Special Photo Challenge: Inspiration

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did. “

Mark Twain

TINA, ARMED AND DANGEROUS

I love this month’s Special Photo Challenge about what inspires us to blog-what a great subject on which to spend time, energy and thought.  For me (Armed and dangerous, above with my trusty Nikon), my passion for photography, reawakened following retirement from a career that got in its way, has been an incredible gift.  It inspires me to see and to blog about the beauty and the pain in the world. Photography helps me to know that everything and everyone has a purpose, and to realize how fortunate I am to have been born into this place and at this time, surrounded by family and friends who love and appreciate me.

                       BAILEY AND TINA  (WITH EVER-PRESENT CAMERA IN HAND)                           HA LONG BAY, VIETNAM

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”

Henry Miller

Traveling the world as my husband and I have these past years has been equally inspirational.  How can we not blog about such natural wonders as the peaks and glaciers of Patagonia, or the incredible man-made wonders at Angkor Wat in Cambodia.  Or closer to home, the beautifully bizarre hoodoos of Bryce Canyon or the commanding magnificence of the giant redwoods.  Truly, I believe if everyone traveled there would be far fewer troubles in the world.  I love Maya Angelou’s words: “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”

               TINA AND JANE SHOOTING SUNRISE FROM A HOT AIR BALLOON                     ANGKOR WAT, CAMBODIA

“Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer. “

Jean de la Fontaine

My enthusiasm for travel and photography is further enhanced by sharing it with my good friend and fellow photographer and blogger Jane Lurie – who is in large part responsible for my entry into the joys of the blogosphere.  We have shared excitement, challenge, frustration, ideas (both good and bad) and some amazing experiences as we have both grown our skills and expanded our vision.  Plato said “People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt and die.”   Fortunately, ours is a friendship built on soil that nourishes us both.

BOB, JANE, TINA AND BAILEY EXPLORING PATAGONIA’S GLACIERS

“Art flourishes where there is a sense of adventure.“
Alfred North Whitehead

Our husbands, happily, are also the best of friends. Our shared love of travel, good food and adventure has resulted in some wondrous exploits.  Our interests have taken us to some awesome places, which further inspire us to capture the essence of the people and places that catch our eyes, our hearts and our lenses. 

                              TINA AND JANE SHOOTING SUNRISE                                   TORRES DEL PAINE, PATAGONIA, CHILE

Inspired by travel and photography, blessed with a loving husband and good friends, and open to new experiences, even when they make you look totally ridiculous (see below)…..as they say on so many tee shirts, “Life is Good”.  And blogging gives us a way to share it just a bit, which makes it even better.  After all, as Virginia Woolf said: “Pleasure has no relish unless we share it.”

COOKING SCHOOL,  CHIANG MAI, THAILAND

For more information on the Special Monthly Challenge click HERE

Tags: #memyblog, Cambodia, Foreign, nikon, Patagonia, photography, postaday, SE Asia, special photo challenge, travel, Vietnam

• November 23, 2012
• Angkor Wat, Cambodia, Nikon, Photography, Southeast Asia, Travel, Vietnam, Weekly Challenge
• 35 Comments