tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5291485436649858330.post5773490767726697942..comments2024-03-27T15:11:32.660-07:00Comments on Contemplative Photography: The roots of guiltDiane Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379544317007203762noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5291485436649858330.post-9212122684633759632013-03-23T11:45:17.532-07:002013-03-23T11:45:17.532-07:00Yeah, I know...feeling and knowing are two very di...Yeah, I know...feeling and knowing are two very different things. Dip your toe in the water just once, and each time you come back to that feeling, you'll find yourself dipping a little bit more in until your heart believes what your mind says. <br /><br />Cherylnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5291485436649858330.post-71949933996806894262013-03-23T08:12:47.740-07:002013-03-23T08:12:47.740-07:00Thanks, Maureen; love the way those letters contin...Thanks, Maureen; love the way those letters continue to speak to us...<br /><br />... and Cheryl, I think you just wrote my autobiography! And, yes, I know; but knowing and feeling it in your heart are not quite the same thing -- which is kind of what I was trying to say. I'm pretty sure these posts are sounding this vulnerable because I'm not quite myself this week; tore a muscle coughing a week ago and am still on pain meds. Thank you SO MUCH for these kind and thoughtful words!<br />D Diane Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03379544317007203762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5291485436649858330.post-17957379352689196902013-03-22T21:11:52.286-07:002013-03-22T21:11:52.286-07:00"I don't deserve appreciation because I d..."I don't deserve appreciation because I didn't work hard enough to earn it."<br /><br />You know you do this to yourself right? At some point in your life, you have to give yourself permission to be appreciated just for who you are. <br /><br />I too grew up with that mantra in my head and for years and years I felt less than when I compared myself to others. I have always been a loner, quiet, introspective, self entertaining, perfectly happy with my own company most of the time. But because I grew up as a loner, quiet and introspective, I didnt exactly learn how to socialize with others, I dont pick up cues well, nor am I any good at small talk. I feel like the third wheel in many group settings...still to this day. I dont have the gift of communication, I envied those that could just walk up and develop a conversation with others, I wanted so much to feel like I was a part of something...but I always felt like the last one picked for the reindeer games. <br /><br />It wasnt until someone pointed out that I seemed to have all the characteristics of a highly sensitive personality that I began to understand. All those things that were constantly setting me apart from those around me, like a high sensitivity to lights, odors, noise, being told I was too intense or too sensitive and on and on. What a revelation to realize that there is nothing “wrong” with me, and all my thinking. It’s just the way I am built. And the cool thing to me was realizing that others around me also envied me the ability to take the photos that I took, or write the poetry or being able to see when folks needed help. I had no idea that I possessed the traits that other envied as I had been held up to be different from everyone else all my life and always tried to hide what made me different just so I could feel like I fit in for just a bit. I was floored, I truly had no idea that the way I saw the world around me or how I interacted with that world was how others also wanted to interact with it. It was such a revelation and a welcome one at that. <br />Yes, I know this is long winded...but my point is, you deserve to be appreciated for who you are, not because you worked hard or you didnt work hard, but because you are you.Cherylnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5291485436649858330.post-676106294521577362013-03-22T13:15:09.681-07:002013-03-22T13:15:09.681-07:00". . . the natural growth of your inner life ...". . . the natural growth of your inner life will eventually guide you to other insights. <br />"Allow your judgments their own silent, undistrubed development. . . . <br />". . . this alone is what it means to live as an artist: in understanding as in creating." ~ Rilke, "Letters to a Young Poet", Letter 3Maureenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13290283101378474845noreply@blogger.com