Favorite images
Do you recognise this? That the images you see more often, become more dear to you? For me, it's not just images. It works the same with places and buildings and even, or maybe very obviously, with people.
For example, when I bike home from work, I pedal alongside the river de Maas and cross a bridge to get to our tiny island. And after just a bit more than a year of living here, that view has become so dear to me. Every day I bike home, the light is different, the setting sun and the clouds above the water, the ships passing below the bridge. So many days, I've felt so lucky for all that beauty in my life, that now just the place in itself triggers a certain happiness in me, or gratitude maybe.
I have that with certain images too. I've enjoyed them so often, that at some point just their presence makes me feel at home, relaxed, lucky and satisfied.
Sophie Loren
A few months back I shared this post about finding a book at a second hand bookstore, with a collection of Naive Art. It was a rare find. I hadn't even heard about Naive Art before that, but it was like love at first sight. I bought that book, found a bunch of picture frames from second hand stores, put them together and decorated my wall with them. I really loved every minute of arranging my wall decoration.
So those images have been on my wall for a while now. They've become part of my home and my life. I've been enjoying them, and they have added their own subtle flavour to my experiences.
Like this picture below: Sophie Loren by Josip Generalic. Her eyes are crossed, her hat is too much, she's holding a weird, scary-looking cat and holding it at a weird angle. She's very imperfect. But she's so perfect in her own way. She has a lot of dignity, but you can also feel her friendliness and if I'd meet her, I'd approach her carefully. I love her image. I love how it makes me feel everything's OK - that a little bit of weirdness is nothing to worry about.
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The right vibes
I actually believe that the way we respond to our surroundings, matters. Not just the people around us, objects too. Whatever you spend time with, feeling grateful for what it is contributing to your life - that becomes a blessing to you. In the end, life is one big happening of relationship. Between us and other people, between our body and its surroundings, even within our body all the body parts working together. If we charge everything in our lives with the energy of gratitude, then our surroundings will be constantly reflecting those lovely vibes back at us. Life is a mirror, in a lot of ways actually. But definitely also in this one: the rays we send out reflect back to us, one on one.
Surround yourself with images you love, spend time with the area where you live and find more and more ways to appreciate it, spend time with the people in your life to understand their quality and their fragrance, so you will know how they make your life more rich every day. Give them your friendliness, and they will always be radiating it back to you.
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Part of the real world
I took several pictures of Sophie Loren, and I liked the above one with the window's reflection. It makes me feel she is part of the real world, looking out of my window along with me. It blurs the lines between reality and make-belief, between a naive and a rational understanding of the world.
You might feel it is a bit weird to develop friendliness towards the images and objects in your home, the areas in your neighbourhood. But just think about it. I'm sure you know how we human beings live our lives in patterns. Our minds are structured that way, that a thought trail we walked down before becomes more and more easy to follow. Having been in that space of friendliness with your furniture, or kitchen utensils, or even your own hands and arms and legs before - it will trigger that space of friendliness in you again and again, every time you're interacting with them.
And don't think our friendly space is pleasant just for others. The person most rewarded by our friendliness, is us. It supports our health, our energy levels, our happiness and contentment in life. Making your friendliness non-stop is your best present to you. And spending more time with the images you love and enjoy, is a great way to get started!
This is post #7 in the Magical World Series. With these posts, I hope to add a little happiness and light-heartedness to your day. There is magic in every little corner of the world. And if we share it with each other, it does really brighten up the place!
All content is created by me, and Steemit original.
Camera used: Canon G7X
