New items on Society6

framed Curvy fence on the beach

I just uploaded two of my recent photographs on Society6. Both photos were taken during the last Miksang Contemplative workshop at Zandvoort earlier this month: Space awareness.

iPhone skin: bicycle on patterned pavement

I still love Society6's website where I can sell my stuff, the only downsides are the shipping costs overseas (for my neck of the woods) and the probable import tax. It's great if you live in the USA, but not for Europe or elsewhere in the world. Which is why I don't promote it enthusiastically on my blog or personal Facebook page. But it still feels great to see the items in my little corner of their shop.

King's Day

Today was the 48th birthday of His Majesty King Willem-Alexander. For ages the birthday of our Head of State has been celebrated on 30 April and today was the first time that it took place on the actual birthday of our relatively new king. He became king on 30 April last year.

mosaic of King's Day 2015

Anyways, my friend Veronie always tries to make a moneymaking scheme involving costumes (anything for her is an excuse to make a costume, really) and this time the scheme was revolving around a pillow fight. Innocent passers-by could take a pillow and pick a fight with their sibling, spouse or boy/girlfriend. Of course this were very successful and the money kept rolling in. In any case, we had lots of fun and so did our contestants. We were also quite lucky with the weather, because the sun was bright in contrast to the gloomy weather forecast. How was your King's Day?

Look over here for King's Day 2013

Day III Space Awareness: people in space

Last Sunday was the third and last day of this wonderful workshop. We went one step further and we could include people and animals as phenomena in space.

Funny enough, that felt easier to do on Saturday when we were not supposed to do so yet. Sometimes when I felt myself too eager to take shots with people in it I went back to the intention of space without people or animals in it.

boy walking through water 

Our teacher Hèlen explained to us again the Heaven - Earth - Man principle. We probably would not practice it while walking around with our cameras, but we could use it while looking back at our photos.

For example in the photo above: the Heaven-principle (base) is the beach, the Earth-principle (second dominant aspect) is formed by the tyre-tracks and the Man-principle (the aspect which brings Heaven and Earth together) is the woman on the beach.

We could add the aspect of people and animals on this third day, because we were grounded in space. We could explore them as form.

man waiting for a bus

Hèlen asked us what we would be bringing home with us and what our expectations were before we came over. My expectations were low except that I expected to learn something new and I was eager to know about it and to practice with it.

woman and dumpsters on the beach

What I experienced through the workshop was: freedom, happiness, relaxation and openness. It was a fun group and our teacher seemed to have enjoyed it and learned from it, too. What I will bring home with me is a feeling of endless possibilities, a broad horizon in more ways than one.

See also day I and day II of this workshop.

Day II Space Awareness: space in sand and sky

curved fence on the beach

On the second day of the workshop we talked more about our awareness in general. Hèlen is convinced we are aware all day long, but sometimes there are clouds of thoughts which make us a little less clear or awake than at other moments. 

curved sand and water

"Now is the only moment, you cannot be more in the present than you already are." That was kind of an eye opener as in most Buddhist teachings we hear that we are not aware all the time and that when we are thinking of the past for example we are in the past. Today we heard that even when we are thinking of an occasion in the past we are still thinking it in the present. That actually makes sense, doesn't it?

edge of sand and water

Meditation is a practice or method to be with the intrinsic qualities of ourselves like courage, fearlessness, abundance, contentment, clarity and so forth. Every meditation helps to have a better experience of the present. And everything we do is an expression of ourselves. Thoughts are a confirmation that we are present.

circles in pavement

On this second day of the workshop we explored the spaces of sand and beach, again without any reference frameworks like people, animals or other objects.

space on the beach and in the sky

It was a glorious day and the skies and beach could not have been more splendid as you can see by these photographs.

splash of sand on a concrete surface

space between two sets of black dumpsters on the beach

Hèlen also explained the Heaven - Earth - Man principle to us. Heaven represents the space in which something takes place, it is the base, the foundation. Heaven is the second dominant aspect and it supports the Heaven aspect. Man brings Heaven and Earth together, it is the most elegant aspect. This principle is used in contemplative arts, like Kado (flower arrangements) and Haiku.

tyre tracks going into space

This day also felt awesome like yesterday. According to Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche "Spaciousness brings inspiration." I experienced more room in myself and I felt more relaxed, my vision is broadening and it feels a bit like unlimited boundaries. The sky is the limit!

shadows of posts and a blue sky

See also day I from this workshop.

Day I Space Awareness: space in sky and street

This weekend I am participating in the Miksang Contemplative workshop level IV which is about space awareness. Space as form and form as space. Visual space can be wide open (sky) and it can be solid (street or wall).

"Form and space have an intimate relationship: space intensifies the clarity of form and form creates boundaries that bring out visual space."

Our human eye is trained to go from one object to another, but in this workshop our intention was on the space between the objects, around them or on space itself. As we are not used to do this, is requires some grounding and practice.

Visual space can sometimes feel very two-dimensional like fields or levels and at other times it can feel three-dimensional with depth and openness. Sometimes it feels flat, full and tight and at other times it feels startling, because we are so used to looking at things that to see the absence of things can through us off balance.

All perceptions appear in space: color, texture, light, moments, contact and simplicity. Seeing forms and objects as anchors for space is a different way of looking. Space is everywhere, all around us, everywhere.

three layers of a building

three orange balls and a grey sky

The assignment of this first day was to set our intention on space, to walk the streets of Zandvoort leisurely and to look at space on the streets and sidewalks as well as looking up and seeing space in the sky with or without anchor points. To feel the assignment right we looked only at space, not at the people or little things in it and we examined whether we experienced space at forms or not.

white street markings

wooden staircase

"Seeing space creates a greater field in which flashes of perception can occur. By reducing fixation on objects, you can open your eyes more, or mind more and go out farther and farther, feeling the spacious quality of the world."

triangles in the sky

Since the beginning of the workshop we've all felt more open or spacious not only in ourselves, but also in the world around us. We feel more relaxed, cared less about the time during the day and felt lighter and happier. And this was only day 1 where we explored the spaces of street and sky.

Quotes are from the book: The Practice of Contemplative Photography. Seeing the World with Fresh Eyes. By Andy Karr and Michael Wood.

About Spring time and cell phones

All of a sudden the weather changed to our advantage: during the day temperatures have risen above normal and the sun is shining & radiating lots of warmth. We all think Winter is over (although I rode my bike with my Wintercoat on earlier last week) and everyone is in good spirits.

Last Friday I went to a walk around the Museum area in Amsterdam. This is usually a place where lots of people hang out and I was there on a mission: to take photographs of people using their cell phones. 

As I hoped, that proved not to be very difficult. After my initial inhibition I tried to blend in with the crowd and not to move too fast. Sometimes people hardly noticed I was there.

two guys with cell phones

two people with cell phones

woman with cell phone

woman with cell phone and another writing in journal

My heart almost skipped a beat when I saw this young woman above writing in some kind of journal. Yes, they still exist, people who write about their adventures and impressions of the far or not-so-far-away.

two women with pink cell phone and selfie stick

Although the selfie stick is not as popular as in Venice (Italy) I spotted an occasional person with one.

young couple looking at photo on cell phone

And this young couple is of course quite endearing as they are looking at the pictures they just took of themselves with a selfie stick. I must confess I bought one myself especially for our trip to Venice, but I didn't use it a lot. I don't tend to take photos of myself with some famous church or square in the background. I take a photo of what my eye see in conjunction with my heart.
How do you take photos (abroad)? Do you pose for your images?

Bit of Spring

Last weekend, over Easter, I stayed at my sister and nieces. From one day to the next the sun came out and it was warm. Nature had started to come out of its winter recluse so we spotted some small flowers and budding trees.

Above: my niece Emily taking a picture of this yellow tree. It looks green in the photo, but in real life it contained a lot more yellow.

happy orange jogger

faint pink buds

My sister invented a little photo contest to get my nieces interested in a walk: to shoot the prettiest picture of a flower. There wasn't really a winner, but they were willing to go outdoors and they seemed to enjoy the sun and the daisies in the grass. It was a very pleasant way to spend parts of Easter Sunday.

my two nieces taking photos

Cream of buckwheat with apple

This may sound like an odd combination, cream of buckwheat, but it actually is quite delicious. It saw it on one of my favourite Dutch vegetarian food blogs Vegadutchie by Jolijn. She is actually about to publish a book of her own and I would love having a peek inside. I still have to wait two months though.

I made this recipe two weeks ago and I am currently hooked on it! It is not only very tasty, but also very nutritious: I can last a whole morning without a snack. Buckwheat has many advantages, to name just a few: it is very healthy, easy to grow and gluten-free.

Ingredients for this cream (1 portion):
1/3 cup of buckwheat
6 spoonfuls of soy milk (or any other non-dairy milk)
1 spoonful of agave syrup
1 spoonful of chia seeds
1 spoonful of tahin
pinch of cinnamon
1 apple in small parts
1 banana in small parts

Let the buckwheat soak overnight in water. Pour off the extra water the next morning and take out a few grains to garnish (optional). Add the milk, syrup, chia seeds, tahin, cinnamon, most of the banana and apple and blend well. Put half of the cream in a tall glass, add some bits of the apple, top off with the rest of the cream, banana and apple. Garnish with a few grains and enjoy!

dishcloth: by Rie Elise Larsen
glass: Hoegaarden