and a mystic, qualities inherited from his Aboriginal ancestors. I felt saddened to learn that there are only a few full-blooded Australian Aboriginals left now, compared to years gone by. When an Aboriginal chooses to marry outside of his race, he must leave the tribe. And many have decided to leave, choosing love over heritage.

The didgeridoo is traditionally played at ceremonial events by the men of the tribe only. Women do not play at these events, although they are permitted to play at other times.

Adam soon worked out the breathing style required to play the didgeridoo and amazed Kenn by how quickly he had picked up on actually producing something similar to the correct sound the instrument should make! Adam had a favourite didgeridoo, which he wanted me to buy for him there and then, but I told him he would have to save his money and buy it on our next visit to Noosa.

Adam returned home the following day with his father and I stayed at Noosa a few days longer, during which time I paid my third visit to Kenn. I bought Adam’s favourite didgeridoo, to give to him for Christmas.

Adam at the Eumundi Markets, being instructed on how to play the didgeridoo.
Adam at the Eumundi Markets, being instructed on how to play the didgeridoo.

Kenn told Adam he had taught him all he could for now. The rest would be up to Adam, to remember what he had been taught, then practice, practice and practice! That’s all there is to it!

Next time we visit Eumundi we will visit Kenn again, to talk, to learn and then learn some more.

blessings · challenges · friends · gardening · new beginnings · photography

Weekly Photo Challenge ~ My 2012 in Pictures

Joanne20 Comments

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The people at WordPress have challenged bloggers to search through their photographic archives for the last Weekly Photo Challenge for the year and for me, it hasn’t been easy to decide on which photos to choose for my final post of the year. I wonder how other bloggers have made their final choices and what has tilted the scales in favour of one photo, against another?

My main deciding factor has been to try to choose photos that I haven’t published this year, something perhaps just a tad different, although I must admit that I am a creature of habit. Nearly all of my photos could be filed under perhaps six headings ~ birds, my pets, my garden, sunsets, natural views and my family!

January
January

When I searched back to January, I had forgotten about the floods during that month! With the humidity of our Australian summer in our sub-tropical climate always present, January is not one of my favoured months weather wise, although the flood waters in our valley do make for a different view.

February
February

When the sun took a peek at the garden in February the flowers were thrilled, breaking out in bloom all over the place! I love these little trailing violets, a beautiful ground cover between the larger shrubs.

March
March

The humidity continued into March and the day I took a drive to Tyalgum, a small village about an hours drive from my home (and away from the coastal breezes!) the heat was almost unbearable! Some beautiful scenery along the way made up for the heat and it turned out to be a very pleasant trip after all.

April
April

During April, a visit to Fingal Beach was definitely a highlight of the month. This small child also appears to be enjoying himself, exploring the rock pool between the volcanic rocks along the beach.

May
May

This is one of my favourite photos of my Indian Ring Neck parrot, Charlie. When we brought Charlie home to live with us we had no idea whether Charlie was a he or a she, so he or she needed a name suited to either sex. I have recently reached the grand conclusion that Charlie is a she, as I’m sure she would have developed a brightly coloured ring around her neck by now, if she were a he. I love Charlie regardless, although the rest of my family don’t share my love for her. I seem to be Charlie’s “chosen person”, so she coos are tweets at me, allowing me to pat her and tickle her neck. It’s another story if another member of the family gets too close for comfort though! My little angel can be quite the devil at times!

June
June

During May, the photo-bug had set in big time for me and I had become the proud owner of my new “best friend”, a wonderful new Canon Powershot SX40 camera. The camera went with me everywhere (and usually still does!) and I enjoyed many an hour at the beach, taking photos of anything and everything. I love the simplicity of this long-legged bird walking through the ripples in the water.

July
July

Like I said, mid year I would photograph anything! I loved experimenting with anything that may (or may not) look good in a photo, trying out different angles, in varying light throughout the day. Standing between a clump of palm trees in the middle of the day, blue sky above, seed pods shimmering in the sunlight, turned out to be one of my successful photos!

August
August

Through experimenting with photos I have also discovered that certain birds are very photogenic, with our beautiful kookaburras being some of my favourite subjects. I’m sure they pose for me when they see the camera!

September
September

And speaking of posers, here is my adorable little garden helper. She also helps around the house, with the washing, making the bed, washing the dishes….but even an enthusiastic little helper needs to take a break some times!

October
October

My gorgeous friends the magpies are another photogenic subject. Not a day goes by without they visit my garden for some scraps of food and I am always rewarded with their happy, chortling song.

November
November

This little Butcher Bird is a fairly new visitor to my garden and he and his little mate have made themselves right at home during the latter part of this year.

December
December

How did the year come to an end so quickly? As I finish writing, it is a mere twenty minutes to midnight and I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year! May 2013 bring you many blessings, happiness, good friends, loving family, and prosperity in everything you do.

Australia · challenges · photography · Tweed Valley

The Ends of the Earth

Joanne17 Comments

It feels like forever since I last found the time to contemplate adding a post here. What with work, car issues, house rearrangements and illness, some things have had to go onto the proverbial “back burner” of late.

I’m now venturing out of my self-inflicted “blogging hibernation”, and it took Karma to get me moving.

You’ve all heard about Karma, haven’t you? I’ve bumped into her around the webosphere for some time now, but we have never officially met. But we do have some mutual friends.

Karma enjoys offering a Photographic Challenge now and then, sometimes monthly and sometimes when she feels like it, and when I heard about Karma’s August challenge, I couldn’t resist having a go!

This month, Karma is challenging people to find photos of a what we regard as “The Ends of the Earth”.

There’s one place in particular that I love to spend time at, as it takes my breath away every time I go there. I never tire of the magnificence of the area. The view is brilliant and breath-taking, and really looks as though it could very well be the end of the earth.

Only water, as far as the eye can see.

It is Point Danger, right on the border of New South Wales and Queensland, looking across the Pacific Ocean from a relatively small jut out of land, across to the horizon where the ocean meets the sky.

If there was a place on earth where God would live, I’m sure it would be right there, looking across the water.

Surfing off the edge.

I wonder if God has a surf board? The waves in this area are world renowned, with many champion surfer’s living in this area. I haven’t ever been into surfing myself, but I’m sure to some people following the waves is like a religion. They attend the ocean every single day, rain, hail or shine.

Me? I’m overwhelmed by the majesty of the ocean. I’m not too keen on the idea of surfing off the end of the world.

Falling off the edge?

Whilst the roar of the ocean is extremely enticing, I have a huge amount of respect for the power of the waves. I wouldn’t want to take myself too close, nor climb through the fence, as there may be a danger of falling off the end of the earth.

Rocks along the end of the earth.

When the foaming waves finally reach the shoreline and trip over on the massive area of rocks, do the waves realise that they have reached “The Ends of the Ocean”? I have heard the roar of the waves, so feel sure that they are surprised to find that the ocean has an end.

Into the sky.

The earth may also end up in the clouds. If I reach up high, will my fingers touch the gentle cotton-wool puffs above me, but extend no further?

Sun shining from the ends of the earth.

No matter how thick the cotton-wool clouds may be, the sun can always manage to peek through, sending tiny slivers of sunlit rays down from above.

Rainbow Gods

I suspect that only the Rainbow Gods truly know where the end of the earth really is. The arc of the rainbow always reaches from one end of the earth to the other, visiting the places that mere mortals can only imagine and dream about.

The Last Tree.

Surely this must be the last tree on earth, sitting all alone, on the edge of the shores between imagination and reality.

Stairs to the end.

Perhaps if I were to venture along these stairs I may reach another end of the earth, but what would I find there? It would be an adventure to walk along the stairs, to see what is over the other side.

Crystal Paving.

Well now you have seen the ends of my earth, do you feel fear, or joy? Whilst showing the utmost respect for the place where the security of the firm earth beneath my feet meets up with the end of the earth, finding the all-powerful ocean, I can only see joy, for I have seen that when you reach the end, the extension of the oceans of all eternity are paved with crystals.

 

 

challenges · gratitude · happiness · Mount Warning · winter

On sunsets, fireplaces, books and plans….

Joanne6 Comments

How does a “non addictive” personality type become totally, utterly, completely, ridiculously addicted to taking photos?

“My name is Joanne, and I am a photo-holic”.

Do you think that may help me to overcome my addiction? I’m not so sure myself. Photography is such a fulfilling pass time, so why would I even consider “getting over it”? And it is a well-known fact that to make the decision to change something, you have to want to make the change!

And you know what? I don’t want to give up photography!

I do have one teeny-weeny problem though, that my addiction to photography has created; my blog is suffering, and that is something that I do want to change!

So tonight, even though the hour is late, and all good photo-holics should be taking themselves off to bed, to curl up, keep warm, and read some more of the new book they have just begun, here I am, adding a photo or two here, because they are too beautiful to not share.

We have seen some magical sunsets over the last few days. Perhaps not the stop-you-dead-in-your-tracks type of sunsets, with the brilliant dazzle of reds, oranges and golds, but more subdued sunsets.

The sky has just a subtle hint of colour, the air is cool and the fireplace is keeping the house comfortable and warm. They are the kind of nights when all you really want to do is get up close, as close as the heat will let you, to the fireplace, curl up in a ball and go to sleep.So here’s the plan ~ even if time does not permit, even if all I want to do is curl up in a cosy ball with my really good book, even if I’m tired, I will take a few moments to add some photos here, most days.

Perhaps not every day. Some days become crazy and I really need forty-eight hours instead of twenty-four. Don’t we all have days like those?

Oh, but before I take myself off to “cozy book reading land”, here’s another photo of the sky. Doesn’t this winter moon look incredible? My new camera is just the best gadget I have ever owned in my life!