Color My World Spring, Digitally

I have been waiting for there to be a full week of warm weather to color my world spring. This week, a mix of spring and summer weather, brought out the best of neighborhood liveliness. Evidence of this was baby stroller sightings, children frolicking in the school playrground, family bikers guiding their children in their new training wheels adventure, and yogis meeting in the yoga studio.  I wanted to share the excitement of spring in a vivid, expressive way to bring the effect that weather has on people's psyches.  

I decided that digital art and poetry would be the best format to combine what I see, hear, and smell on spring days. I started with taking photos of an early morning view of nature from my window. My ordinary morning shot needed to be enhanced to convey my sentiments so I turned to appsmashing. I tried several platforms to find the right mix. Staring into my new digitized photo (above) allowed me to think of various words to describe what I felt. Attending my yoga class, experimenting with language, and just simply playing with different formats of poetry brought me to the final stages of my color my world spring digital inspiration incorporating the various emotions I felt this week.  

"Poetry is the spontaneous flow of powerful feelings:

it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility."

-William Wordsworth

I'm adding my thoughts to the Poetry Friday Roundup. My poet friend, Brenda Harsham is hosting today with her Starry, Starry Spring poetry.

 Please see the 2018 Progressive Poem, Poet's Jasmine: Blooming Lovely, that was created by 30 different Poetry Friday poets.  You can access it here at Irene Latham's blog site. Irene started the tradition of writing the progressive poem during National Poetry Month in 2012.

I created this digital for the poem. You can see the poem and others at my upcoming  newest gallery, Sense-sational Spring. 

Celebrating Emotions

I often think about how fragile and uncertain life is. There are so many ups and downs that one cannot predict how any each day will flow. Emotions affect our personal and professional lives. Because we need to deal with both the positives and the negatives, I celebrate the emotional merry go round of life in a positive manner. 

This week at the PO-EMotions site, Mary Lee Hahn was in the last phase of her month long poetry challenge, writing a new poem daily based on the prescribed emotion of the day. I joined this week and wrote poems on contentment, optimism, and pride. While writing about these positive emotions, I was faced with a disappointment that I did not expect. I went to the orthopedist for a follow-up MRI visit thinking that my rotator cuff tear was healing due to physical therapy and exercise. Instead of hearing good news, I was told that surgery was to be expected. Number 2 disappointment came today when I heard a proposal that my team thought was strong was not accepted as one of the NCTE presentations. It is difficult to accept disappointment and keep a positive attitude when reality hands you a lemon and not a peach. 

In order to stand strong we must overcome any negative shifts that enter our lives. We must continue to be positive. I try to follow the old saying, When one door closes another opens. It is hard to wait but it is something we must do on the journey of life. You can read my thoughts on waiting here. 

Today, two people wrote powerful thoughts emphasizing to me that emotions are universal and part of the human existence. Ross Quintana tweeted, "You never know the great library of life experience that each person has inside." Tonight I read Ruth Ayres' post on her forever family that was both personal and touching. If she had not courageously told her story, I would not have known the range of emotions she experienced this week. 

Disappointment may be one of the emotions felt but it can be balanced by other emotions, if we look for the bright and positive parts of our week. 

Below is an inspirational poster that I created using a new tool.

Keep-Calm-o-Matic is quick and easy to use.

To round off the post, I found a delightful video on You Tube called The Feeling Song. It was written for children to highlight feelings and emotions but it has implications for adults. "We're feeling feelings every day. We're experiencing emotions all along the way..."

Each week I enjoy celebrating with Ruth Ayres at her site Ruth Ayres Writes - Discover Play Build. Please visit Celebrate This Week to hear how the writers of the community enjoyed this week.

DigiLit Sunday

Today is DigiLit Sunday so please visit Margaret Simon's site, Reflections on the Teche, to read how the community of writers have integrated technology into their lives and teaching.