Where Do I Stand? - #126

Edward Burtynsky reports new technology has liberated him to make a point of view anywhere he wants it to be.

Burtynsky creates his points of view by using remote helicopters, helicopters, lifts, fixed wing planes and 50 foot pneumatic poles to determine where he stands. The above image is of a Salt Aquaculture located in Cadiz, Spain.The area is considered a natural park and heritage zone but many of the traditional ponds have been abandoned. If not cared for, this landscape and its biodiversity may disappear through erosion and evaporation.

When I haven't been submerged in my Water App, I've been reading Creative Aging (2011). The author, Marjory Zoet Bankson, writes that as we age, it is likely we will need to choose a new point of view about life. Turning 70, she was delighted there was no longer a need to wait for someone to approve.

What if each of us took the point of view that as we age, we have more to offer the world? What if we believed that our experience and aliveness can nurture others?

Burtynsky says we have a deep human desire to be in the presence of water. I say we also have a deep human desire to be in the presence of aliveness. Bankson writes that our aliveness may act to bring people out of their doldrums, similar to how a baby can cheer up a room.

What is your point of view about aging? Does it need revised? Have you gone swimming this summer? Do you worry about the world's fresh water supply? What makes you feel most alive? Let me know in the comment section or send me an email.

Thanks for exploring the mystery of water and aging - Nicky Mendenhall

Mid Week Piece of Advice & More Water

"Be Kind, For Everyone You Meet Is Fighting A Great Battle"*

If you have visited exploring the mystery , you may recognize a similarity between the image above and one featured on the blog heading.

This picture was created first thing this morning outside my office door. I was captivated by beautiful water drops especially because of our Water theme.

I was likewise captivated by Gloria Vanderbilt's quote above. The Dalai Lama has been quoted saying that his religion is kindness. Would you agree that kindness is necessary these days?

Do you remember that others are dealing with their own troubles and stresses - fighting their own great battles - when you are irritated by their behavior? Can you find opportunities to be kind today?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*Gloria Vanderbilt On Her Favorite Piece Of Advice. September 2014, More.com

Not A Dam Photo - #125

Alkaline water caresses my palette as my eyes devour the photographs in Burtynsky's Water exhibit.  

Pivot Irrigation/Ogallala Aquifer is pictured above. Isn't it beautiful in its precision?  

Last week I learned facts about dams that astonished me. Of course I found them while exploring  my new Water App. I'm going to share these facts even though I can't show you a Burtynsky's dam photo as evidently I didn't take one. 

Use your imagination - if you live in this area, think of Saylorville Dam on the Des Moines River for your visual (Saylorville Dam is 105 feet high or 32,004 metres).  

In our grandparents lifetime, virtually all of the rivers of the world ran free.

In 1900, there was not a single dam in the world higher than fifteen metres (15 metres is 49.2126 feet).

By 1950, there were 5,270 dams higher than 15 metres.

Thirty years later (1980), there were 36,562.

Today there are more than 800,000 dams, 40,000 of which are at least 15 metres in height.

Did your mouth drop open when you read those facts? Mine did. I've been thinking of my maternal grandmother who lived for 90 years. A photo of her dropped out of some papers I was looking through and I've been trying to decipher her expression.

Do you ever think of your grandparents? Do those statistics surprise you? Be sure and email me or go to blog comment section.

BONUS: Watch the trailer for Watermark - a film by Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky - Try this link or go directly to youtube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOPLs_ogF-0 - 

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Midweek Treasure Hunt

"There are few treasures of more lasting worth than the experience of a way of life that is in itself wholly satisfying. Such, after all, are the only possessions of which no fate can deprive us; nothing can alter the fact that if, for one moment in eternity, we have really lived."*

To really live one moment in eternity takes courage. Do you have the strength to do what will really satisfy you? 

The woman in the picture looks determined to make it through the Melbourne "mouse hole" no matter how stressful or difficult. What "mouse hole" do you need to go through to create a satisfying life?

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

*Gratefulness.org., August 14, 2014. Eric Shipton.
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A Water APP! - #124

There are experiences so vital to one's well being that it isn't a matter of how to make them happen again, but when. Driving out of town after my first visit to Burtynsky's exhibit, I saw Grinnell in the rear view mirror and began planning my return visit.  

My sister Nina had her own plan when she came to town last week:   eat a Marshalltown Maid Rite (with extra mustard)!  

Since Marshalltown and Grinnell are in the same general direction, it only made sense to satisfy both of our desires.

Right inside the door, Faulconer Gallery staff offered us an I Pad which featured an APP for the show!   

You can probably guess that I had to own this APP!

It is amazing. When I figured out the symbols, I felt like the world was open to me in a new way. I can see each picture, learn the location - even see it on a map, read information describing the image I'm seeing, and in most cases, listen to Burtynsky discuss his process.  

The photo above is of the Sacred Headwaters in British Columbia, Canada. This region is one of the last true wildernesses on earth, a vast landscape without roads.

Figuring out how the APP works has been satisfying and time consuming. If you have ever owned an APP, you will know why I'm out of time!  

Which experiences does it feel vital for  you to have again? Are you noticing how easy it is for us to obtain water? Were you shocked and saddened when Bill Stowe (Director of Des Moines Water Works) commented that it is not a question of if we will have an algae bloom, but when? Let me know your responses - I learn from each one of you!

Thank you for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Set Aside An Hour For Midweek Happiness!

Did you know standing up straight (otherwise known as good posture) is antithetical (mutually incompatible) to depression?*

Next time you feel yourself going into a slump (depression), check out your posture. 

I'm trying this advice tonight for tiredness. It seems that monitoring my posture is helping me breathe deeper and feel less tired. 

Let me know what you discover. Hit reply to this message or at the bottom, click on the words exploring the mystery to go to comment section of the blog with the same name.

Idea offered by Susan Piver. Check out her Open Heart Project at SusanPiver.com

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall 

Can the Body Help Us with Judgments? - #123

 

The horrors of war and the effects on the body are vividly described and graphically illustrated in the Des Moines Register. When the bodies shown are in the Middle East, it is tempting to avert our eyes and conclude that the situation has nothing to do with us; there is nothing we can do.

exploring the mystery would like to suggest we take a discerning look at how many of our judgments contain the component of violence.

Today at the post office, one of the clerks caught my eye and made a condescending head nod in the direction of a young man he was waiting on. The customer was having difficulty understanding how to enter his name and address on the machine in front of him.

When it became clear to me that the clerk was attempting to seduce me to join him in his judgmentalness, my eyes narrowed as I angrily looked away. Quickly I judged that the clerk was a prejudiced man.

A small part of me wanted to make him pay.

I want to, instead of snapping to a judgment as I did, pause and connect to the physical sensations behind my judgment.

What would these sensations feel like? Tightness? Pain? Anxiety?

When I feel these feelings, what are my options?

Would my bodily sensations give me direction? 

Let me know how you handle your judgments. Reply to this message or go to the blog and leave a comment.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall


Photo from Water exhibition. Used with permission.















One more amazing picture from the Water exhibit at Faukoner Gallery.  

Midweek Encounter With Creativity

When we trust our creativity we encounter a supreme kind of enjoyment - an amazement at the natural unfolding of life beyond our ordinary way of looking at things.*

Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

Do you trust your creativity enough to encounter enjoyment?
(tell me what happens when you trust.)

Do you think of life unfolding or being what it is because you control it?
(tell me how unfolding works for you and how you try to control life.)

Please reply to this email or go to blog (click on exploring the mystery) at end of this email to let us know about your relationship with creativity.

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall

Photograph created by Edward Burtynsky from Water exhibit, Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell, IA.

*From Gratefulness.org, July 27, 2014

Hormones in the Air - #122

This week if you were on the hunt for testosterone and visited the Ash trees in my back yard (yes they are still there - pictured above), you would have hit the jackpot. A crew of virile young men tree trimmers, accompanied by equipment that looked to me vintage Star Wars, swarmed my trees. 

Personally a fan of the overgrown look, I was less than 100% enthusiastic when my partner praised the results. Perhaps this is the result of growing up with a Father that cut down or severely trimmed everything that showed any hint of life force.

Dan Harris, author of 10% Happier, entertained me when I wasn't watching the tree trimmers. The subtitle: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing my Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works, A True Story, accurately describes what the book covers. An easy read that made me glad that I meditate.

Enjoy summer!

Thanks for exploring the mystery - Nicky Mendenhall