Fractions of everyday life bathed in s i l v e r light { Inspiration Friday }

For this Inspiration Friday, instead of diptychs & collages put together from the world of Pinterest,

there are some made from my own pictures, 

shot while still here in the beautiful home of photo stylist Paulina Arcklin,

located somewhere pretty, close to the heart of Amsterdam.

Shots highlighting fractions of everyday life

bathed mostly in silver light.

 I thought it's about time I said a proper hello & good morning...

So,

h e l l o, g o o d   m o r n i n g  and the most wonderful of Fridays

and weekends ahead!

I've been  h e r e  since 2 weeks now.

It has been a magnificent  emotional exercise,

shining plenty of light to both my heart & mind.

I have come to the conclusion

that when ones invests in getting to know themselves,

finding out who the person standing in front of the mirror is,

recognizing & accepting their characters' blessings & shortcomings,

one can only but eventually succeed.

Succeed in living a life not only close to their dreams,

but a  l i f e   l i v e d   I N  t h e i r   d r e a m s .

I'd like to thank you for being patient & outstandingly discrete readers,

respecting my wish to share only according

to my choices.

Sometimes saying more, others less.

This is the way that I prefer to blog,

this is the way that suits me.

My blog for me is like chapters of a book.

I like books to be written in a traditional way,

quietly, effortlessly, coming straight out 

from the depths of us,

as words emerge describing thoughts and emotions

following experiences.

Those who still read books

might appreciate the whole thing it stands for:

t a k i n g   t i m e  to live & comprehend life.

Here are some glimpses into my current everyday life...

I'm literally chasing light with my camera,

loving to capture it, even if the environment is not properly & perfectly styled

as if for a photo shoot.

I'm spending time both indoors, playing with styling props

and outside walking kilometers per day,

exploring, discovering, enjoying

the canals, neighborhoods, parks,

occasionally also visiting some shops

or cafes...

above my "princess" sandals sunbathing

&

the perfect hairbands suiting my wardrobe

recently found at h&m,

together with a pair of tea towels

to be brought to my most favorite kitchen in the world...

and a lovely stamp from HEMA,

which was patiently waiting in the "as is section"

for a new happy user, for the exchange of €1 at the cash desk

I traveled only with hand luggage,

despite this being almost a 3 week trip,

in my effort to practice living with less,

while being blessed with more than enough.

Currently white, black, navy blue & powder pink are the main colors of my Spring & summer closet,

with clothes mostly from Mango, Zara & h&m,

bought on line or during trips

I have been going to 

together with my life partner.

self portraits in a rather usual mood,

featuring my ever favorite silver cardigan from Mango,

happily now completing 10 years of living together,

having survived hundreds of washing adventures

& traveling around the world

a corner of the living room here I love to photograph

&

my current daily journal from Muji dressed in the same wallpaper that covers

the main living room wall at home in Germany

this capitone, large, jean shopper from Mango had been on my wish list

for about a year before it arrived my way.

A good choice all in all

finding my favorite cereal brand in the local super market for a great price

has been a good thing.

Also getting familiar with the philanthropic concept supported

by Stella - Marie water,

to which I  was attracted to thanks to its design matching my tastes.

here is my reflection on the building opposite where I'm staying

and something very common while I'm snacking or putting together a light meal:

dark bread with seeds  - ruccola  - ham variety

last Monday I made a record of walking for 7 hours,

with a stop here for lunch,

multiple stops for photographing corners

& others visiting shops.

I'm sporting going grocery shopping using only but my own

shopping bags.

My favorite: the large cotton one, from one of the first h&m home's collections.

As for a favorite car, there is something about a silver, vintage Porsche,

sitting at the end of a canal like Princengracht,

that just captures my attention...

... wishes for surrounding yourselves with beautiful light, too

wherever we are, whatever our current life occasion,

L i g h t  is always there,

we just have to l o o k  for it

Photography & collage curation by Iro - Ivy Nassopoulos for Domestic Stories with Ivy 2013

{all rights reserved }

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