Divine l i g h t ... be surrounded by it

worship the Sun but now can you fall for the Rain?

you know that Sunlight always shines

behind the Clouds upon the Skies

A light filled post coming tomorrow...

stay tuned...

let there be light

&

most of all...

let light in

even if the night has fallen in our part of the world...

posting under candle light & the sounds of nice music coming from 

my trustworthy i-phone

after another day of endless walking hours in Amsterdam

Life is good... there is calmness, peace, tranquility & 

an unmistakable hunch of   h a p p y   e x p e c t a t i o n s   

carrying true Joy within

The Cicle of A d u n d a n c e

H a p p y   S u n d a y

with a moment of sunshine captured in the dining area / winter garden 

of the Pearl Birches House,

a house that has so much goodness to share when the time comes.

Located in the arms of beautiful woods.

Summers in Germany are blissful like that

when the sun shines.

some of my favorite things recently  a c q u i r e d

{isn't "acquire" such a gentle word to use for things that come into our 

possession, avoiding to emphasize ownership which so often 

carries uncontrollable amounts of ego? }

-> a  c o o k i e   j a r  from Orla Kiely

-> a fine Bavarian porcelain  t e a p o t , a heartfelt present from lovely

Iby from "Ordnung ist möglich"

{ take a look at her  practically pretty  "Queen at home" weekly cleaning planners! }

-> a large black  b a s k e t  from h&m's  recent home collection

{currently available in the small version }

-> two plants that grew roots in a corner of our kitchen

and are now being taken care of by the children

of our neighbors downstairs

"A" for Antonio & "M" for Mirianna :)

G i v i n g   &   r e c e i v i n g   

must be 

one of the most wonderful parts 

of life's  C i r c l e  of  A d u n d a n c e

l e a r n i n g  to give  &  a c c e p t i n g  to receive...

One can only be  e t e r n a l l y   r i c h  when involved in it.

How do you involve yourself in this circle?

Have you noticed its existence?

wishes for a prosperous Sunday in all possible ways!

In August... in Love...

Saying h e l l o from sunny Amsterdam my dear readers & friends,

wishing everyone a 

h a p p y   n e w   m o n t h   ahead,

packed with loads of  

L O V E !

I'm using as my current, temporary residence the charming home of

amazing photo stylist Paulina Arcklin,

while she's busy preparing more and more spectacular work for her clients

and organizing photo workshops.

In case you are anywhere near Helsinki on the 9th & 10th

of August, participating would be great!

Perhaps there is still a spot or two left open.

Find out more h e r e

Being literally in a styling props p a r a d i s e

and having the ok to go ahead and play around,

I put together vignettes to make me feel  a t   h o m e .

Everything has been found here, except the  b u t t e r f l y  brooch,

 a Christmas present to me from a dear friend living in Canada

and my beloved white i-phone,

a present given to me from the person I love, to celebrate 

a good four digit contract I had signed.

{ now five, six & seven digit contracts you are welcome my ways  :) }

The "h o m e " sign is made by me,

reminding that one's home lives in one's heart.

I carry my beloved  G e r m a n   h o m e  wherever I am,

till we meet again.

Know that everything in my life has been evolving in the

most proper, smoothest & wonderful of ways.

I'm loved back as much as I love,

feeling thankful & grateful for all blessings in my life.

And wish you all the very same!

.... more posts soon to come,

till then, have the loveliest of days!

c o m m i t m e n t & . . . letting g o

i n s p i r a t i o n   F r i d a y  this week,

starts with no collage,

4  l e t t e r s,

o n e  word :

L O V E 

There are no words to describe how it feels  h a v i n g   t o   l e a v e  someone you love.

I love beyond words the person I'm leaving from.

Then again, love is all about two basic things simultaneously,

{ however contradicting they might appear }

being willing to  c o m m i t 

{ commitment is  a c t i o n s }

&

being willing to  l e t   g o .

Life asks me to do the first and so I am.

I'm letting go, however every bit of my newly emerged self is an outcome of

this relation ship

I can let go of him, but not of who I've become.

And who I am is a big percentage him.

It's a part of me I've come to be familiar with,

embrace, accept and most of all love and feel comfortable with.

Thanks to  t h i s  relation ship,

which begun with the most wonderful

"I know I'm not supposed to say that yet but...

I love you and I know I'll see you again" scenes,

{generously offered by life to me, us, him & I being the protagonists rather than just moved viewers

watching a Hollywood movie, almost some 6 years ago}

having taken place on a very  i d y l l i c  surrounding,

on an almost private, tiny Greek  i s l a n d ,

under the midnight sky of warm autumn nights 

and  f i r e  being exchanged between a pair of the  w a r m e s t  blue eyes that exist in the world

and another pair of eyes with a color ranging from bright green to chestnut brown { these would be mine}

Thanks to  t h i s  relation ship,

YOU my dear all,  are able to read  e v e r y   w o r d  written here from the very beginning some 4 years ago till now,

you are able to  s e e  my view of capturing the world & emotions through my c a m e r a,

thanks to  t h i s  relation ship my inherited  t a l e n t s

got a  f e r t i l e  ground to unveil, to evolve, to get expressed and shared

w i t h o u t  any fear.

Everything you perhaps like, admire or even love about me and what I do,

is taking place because someone I felt was an angel fallen from the sky,

 b e l i e v e d  in me & told me I'm wonderful.

Someone offered me the  t i m e  to experiment & to discover

Someone offered me the  t o o l s  to do it.

D o n ' t   e v e r   h e s i t a t e  to encourage others to  f o l l o w    t h e i r   d r e a m s .

Don't lie to them.

But if you see  p o t e n t i a l, 

then just selflessly  e n c o u r a g e  them to  s p r e a d   t h e i r   w i n g s .

No matter how I let go of him,

I am part of him.

This is why leaving everything behind me makes no sense.

I'm leaving  just material things behind me,

while taking  e v e r y t h i n g  wonderful inside my heart.

Practically, some things are packed to be sent to my temporary home in Greece,

till I come back to  s t a r t  again on a new basis,

unpacking then all favorite things that will be in the meantime stored in a garage.

I'll go on with everything I do,

infusing more and more love, effort & concrete planning in it.

O n e   c a n   e s c a p e   m a n y   t h i n g s   b u t   l o v e   n o t .

Without it  there wouldn't be any existence.

Have you dear all thought of it at all?

somehow I think you have.

I feel truly blessed to have been loved

the way I have.

Now, I'm strong enough to create my own basis.

currently broken , but alive 

And as time passes,  h e a l i n g  will come,

through love for creativity & sharing...

and there'll be sweet times & carefree times once more..

{ I know it's a risk to be returning to a bankrupt country with current, huge unemployment

but my tool is the I n t e r n e t , which means I can work from  A N Y W H E R E 

& 

I can travel  E V E R Y W H E R E   for WORK }

till eventually L O V E  manifests again in my life

in the most wonderful & appropriate of ways.

Thanks for reading through,

I'm trying to keep you posted and not abandon this place

despite the current madness of organizing all this {unwished for} l i f e  c h a n g e,

while ensuring it runs as smooth as possible.

The most  w o n d e r f u l   o f   w e e k e n d s  to you!

 many thanks for following along via  blog loving

google reader will be shutting down soon,

which means that all lovely 525 of you

can keep up by clicking "follow"

h e r e

and unless you already do, 

you are mostly welcome to join another 2300 followers on  f a c e b o o k 

&

 around 2500 on  p i n t e r e s t

Thank U so much for your precious, continuous support!

L o v e & p a t i e n c e

H a p p y  W e d n e s d a y  you all!

How have your weekends & week so far been?

I'm currently having little time for posting,

I just wanted to pass by & share with U 

a  t h o u g h t  &  a  f e e l i n g  that get me going these days:

" L O V E  &  P A T I E N C E 

    CULTIVATE A RICH CROP "

 { by yours truly }

keep that close to your  h e a r t s  &  m i n d s  throughout your days.

Picture taken recently on one of my many walking and biking rides in the fields, just next to our home.

{ there are the woods to the left, the fields to the right & lakes straight ahead after the tiny neighborhood ends - more to be shared soon }

I  feel so  i n c r e d i b l y  l u c k y  for currently living in such a marvelous location!

even now, shortly before I say a temporary good bye

I'm enjoying every moment, feeling  b l i s s .

Take care & see you!

. . . . . . . . . . .

picture credit: Iro - Ivy Nassopoulos, personal portfolio 2013 { all rights reserved}

to plant a g a r d e n

dear all,

my  a b s e n c e  this week after my  last post

s i l e n t l y  speaks of the  d i f f i c u l t y  I'm facing.

However, allowing myself to come here to post,

even without a schedule

a s s i s t s  my efforts of creating a bond with what I do,

and  l o v e  to do it,

while also connecting with you.

For this week's I n s p i r a t i o n   F r i d a y ,

{ hooray for it being the 3rd in the row! }

Audrey Hepburn's words were the theme around which the collage 

was built.

"to plant a  g a r d e n  is to believe in  t o m o r r o w " 

I hereby declare that I'm a firm b e l i e v e r  in tomorrow,

which begins t o d a y .

However, I must exclaim that there is a part of the equation I still haven't managed to solve.

Cause I planted with much love & much care

{ as shared  h e r e }

a potted little garden at the veranda { and winter garden and all over } of the place 

I still call  h o m e 

But for me probably not being able to enjoy and care for it,

in just a short while from now,

it means that I neglected some important parts.

Or this would not be happening.

It feels as if I planted on a borrowed ground,

rather than my own.

It feels as if I considered my own something that was never meant to be.

And it feels as I didn't cherish enough something that was given to me.

For all these, other than being sorry beyond words can say,

I wish to l e a r n  from,

cause planting my garden  { like shared h e r e } is a little tiny part of my dream coming true.

This time, making sure it grows its roots on the right ground,

a ground I can call  my own

and no one in the whole world could argue against it.

What about you?

are you  g r o w i n g   y o u r   o w n   p l a n t s ?

perhaps  i n d o o r s ? in front of your windows ?

at your v e r a n d a s ?  b a l c o n i e s ?

l i t t l e   p a t i o s ? or when lucky enough in your  o w n   g a r d e n ?

what kind of  c o n n e c t i o n  do you get from taking care of plants ?

Is this a way for you to show you believe in tomorrow ?

from me,

wishes for a  g r e a t  w e e k e n d  ahead!

tonight is the longest day of the year

in this part of the world,

got to love long days!

{ even when these days are not the easiest we' ve ever experienced }

. . . . . . . . . . .

picture credit clockwise from top left: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 

Thank U f a t h e r

hello there!

I just wanted to wish:

 h a p p y f a t h e r' s  day

to all daddies of the world.

I want to thank  m i n e  for having tried to be the best father he could

through out a l l  these years

& 

say that I'm thankful that he, together with my mum,

 they brought me into this World.

wishing also to those, whose wonderful fathers are no longer physically close to them,

to find the  c o u r a g e   &   t h e   s t r e n g t h  in their hearts

to carry on armed with love & faith.

To  m o v e  o n   &  c h e r i s h   l i f e ,

cause their beloved fathers would have wanted them to do so.

As for me, I have to say that as days pass by and the time is approaching to

leave my current home,

s m i l e s  like the one above are harder and harder to put on my face & heart.

It's a normal  g r i e v i n g   p r o c e s s ,

that, I know well.

However, I'd like to take this  o n e   m o m e n t 

to express that however I've been discovering courage 

I didn't think I have,

however I realize that there are hundreds, thousands of people 

in our world who are going through tough times,

much tougher times,

I do also currently feel that what is happening is hard to deal with.

I love my home

I love my life here

&

above all I love being in a loving relations ship

with my life partner,

despite troubles,

I feel above all that we are c o n n e c t e d   d e e p l y ,

with  e s s e n c e  &  t r u e   p o t e n t i a l.

I wish that things work out for us

in the most proper & wonderful of ways.

Have beautiful Sundays,

e n j o y  with your  f a m i l i e s!