“Have you seen the dandelions growing in the back yard?” my husband called. “They’re so juicy!”
I followed the sound of his voice and looked out of our window to see the back yard covered in bright, yellow blooms, the color of sunshine itself.
The Beauty of Painful Transformations
“You must think that something is happening with you, that life has not forgotten you, that it holds you in its hand; it will not let you fall. Why do you want to shut out of your life any uneasiness, any miseries, or any depressions? For after all, you do not know what work these conditions are doing inside you.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
As a society we are conditioned to avoid suffering. Just walk through the self-help section of any bookstore and you’ll quickly glimpse titles like “Happy 95% of the Time“, “Happiness: Your Route Map to Inner Journey“, “How to Be Happy” and “Be Happy Now“, just to name a few.
A Trip To Remember | Visiting Japan
A frog in a well does not know the great sea.
– Japanese proverb
Falling in love with a country is much like falling into the proverbial rabbit hole. One minute you are walking in the woods unsuspectingly, the next you’re speeding down a deep tunnel, looking around you and wondering how you found yourself there.
Being Still
In my lifetime as a photographer I have photographed many things. From product to landscape to people, I have had a chance to experience variety and see how the light interacts with trees, human faces, pieces of jewelry, you name it. After all, photography is all about light.
Wild Woman Rising
“Within every woman there is a wild and natural force, filled with good instincts, passionate creativity and ageless knowing. Her name is Wild Woman but she is… An endangered species.”
— Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Blossoming
“Are you Yuliya? The photographer?”, someone asked behind me as I was strolling my local farmer’s market in search for the perfect raspberries. I turned to locate the source of the voice. I was met with a young woman with long, curly hair who was surrounded by flowers in her market stand. She was smiling.
Cultivating Love
“We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection.
Love is not something we give or get; it is something that we nurture and grow, a connection that can only be cultivated between two people when it exists within each one of them – we can only love others as much as we love ourselves.”
― Brené Brown
Morning Ceremony
Every morning I open my eyes, get out of bed and put on my favorite sweater that neatly hangs over the arm of the chair next to where I sleep. The sweater is such a comfort after getting out of a warm bed; it helps with the transition to daytime and the state of being awake. I walk over to the kitchen, stretch my sleepy limbs in a slow, deliberate way and turn on the electric kettle to boil some water.
It’s time for my morning ceremony.
I Am Alive and Drunk on Sunlight
As much as I love living in the Pacific Northwest the seemingly never-ending days of rain can definitely alter my state to that of near insanity. Last week, as I looked at the forecast, more rain was predicted at which point it would have meant it would have been raining for ten days without a stop. Wanting desperately to go outside and play with my camera was out of the question – the rain kept coming down in merciless, hard sheets of water. So I continued to stew in my cabin fever, distracting myself by writing, drinking tea and reading Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by the amazing Neil deGrasse Tyson. Until…
The Gift of Healing Plants
A bit over a month ago, in mid December, I took a rustic, hand-woven basket out of our kitchen closet. I then packed it with a multitool and a few other small bags. Several layers of clothing, a hat and fingerless gloves. I was ready for my foraging expedition in my beautiful neighborhood.