Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Summer Serenity Photo Essay Unfolds in an Upcoming Gallery

I awake today to a delightful coolness in the air and a slight bend in the trees as they stand regally amidst the sunshine. With a feeling of restful peace, I watch the scene outside my window spark my senses. There is quiet in the early morning hours. I listen to the sounds of summer and hear nature calling the season to start taking its final steps. But this does not sadden me. It moves me to a reflective place. I use the time to rethink the summer months, to linger in memories of uncomplicated, untroubled moments that recharged my energy. Hurried, harried times are removed from my thoughts today as I prepare to unfold a story of summer serenity in an upcoming online gallery. Photographs, poems and poetic expressions sit before me. My computer becomes the craft engine for combining each delightful submission through various digital tools.  And so my day begins. 
Background Information:
The summer months have provided me with many hours of recollection and reflection. I connected through social media or in face to face settings with various writers, colleagues, photographers, and family, what I now refer to as the REFLECT WITH ME expression makers. My story of reflective writing did not start here with Summer's Alluring Call to Relax, Reflect, Recharge. It began with a seed of an idea back in the winter months. The first online gallery of reflective writing, REFLECT WITH ME-Bringing Together a Community of Writers To Celebrate Life and Learning, was launched in March. Then, National Poetry Month spurred me on to create a second gallery, April Awakenings, featuring a growing community of reflective writers from across the United States and as far away as Australia. Because reflection is important in my life, I decided to expand the REFLECT WITH ME writing community to include a Summer Serenity gallery of artistic expressions. 
As the summer season embarks on its final weeks before school officially starts in New York State, it might be the time to savor your moments by capturing them in images and words. Questions pondered at the beginning of the summer still hold weight. Did summer provide peaceful scenes filled with calm moments? Were your days untroubled allowing for opportunities for restful reading? Did you luxuriate in the sun dipping your toes in the sand, journey to exotic locations, rest by rivers or in your garden, picnic in parks? An oasis of serene places beckoned us this summer. The writers of the REFLECT WITH ME community will share peaceful images and poignant poetic expressions that bring a sense of calm to what we like to think of as untroubled, uncomplicated summer days like the one I am having today. 

May you spend your ending summer days relaxing, reflecting, and recharging 
for what is to come.
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Each Tuesday, Two Writing Teachers sponsors the Slice of Life community. This piece will be posted to the site where you can read many other interesting slices. The fun begins here. You can also Tweet at #SOL14.

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