VIRGINIA BREEZE: “David’s blog has some of the most beautiful and cherished poetry I’ve read in a long time. It has moved me to tears on more than one occasion. If you enjoy heartfelt honest sentiments that speak of the core issues of our lives then grab a cup of tea, slow down and read some of David’s poems. They are written by someone who feels deeply and has an open heart. You will go away feeling like you know him. They are easy to understand and are mated with beautiful photos. My post this month was inspired by David’s poetry. His writing sets me free and encourages me to be authentic. He also writes about a variety of topics I find interesting, warm, real (and sometimes funny).”

“A Nice Camera Can Change Your Life”

–David

Or, at least, a very nice camera can change your life. It changed mine. I won’t say it was a religious conversion or anything as dramatic as that. But taking photos has made my daily life much more interesting. I am never bored now and I used to find time to be bored. When you watch television a couple of hours every day it could be a sign that you are bored!

And I wasn’t that interested in going out either. Being in an interesting place like Virginia Beach or DC or even Disney World was not that fantastic an experience. I would become involved in watching people and seeing all the stuff that’s not so attractive about them. And then my feet and back would start to hurt too.

I was ready to go back to our home or the hotel and have a drink in short order. But taking photos changed that. Because I started looking for things that are beautiful instead of things that are ugly. I became enthusiastic about the search for the interesting and the artistic in nature or in the things man has created. I became very happy when I found it and ignored my physical discomfort. And I am sure my wife appreciated the new more happy, outgoing and energetic me!

I share this with you because I believe there are a lot of folks out there who could benefit from taking up photography. When we went up to DC recently I was standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial and watching everyone taking photos of Abe. Ninety nine percent of them were using those little digital cameras that take about five seconds to capture a photo. Five seconds is an eternity to try and take a photo. People were moving in front of the photo taker. And I am sure the results were uniformly generic. Do you see what I mean? Did you ever want to take a photo that is unusual or original? Did you ever want to express the artistic side of your personality this way?

You are standing on the beach just after sunrise. You have your camera in hand and your finger is on the button. As you watch the waves coming in a bird takes off behind you as you whirl, focus and shoot in less than a second. Because that is all the time you have and the camera is up to the job.

Here are a few photos I took when we were up in DC. Having a nice camera and a telephoto lens really makes things much nicer. Sure it can be expensive but not any more expensive than a new computer or a flat screen HDTV.

And it’s not just the taking of the photo. In these days its the editing with one of the many fine software programs that are available. You almost become a painter when you start working with the raw material of a new photo. But you need to start out with a great camera and probably a powerful lens or two in order to get that photo . Then you can capture what most are too busy to see with their own eyes and edit it until it is very clear. Finally you can share it with the world. And believe me people will thank you for it. Everyone wants to know that the world they live in still has beauty left in it.

Photography is an art form and you can become an artist. You don’t have to be an intellectual to be an artist. That was something that always put me off. Because I am not that smart. But I can practice taking photos by the hundreds and the thousands. And you know what? Some of them are going to turn out very well.

People have lots of nice things to say about them. And you can see them in my blogs and on Flickr and Picasa Web. But more importantly you can begin to see how someone with no experience or training like yourself perhaps can become a photographer and an artist.

You can create something that is beautiful and meaningful to thousands of people. You can share it in a blog just like this one. And you can become an artist and change your life.

My Photos on Flickr

I started taking photos in earnest about nine months ago. They have made my blogs much more entertaining according to my readers. And because I was learning to be creative I also started writing poetry. So one thing can lead to another and soon you will feel like you have done something that will be remembered twenty years down the road. You will be able to look back and see something about your life that was pretty nice. It will be much better than an old, musty diary. (There’s a reason people grab just average photos when their house is burning down).

But NOW in the present you will find out things about yourself and your world.

You will grow.

And you will discover the creative and energetic soul that is in there somewhere and hoping to come out and play!

Virginia Breeze is here to help you along this path. I’m not here to give you much technical knowledge about photography. But I can help you to see that you can do this too. You can take the photos and you can present them in a blog so that many readers will enjoy what you have done.

You can share your life in a way that is interesting and useful to your readers while it is fulfilling to you.

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Here is some poetry. I believe that poetry should not be difficult to understand and it should evoke meaningful emotions. And as you can see I have added a photo to my effort. I would like to think that this is art. Perhaps it is art at a most basic level. Because I have no training. I am not an intellectual. I started taking photos in earnest about eight months ago when I started this blog. And I love taking them. I see much more around me because there is a camera in my hand.

This blog is about us. Average people who are interested in art but have no formal training. It’s about taking photos and it’s about writing. And it’s about living the good life as we do here in Virginia.

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The evening has left us

Quietly to ourselves.

I watch you move before the mirror

Releasing all the catches and stays

The predictable moments and habitual ways.

Until the softness of the light reveals

Your moving presence and my cautious appeal.

Can I catch the light that glitters in your eyes

And hold you in my arms?

A prayer weaves its way above

As we explore

The promises of love.

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I went to Boston University a long time ago and majored in English Literature. And I have enjoyed reading since that time.

http://davidnotes.com/2007/08/26/tales-from-the-library-men-are-from-mars-and-women-believe-it/

http://davidnotes.com/2007/10/26/autumn-still-not-here/

This is not really a personal weblog. Hopefully it is an interesting look at the world around us. And our world includes Richmond, Virginia and Virginia Beach. We take trips too and I always try to take some photos so I can share them with everybody.

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Do pictures bring us peace inside and poems help us feel

Restful moments of reprise from many an ordeal?

Or do we need to find ourselves upon the light strewn path

That runs between the earth and sea and beckons us to dance?

I do not know the answer to these questions of the day

But I do know from watching them that children love to play.

They often come to these bright shores where all their lives began

And we should be there when they laugh and throw up eager hands

Forgetting all the songs we love to play upon the sand.

Forgetting all our earthly woes to be in love’s heartland.

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Virginia Breeze Mission Statement

Davidlind on Feb 20 2008 | Filed under: blogs Edit This

Table of contents for 2/The Spiritual Side

1. Life Is Just A Dream
2. Virginia Breeze Mission Statement

I have added some topics to this blog recently. And the question comes up as it has in the past “What is this blog about?”. It’s so important to be focused when you produce a blog because readers need to know what’s happening in order to make decisions about the use of their valuable time.

And it may not always be apparent so I would like to share with you what I am trying to do. It’s really very simple. And it encompasses the use of photos and video, short stories and poetry and discussions about blogging.

Virginia Breeze is about living peacefully and happily in a complex world when you are no longer young. That’s what I am trying to do and if I can share my ideas and experiences with others maybe it will be helpful or at least entertaining in some way. Because let’s face it. If we live long enough we are going to be dealing with the world of senior citizens. And I feel like there is this stereotype out there about them. Us. Me. Whoever.

And becoming a senior is really not something to dread. I hear it all the time. People bemoan the fact that they have a birthday. The big FOUR O and so forth. Well one of these days I am going to be facing the big SIX O and I admit that it will be a little tester. But there are cool things about getting older and I hope I can portray them here. It is a time when responsibilities hopefully let up a little bit in the child raising department. And even if they don’t it’s a time when our bodies start sending us different signals about how to respond to the demands we face. Sometimes we find we are better able to relate to children and teenagers in fact!

We mellow. Hopefully. And we spend more time dealing with things that are often neglected earlier in life. Like watching the sun set or come up in the morning. Or writing a poem. Or going over the past in a way that makes more sense and then writing about it.

These are just a few examples. And I am sure you have some ideas that you could add to the list. And I hope you will.

I can say without a doubt that this is the best time of my life so far. Isn’t that encouraging? I hope so. And I hope it will be (or is) for you too. We are headed in a good direction even when we become very old and have to deal with very difficult problems at the very last. I believe it is true. I don’t know that I will always feel that way. But I have faith that there is a force out here that helps people when they become really old. Maybe it’s a near death kind of experience that goes on for several years. I don’t know.

That’s all. We are not doing War And Peace here as everybody knows. We are just exploring a few things and enjoying life. There are so many different ways to go in this world. It pays to try and find a good path.

And to share directions as you go down the road in this world beyond midlife and the crisis that it sometimes becomes.