{Echo} Week 3- Abundance Roundup
Autumn Photography taken at Duke Park in Downtown Durham, North Carolina
Light and Dark.
Dark and Light.
A Yin/Yang sorta thing, dontcha think?
Seems to me, that the transition between the two recently is happening all too often in my life. Mind you, I am not complaining - I learned long ago that you need the dark to know the light. I see the value in it, I truly do - but that doesn't mean I am immune to the occasional woe-is-me moment. So I allow myself brief moments of that pity.. then I dust myself off, and work through it until the light appears. It doesn't always emerge instantly, or even quickly for that matter... but it DOES always find a way to shine through.
I couldn't fathom a diptych that would better encompass that inner battle I am constantly fighting. For what its worth, I am a total metaphor whore.. visual representations are so vital to my being and wellness. Do you see what I see in it? There is the obvious abundance of leaves.. and while that is all lovely and stuff, it is so not what I was going for.
Let me break it down a bit.
Duke Park | Durham, North Carolina | © Christy Hydeck
A downward gaze with no end in sight.. trampled upon leaves that show signs of aging accompanied by these brittle, fragile shells that have fallen... dark and awful lonely; despite the abundance of company. The cold shrill of a bitter wind and the quiet, almost melancholy tones of the rustling echoing. I see an abundance of emptiness, and shells of what once were.
I suppose In my worst moments, I feel exactly that.
Autumn at Duke Park | Durham, North Carolina | © Christy Hydeck
Yet - if I merely look up and change my perspective ... an abundance of color and light shine through. The path becomes longer, curving through the glorious shelter of the autumnal trees. I see life. I see light. I see the path I must follow.
I see and feel that abundance of light coupled with an eternal abundance of hope. It is as if the world just suddenly woke up.
Just... for me.
"Everything you need you already have. You are complete right now, you are a whole, total person, not an apprentice person on the way to someplace else. Your completeness must be understood by you and experienced in your thoughts as your own personal reality."
- Wayne Dyer
Throughout this last week, in the moments that were dark and full of those yucky woes.. I heard Susan's words echoing (how apt!) in my mind: "it is filled with the abundance of what matters most. love, love" What an incredible, much-needed reminder that my life is indeed full, even when my Bipolar mind tricks me into thinking it is not. Another tool I have cultivated is this book: Get It Done When You're Depressed , I highly recommend the strategies to anyone who has trouble being productive when fighting a depression.
I may not be able to be change the fact that I am bipolar, but I don't have to fully give in to those debilitating demons or let them rule me either. I choose to fight, always.
I am not the only one who has found these prompts to be eerily relevant in my life... so please, take a look at all the other wonderful souls who have taken part, their images and stories just may touch you too.
- Moi
- Susan Tuttle (my partner)
- Week 3 Entries on Flickr
- Lennie & Colette + another!
- Shona & Shannon
- Brenda Lynn
- Paula & Jeanine
- DJ Petit & Deryn Mentock
- Phuzzy Photography
- Sandra Ludwig
- Diane Cook
- Donna Cook
- Elaine & Brenda
- Alyice Edrich
IfI have inadvertently forgotten you, or you choose to join in (yay!) … please let me know in the comments section and I will update the list .. it is wonderful discoveringthe unique visions y’all have in this beautiful life, I can’t get enough of it.
- New Flickr Group for the collab. ~ Join Us! Find a partner there, read the guidelines and more!
- Add the new Echo button (susan’s awesome design) to your blog if you’d like! Get the code here.
- Catch Up on Week 1 -Emerge and Week 2- Decorate.
- See how others have interpreted the prompts in the week 1 & week 2 roundups.
Need/want a partner? Join the Flickr group and post here! It is my sincere wish that it shall be the start of some fabulous collaborations and friendships for y’all.
The new prompt, Week 4 - will be posted next Wednesday... November 25th, 2009.
With an abundance of gratitude,
Chrysti
P.S. Shameless self-promotion whoring here: only 2 days left of my mega artography sale - details here! Won't be another one like it for at least 6+ months! Thanks!
