Don’t expect things to happen the way you want them to.
Instead, wish for them to happen just as they do
and you will be happy.
~Epicteto
13 minute voice recording by Ampro, the teacher of this course
I liked her opening statement, “Life is like water, always moving and never the same.” Later she repeats it, using the word river instead of water, and to me that was even more descriptive! She shared quotes about life as an imperfect movement from Bruce Lee, somebody Len, and photographer Rachel Cobb. She asked us to go out in a garden or forest to observe and photograph 3 thing with 2 different looks each:
- 2 stone shots
- 2 flower shots
- 2 leaf shots
“We recommend the work of Rachel Cobb to enhance your inspiration“
Since the above links are probably limited to registered students, See the online gallery of Rachel Cobb’s “Mistral the Project” in France (linked), photographing a place of much wind. It made me wish I had tried harder to capture images of the much wind we had this year from January to April that has faded away now in May. I copied my favorite of her wind photos above. A little more inspiration from this photographer for me. 🙂
Recommended music, Close your eyes and dance to your own rhythm and movement: Florence + The Machine – What The Water Gave Me.
Well . . . okay, life is movement – constantly changing. 🙂
What you heard today:
Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” ~Bruce Lee
Wow! Martial arts movement is an interesting contrast to the musical movement before. 🙂
Ithaca
By Konstantinos P. Kavafis
When you leave for Ithaca,
may your journey be long
and full of adventures and knowledge.
Do not be afraid of Laestrigones, Cyclopes
or furious Poseidon;
you won’t come across them on your way
if you don’t carry them in your soul,
if your soul does not put them in front of your steps.
I hope your road is long.
May there be many a summer morning,
and may ports for the first time seen
bring you great joy.
May you stop at Phoenician marts,
to purchase there the best of wares,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber, ebony,
hedonic perfumes of all sorts;
may you go to various Egyptian towns
and learn from a people with so much to teach.
Don’t lose sight of Ithaca,
for that’s your destination.
But take your time;
better that the journey lasts many a year
and that your boat only drops anchor on the island
when you have grown rich
with what you learned on the way.
Don’t expect Ithaca to give you many riches.
Ithaca has already given you a fine voyage;
without Ithaca you would never have parted.
Ithaca gave you everything and can give you no more.
If in the end you think that Ithaca is poor,
don’t think that she has cheated you.
Because you have grown wise and lived an intense life,
and that’s the meaning of Ithaca.
PROFILES AND REVIEWS. Interview with Francisco Varela
(SEMBLANZAS Y RESEÑAS)
*Interview in Spanish – you can translate it into your language using your browser. Go to this link: https://journals.copmadrid.org/clysa/archivos/1992/vol1/arti10.htm
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