Foto Friday - Perspective with gratitude

I have in the past talked about how perspective has an effect on my photography, here,  

but really how we decide to live our lives depends on how we see things as well.

Life isn't always easy, in fact a lot of times it's just plain hard and sometimes it feels impossible. 

But when I look back it has always been my struggles that have made life that much more worth while, because it puts everything else into their proper positions. My struggles, when I allow them, help
me to see the bigger picture, opens me up to the reality that I am not alone, and gives me the ability

to have compassion for others because of them. Have you ever looked in a mirror at home and seen the reflection of a room or something you see all the time and suddenly when you see it in reverse things look completely different, maybe even a little new, and exciting?

That's how I want to learn to see everything!

I have found that my ability to see, and how I regard my situation and it's relative importance to the rest of
my life and how I live it depends on where I stand.

And,

I am learning that gratitude is the key and that as my gratitude grows so does my joy.

If I stand where I have always stood, nothing will ever look different.


Do you ever find yourself looking through the keyhole,

instead of opening the front door?  

I realize when I do this that I miss out. I miss out on knowing

there is something bigger than me and my struggles, and that our struggles are only part of the bigger picture.

And that when I concentrate on the keyhole, some things just look bigger than they should.

 

 Last weekend the kids and I went to the park and shared a bounty of peanuts with the squirrels,

and I can say that I am grateful I don't have to bury my food and try to remember where I put it later! 

As we drove home, I spied this grass in a ditch and it was sparkling in the sun and I just had to go back to get a picture. I found myself just sitting there enjoying its simple beauty as it gently swayed in the breeze. 

And back of course to one of my favorite places where I discover something different every time I'm there.

They have a huge assortment of water features which I am always drawn to. The way the light falls, and

the tranquility of the trickling sounds......

{linking this with Fabulous Friday and Shoot, Edit, Submit}

and Life as this Mommy Knows it

This is a macro from the Bottlebrush Tree . . . (SOOC)

 . . . and a larger view and my edit.

{Linking with Photo Art Friday}

Standing in the same position only changing my focus I got a completely different perspective.

On my way home from the nursery, and just up the road is the butterfly garden. With the time change

I almost didn't stop as the sun had almost set and I had almost lost any good light. But as soon as I got

there I spied this Monarch! I have had an almost impossible time of photographing one of these since they

don't seem as tolerant as some others. I went into my usual stalk mode and as I got closer and closer, he didn't fly away! I reached out and he came to me . . . . There is something about this photo that I love and I would like to say that it was totally on purpose but truth is it wasn't. I had not anticipated this guy coming on to my hand and I was in full manual and had not put my camera strap around my neck yet. That makes it a little tricky to change settings with one hand and not drop your camera. But, it did make for a good example

of how when we focus on only a small part of something, we can miss the beauty of the whole thing.

I think I'm going to rename this the Enchanted Butterfly Garden, since every time I am there

something magical happens.

I am grateful for the journey that this butterfly will take so that I can enjoy them again in the spring. Did you know that these butterflies journey 2,000 miles to the fir forests in Central Mexico? That is an incredible journey for a butterfly!!

I have to be grateful for my struggles as hard as they may seem sometimes because they help me

keep a handle on life's perspective. Just as the thorns on a rose remind me that in life there can be

something beautiful that comes from the pain of our trials.

And I am learning to use my key of gratitude more often to keep the front door unlocked.

Wishing you all a view from the front door this weekend!!

Love, Kim

XO

P.S. Thank you for picking poppies with me!