Tag: Photography

Thanksgiving | Create-Spirational People

Awards, Blogging, Kim Koning, Notes on Wrestling The Muse

It is Thanksgiving in the USA. I am not in the USA nor am I American but I have many American friends. Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful and appreciate people that you care about in life. I have been blogging now for 18months and in that time my friendship circle has grown to include inspirational people – writers, poets and artists from all around the globe. I am continuously inspired by the creativity and imagination of these people. So in honour of Thanksgiving I am going to create a new Blog Award which will be given out annually to mark my gratitude and to honour the most Create-Spirational Blogs that add to my Inspirations…

Announcing The Annual…

The Annual “CreateSpiration” Blog Award ~ Awarded by Dragonfly Scrolls

There are rules and requirements for this blog award to be passed on…

  • Pick 20 Blogs that have truly inspired you in the year
  • Write an acceptance blog post
  1. Choose a quote on Inspiration.
  2. Choose a quote on Creativity.
  3. Choose and post a song-video that has inspired you this year. (After all what is life without music.)
  4. Write down a list of 5 things that inspired you in the year.
  5. Write down 5 ways that you plan on being inspirational in the coming year.
  6. Pass on the award to the 20 blogs you have chosen.
  7. Each year you must choose 20 new blogs, you can only give out this award once to someone.
  8. Link back to the post where you were awarded.
  9. Link to this rules & requirements page  – The Annual CreateSpiration Blog Award
  10. Awarded every Thanksgiving. (The last weekend in November)

_______________________________

The 20 Blogs who are my Favourite Create-Spiration Blogs for 2011

For the above Awardees, grab the following award widget                                                                                      (by clicking on the image) to feature on your blog:

© Dragonfly Scrolls 2011-2012 Blog Award

Favourite quote on Inspiration:

I dwell in Possibility | Emily Dickinson

Favourite quote on Creativity:

You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. | Mark Twain

My 2011 Song of Inspiration:

This song inspires me in both its lyrics and because it is a celebration of New York – a city that truly is an inspiration in looking for the silver lining in a heavy storm cloud – and because it is a song about having a “pocketful of dreams” and going out into the big wide world to chase those dreams and make them a reality. 

Five things/people that Inspired me this year:

  1. My family – who supported me in my dream to become a full-time writer
  2. My friends – who always cheer for me in all my endeavors and who always believe in me – also counted on to give me a good butt-kicking every now and again. Special mention to: Alethea Dantes, Vasiliqui Galanopoulous, Jay Smith, Jane Webb Olivier, Desre Tate, Emma Mees, Colin Nel, Leigh K Hunt, Rachna Chhabria, Drew Cross, Al Boudreau, Judith Van Praag, Penny Epel, Danielle Beith Ruschena. (Each of you have a trail of footprints in my heart. I am honoured that you are in my life. Thank you for your love, support, encouragement and the constant source of inspiration through friendship that you gift to me just by being you. x)
  3. Eat,Pray,Love – This book and this movie have inspired so much in my life
  4. Social Networks – All those I follow and connect with through blogging, twitter,Facebook ect.
  5. PostaDay 2011 and PostaWeek2011 – These helped me get into a regular blogging schedule.

Five Ways I plan on being inspirational in 2012

  1. Through my Amazon Wanderings where I take off into the wild yonders of South America and write about it.
  2. Through this creativity & inspiration blog @ Dragonfly Scrolls
  3. Posting a photo at least once a week in a new photo-blog starting 01.01.12…link coming soon
  4. Posting a poem at least once a week in my poetry portfolio @ Soul Photographs
  5. Creating a gratitude journal that will work in combo with the new photo-blog.

Rhythm. Space. Timing. Serendipity.

Ink Slaying, Kim Koning, Notes on Wrestling The Muse, Postaday / Postaweek 2011, Thursday Tips, Writing
Blur
Missed Moment
Perfect Rhythm: Space. Timing. Serendipity.

Today’s Photo of the day was the 3rd in this series of 3. With the assistance of my creative assistant, Jazz (my Papillon Puppy), I managed to finally capture the shot I wanted. This series of shots got me thinking about today’s Thursday Tips post.

EXTRA!! EXTRA!!!

TODAY’S NEWS – THURSDAY TIPS!

GET IT NOW!!!

COPIES ARE SELLING OUT!!!

RHYTHM. SPACE. TIMING. SERENDIPITY.

 

A story is composed of many parts just as a photograph is composed of many elements. For a photograph you need a subject, a tool (camera), a placing in space, rhythm and perfect timing. For a story you need a plot, characters, a tool (imagination), a setting, rhythm and perfect timing.

So today’s Thursday tips is focused on: Rhythm, Space, Timing and Serendipity. What do I mean by “Rhythm”? There are 2 types of rhythm that I am thinking of: Musical Rhythm and Poetic Rhythm.

Musical Rhythm

Noun: A strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.

Now you may argue that you do not have an ear for music. You do not realise that your own body has a perfect musical rhythm of its own: Heart beats. Yes. Heart Beats. Now close your eyes, place your finger at your pulse point and listen to the rhythm as you feel the drum beat of your life’s blood flowing through your body. Now if your heart’s rhythm was slightly off, too quick or too slow or skipping a beat, there would be a problem with the way your body functioned. This problem could even be fatal in the worst case scenario. In the same way, this can be an allegory for the importance of having cadence and rhythm in the construction of your story. If one word is not placed in the right space on your page the beat will be off.

Poetic Rhythm

Noun: a regularly recurring sequence of events, actions,

or processes : the measured flow of words and phrases

in verse or prose as determined by the relation of long

and short or stressed and unstressed syllables.

You may think you know nothing about poetry but if you were a child at some stage, you will know all about poetic rhythm. I am talking about the wonder and simplicity of Nursery Rhymes. Now I am sure if I ask you to close your eyes for a moment and think of a nursery rhyme from your childhood you will be able to come up with more than a handful. So why is this poetic rhythm so vital to your story? It is vital for the same reason that it took you less than a minute to recall more than a handful of nursery rhymes. Rhythm is strongly intertwined with memory. If something has a catchy rhythm, it tends to be locked in the vaults of your memory bank. But the connection and resonance of the “Rhythm” allows you to re-access this vault at a moment’s notice. So I ask you, what is common to successful stories throughout the ages? They are a perfect synchronicity of musical rhythm and poetic rhythm. The sentences have a resonant beat to them and they flow easily through your mind. The words are perfectly placed and sequenced. The sentences are sharp and neat. The punctuation is perfectly placed, accenting and pausing through the rhyme of the words on a page.

Space and Timing

The other two vital elements to a perfect story is setting (space) and timing. A setting can make or break the story. At times a setting can make or break a genre. Setting is an oft-forgotten but vital element in a successful story. Just as space and setting is vital to the perfect camera shot, setting is not something to be overlooked. So if you have found yourself concentrating too much on plot and character remember to include setting in your focus. After all, your characters need “Somewhere” to have a story. They cannot be in a Vacuum throughout the whole story.

Now I come to one of my favourite elements in a story: Timing. There are two types of timing in a story. The first is the Story’s sequence of events and the second is the timing in the placing of chapters, paragraphs, openings and endings. The timing of events in a sequence will make your story a well-loved hit with your readers or on the other hand the incorrect timing in sequence can alter the story at best and confuse / lose your reader at the worst. You cannot rush the sequence in your plot and you cannot go too slowly. You need to use the second type of timing I spoke of to set the correct sequence. At the same time, you cannot spend an uneven amount of time on any element of your plot. Too quick an opening may leave the reader floundering for a life raft but be too tired in the end to bother. Too slow an opening could bore your reader. Even though you may have put your best part of the story in the middle of your plot, the reader needs to still get there so time your story with care. Don’t rush your plot too quickly that you lose your reader and that your story becomes a blur in their mind. Don’t slow your plot too much or your reader will miss the suspense of the moment. Don’t rush your characters through their dialogue or accelerate their development – your reader will find them unrealistic and have no connection to the story. Don’t go too slow with your characters as by the time you have got your character to the next day, your reader will probably have fallen asleep.

Serendipity is the tie of these 3 elements: Rhythm, Space (Setting) and Timing. I love the word “Serendipity”:

Serendipity ~ the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way….

Isn’t this the perfect way to describe a story that will imprint itself on your reader’s memories?

I leave you with my Poem for the day inspired by my photograph..

Flying Free on the Wings of Time


If you rush through Life,

Moments will pass by in a blur;

If you take things too slowly,

You will miss the Moments.

Like a Photograph

Life is all about being in the Moment:

Perfect Rhythm of Space. Timing. Serendipity.

~ Kim Koning ~


© All Rights Reserved Kim Koning

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Duck on a walking mission | Flickr – Photo Sharing!

Inspiration, Kim Koning, Notes on Wrestling The Muse, Postaday / Postaweek 2011

 

Day 6 ( Project 365/2011) Duck on a walking mission

 

Duck on a walking mission | Flickr – Photo Sharing!.

This is my image for today. I did not go looking for this image. Instead I was walking home from the gym. I had my camera with me but did not expect to see anything worthy of being captured. Until I came across a group of ducks gathered in a backyard of a house. They all seemed to be just waiting there. Now these were not tame ducks. They were wild ducks. I expected them to fly away. Instead they all started walking towards me. I knew the moment was rare and might not present itself again, so I slowly took my camera out – trying not to make any sudden moves – and started taking pictures. I took about 20. All the time the ducks stayed close to me. One actually came right up to me and tried to see what I had in my hand. This is the one that I captured for today’s image.

I have been doing this photography challenge for a week now. The aim is to take at least one photo every day. So far I have succeeded, except for yesterday when instead I posted an image that is on my vision board. Have I gone out hunting down the perfect image. To be honest, no I have not. I do take my camera with me everywhere now and wait for an opportunity to present itself. But sometimes the impossible happens and life hands you a rare moment of beauty. Today was such a day.

It led me to wondering how often we go about our lives looking for the perfect story, the perfect title, the perfect characters, the perfect plot. We seem to find nothing. Maybe the problem is not the lack of ideas or opportunities but rather the problem is that we are so busy looking ahead and elsewhere that life does not have a moment to grab our eye.

My Zen lesson of the day is that maybe you should go about your normal every day life without constantly seeking. The perfect creative moment may be waiting for you to pause in your looking to make itself known to you. It is these rare moments that truly capture you and inspire you.

So this week, I encourage you to not be in such a hurry to rush after creative thought. Maybe take a moment and pause, then look around. You may be surprised what image presents itself for you.

Don’t run around looking for a lighter to light the fires of creativity when life is already waiting with a box of matches.


© All Rights Reserved Kim Koning


Have a creative day. Remember to take a moment to pause and wait for a creative sign to make itself visible to you.

2011 Goal~Project365/2011 The creative me is taking priority over practical me

Inspiration, Kim Koning, Notes on Wrestling The Muse, Postaday / Postaweek 2011

This week has been a week of reflection. It is the first week of the New year of the New decade. This is a time when most people look behind them at the past and resolve to make things better and newer in the New Year. I am one of those millions of people who have been going through New Year reflections. I have had a few A-Ha moments that I would like to share with you in this post.

A few months ago I wrote a post called: Joy is a Choice. It was an A-Ha moment that I had during one of my early morning Soul Photographs (Morning Pages). Joy is not a state of being and it is not a given. But Joy is a Choice. There is not much in life that we can choose to avoid or choose to manifest, most of life happens by happenstance or circumstance and how we react to those times.

But Joy is more than an emotion.

Happiness is an emotion.

Joy is an attitude.

The French have the best phrase for this:

Joie de Vivre

The Italian phrase that corresponds to this is:

La Bella Vita

This year my 2011 Word of the year is Possibility. I have also decided to focus more on the creative me and less time on the practical me. I have decided that life should not be a case of “Live to work” but rather a case of “Work to live”. I am going to make this a year of  Joie de Vivre and Life is going to be La Bella Vita.

How?

I am going to be branching out more creatively speaking and better my current creative crafts (whether that be in writing, photography) and opening myself out to the Possibility of other creative pathways. I am signing up for classes at a local Arts Centre from February. The classes that I have my eye on now are Painting (with a specialization of Surrealism) and Glass-Blowing.

I am also going to take part in something called Project 365. This is a project run by an extraordinary group of women who call themselves The Shutter Sisters. This is a project where you take a picture a day and then post it to the Website’s Flickr page called Shutter Sisters 365. The idea behind the project is exactly the same idea to what I had when I wrote Joy is a Choice. It is to capture a moment that inspires Joy in you through the lens of a camera. The ladies on Shutter Sisters put it in a sentence that really resonates with me this year:

“This was all about moment, right? Staying in the moment has a way of dissipating negativities even though we catch them in freeze frame with our cameras. When you sit with sadness or anger you are in control of ushering it out. When you sit with joy and love you are empowered and radiate it back to others. Photography has this magic to it as well. No one else has your eyes. No one sees the world exactly as you do. That is a beautiful thing!”

– Meredith Winn (04/01/11)

So I have signed up to be a part of this Vision. I have always loved photography even before I studied it both in School and afterwards. I remember my first two photographs that really made me fall in love with viewing the world through the eye of a camera lens. I was about 11 years old and I was on holiday at the beach staying with my great-aunt. One day we went down to the pier. It was a stormy grey day and because of the impending storm, the beach and pier was empty. I took a couple of photographs on a simple 35mm point and shoot (this was in the days before digital) of the ocean being sheltered by a stormy sky. When I got home from my holiday I was excited to have my 35mm roll of film developed. The photos that I had taken that day on the beach were exquisite. They showed the impending power of the storm and gave a real emotion to the shots. I realised then that photography is a powerful tool in life. From that moment I was in love with shooting the world. Nature scenes are my favourite in particular beach shots and sky / storm shots are still my favourite. So this year I am going to post a picture a day that inspires me. I will post it on the Flickr site but will also be posting it via my new Tumblr account.

This year is going to be a year where I saturate my soul in creative pursuits. I am truly Joyful when I am doing something creative. That is my joy: Creativity,Passion, Travel and Change. It is going to be a year of POSSIBILITY and a year where I make the Choice to be Joyful and to have JOY.

What are you going to do that inspires you this year?

What new creative pathways will you pursue this year?

Share your creative aspirations here in the comments so that we can support and encourage each other.

Make this your year when the Creative You takes priority over the Practical You. Do what you love to do and what gives you joy.

I leave you with this quote which is on my 2011 vision board:

today is your day

to dance lightly with life,

sing wild songs of adventure,

soar your spirit,

unfurl your joy.

-Jonathan Lockwood Huie –



© All Rights Reserved Kim Koning.

Soul Photographs

Ink Slaying, Inspiration, Kim Koning, Notes on Wrestling The Muse, Writing
Art Journal: April 4 - from Blissjournaling Gr...
Image by juliejordanscott via Flickr

Dear Reader,

Photography….sometimes when you look through the lens of a camera you are able to see true depth. The red indians used to believe that when they were photographed that a piece of their soul was stolen for the time that the photograph was taken. I think that there could be something to that. A photograph is a modern marvel that has allowed us to capture moments and emotions and keep them for posterity. You see a beautiful sunset and you may remember it for a few hours or a few days…but if you have photographed it…every time you look at the photograph you are taken back to that moment in time and are able to recapture that moment.

I think beauty forever alters the soul. The important thing is to search for the beautiful in the ordinary. Our lives are filled with beautiful moments but so often we miss sight of these moments because we are so caught up in living. We need to be more observant.

We need to have a soul-photograph of moments of beauty…

Think of an incoming wave…or the arch of a rainbow…or the petal of a daisy…so many very beautiful things and moments surround us daily. Let me not rush through life and rush through living. Life is so short that I must search for inspiration every day in the things around me. I want to take soul-photographs….I want to capture the beautiful, the extraordinary, the amazing, the miraculous….and all of these things are brought into my life daily. Let me not take life for granted. It is the most precious and rare commodity in this life.

I have just had an A-Ha moment…

I write daily morning pages in an unedited diary-style. I got this inspiration from a wonderful book called “The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron”. (If you have not read this wonderful book, please get yourself a copy….)

I call these morning pages My Soul-Photographs. This is truly what they are…photographs caught of my soul early in the morning…This is a way of unlocking my creative juices and sometimes allows me to even unlock the creative imagination locked into my dreams.

How do you exercise your creative mind? Do you have a ritual…?

All rights reserved © Kim Koning

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