• Reflections

    Creativity

    “Creativity is not just for artists.It’s for businesspeople looking for a new way to close a sale;it’s for engineers trying to solve a problem;it’s for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way.”― Twyla Tharp, a dancer and choreographer Many times it seems to me that I lack creativity absolutely but when I look at my ordinary day through the glasses of this quote, I realise how much wisdom they reveal. We are creative in solving our family and personal problemsimpressing those we want to impresslooking for new opportunitiesclimbing career laddersfulfilling our needs trying to keep ourselves comfortablearranging clothes in our wardrobessetting tables and…

  • Focused on photography

    Starting a 52-week photo project

    During the first days of this year I was reading several interesting articles on photography that made me ponder over my photography aspirations and expectations. Are there any? Am I satisfied with my achievements? Is there anything I should change or do better? Those questions didn’t appear out of the blue. From time to time I heard their whispering and was aware of their existence and I knew they were just waiting for the right moment to speak up. I started taking photographs with an old Russian easy-to-use camera as a teenager. I was documenting our holidays but I lacked interest in photography. Then many many years later I met…

  • Miscellaneous

    PF 2014

    At the close of the first day of this new year I’d like to send my best wishes to you and accompany them by words that I find very wise: “Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point.”― Harold B. Melchart Beauty and inspiration often lie in the ordinary so let’s keep our eyes, minds and hearts open and enjoy that all. A Happy New Year!

  • Reflections

    Following trail markings

    “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.”― Albert Einstein When I was going home from work last week, I started to think about Felix Felicis, a potion playing an important role in Harry Potter’s adventures… Well, I need to insert a little intermezzo here. Afterwards I pondered about the occurrence of that idea in my mind, why Harry Potter all of a sudden? And I realised that I could start many of my posts with the words “When I was going home from work, it occurred to me…”. I…

  • Around home and village

    More spring sights

    On our way to and from the cherry tree orchard which I showed you in my previous post we saw much more than just the orchard. Near by the orchard there was a wet area spotted with plenty of marsh marigolds whose bright yellow flowers were shining in the grass. Blooming trees were all around and it occurred to me that you never know where an unknown path would take you. It may hide so many turns and surprises. In the following photo, there is the countryside I live in. No stunning view but I love this hilly terrain. My father was always addressing it as the foothills of Šumava…

  • Around home and village

    Cherry tree orchard

    There is a small cherry tree orchard by the village where we live and we were walking there a month ago. I didn’t take any photo in the orchard as I didn’t see anything what would have attracted my attention, I took just a few photos around. Then the trees came into bloom and were visible prominently from the road where I drive regularly and I wanted to go there and enjoy the scenery. So we did and you can see how the scenery changed in the same photo, just taken about four weeks later… The yellow specks are dandelions, there are plenty of them here. The orchard is just…

  • Reflections

    Perspective

    “We are set in our ways, bound by our perspectives and stuck in our thinking.”― Joel Osteen The other day I was going home from work, driving my car and listening to the radio. I was in a bad mood because I made a great deal of effort at work and credit for it was given indirectly to my colleague. I was listening to the broadcasting, both news and music and was drowning disappointment in self-pity. Then a song started and though I wasn’t listening to it carefully, I suddenly heard two words prominently among other words. True seeker. TRUE SEEKER. The words were screaming in my mind and I…

  • Reflections

    Stepping twice into the same river

    Have you ever heard that you cannot step twice into the same river? I have met this saying for the first time probably when attending a high school and learning about ancient Greek philosophers and their teachings. I was taught that it means the following: Everything changes and nothing stays the same. When you step into the same river for the second time, the water is not the same anymore and you are not the same either. At least your cells got older but you may also be more experienced, see life from a different perspective. I liked it and used the saying many times, emphasizing that when you do…

  • Reflections

    Light and shadows

    Sometimes there are details which appear repeatedly in a short time span of my life bringing together new meaning to me. It’s like when you take a lemon, sugar and water and prepare lemon juice from them. By taste, you can still distinguish the ingredients but you cannot separate them anymore and even their taste is not entirely the same. It is how it started with light and shadows this time. I like Robert Ludlum and his spy stories and yesterday I finished reading the 3rd instalment of his Bourne series. I came across a sentence there: “Hugging the shadows of the successive storefronts, Jason crept slowly forward.” My breathing…

  • Places in Czech Republic

    Trip from Modrava

    I’d like to get back to those few days we spent in Šumava this summer. We were staying in a camp, going on trips and for one day we planned a trip from Modrava to our camp. We had to go by bus just a few kilometres and then follow a marked track. When we were getting off the bus, it was already drizzling and we needed to take on our raincoats. Well, I don’t mind walking in rain, but our cameras had to stay in our bags and I regretted that so much. On the one hand I felt really annoyed and on the other I tried to persuade…