in the mid-morning hours of a brisk and blissful sunday, in the glory of a charming and colourful mid-october, in a pleasant little nook of north carolina, i took myself {and my camera} on a spontaneous date with nature…
… and we both needed it.
Tag Archives: peace
{foto friday : a fantastic foggy morning}
3 Febthere’s just something about the fog that i seem to easily become enamored by… the quietness behind it, the mysterious energy it brings, the coolness in the air that it creates…
a few weeks ago, i woke up early and took a stroll around a nearby lake to snap some fotos of the ambiance from the morning fog. i stood still in awe, and drank up all the delicious energy i felt while enjoying the peaceful and inspiring views.
i hope you all enjoy these images and feel the same sense of peace i experienced during these moments.
{zen space}
7 Novoh, how i have missed blogging! and i have missed interacting with my readers! i hope you all have been well and that life has been treating you with love and grace.
so much has happened this year {and last year} for me and although i would love to go into great detail about it all, after much consideration, i have decided to refrain. i have been taking some time to journal some thoughts down and i think that will be a good way to release it all first. then, if i decide to share, i will.
it suffices to say that i have grown tremendously over the last 24 months and i sit here writing this post with an overwhelming sense of gratitude and relief! the past is in the past and i am here, now. although, the time is always now, you know?! if we are fully submersed in the moment, we are always in the now. the past is behind us and we can’t change it and the future doesn’t even exist yet… so all we really have is now. and it is always NOW. i am {re}learning and remembering how crucial this simple truth is to keep in the forefront of our minds. it is far too easy to get caught up in other things and especially other thoughts.
and here at food and foto, we like to keep it as light-hearted as possible. or at least, as “positive” as possible. i have been thinking a lot about what we choose to focus on; what we allow our minds to be occupied with. and for me, it is extremely important to find a way to disconnect from our seemingly ceaseless thoughts… to find a zen space. and that doesn’t exactly have to be a physical place. although – it can be found in nature, in a park, in your bedroom, at a church… but basically, being “zen” is truly a state of mind. it has little to do with location.
however, it is true and i do find that some places bring me to a more “zen” feeling than others. for example, i did like living in the mountains and especially in the tiny home, as it was a life-changing experience… one that many people dream of. however, i never quite felt “zen” while i was there. at least, not like i do when i am near the ocean. i love listening to the sound of the waves as the water ebbs and flows… it reminds me to breathe in and breathe out. i love the smell of the salty air breezing through my hair… it reminds me to stay in touch with my intuition and appreciate the moment. i love sense of wonder and awe i feel for the unknown that lies beyond and beneath… it keeps me grounded and humble. truly, nothing makes me feel more zen than being near the ocean.
i am a water baby at my core and i basically believe i am {or was} a mermaid. therefore, i feel truly at home when i am near the vastness of the big blue. something about being around the water gives me a sense of peace like nothing else does. it is truly my zen space.
with all that said, i would like to share these fotos i took while visiting the atlantic ocean recently. i had a little fun playing around with some different filters. also, it’s pretty satisfying to be able to dip your toes in the warm sand in november!
where do you find your zen space?!
{“stray cats” – a special sunday post}
23 Marso – pretty much everyone knows that i used to live in new york city for about 3 years… part of me is {no doubt} still there, and always was and will be. i miss it every day, but i have to trust my heart that i left when i was supposed to leave. the memories i made there were so special, so irreplaceable, and so life-changing that i reflect on my experiences often. in fact, i know that i need to start writing more about them.
aside from being an old soul, i’ve always enjoyed the company of older people… even when i was young, most of my friends were older than me. when i was in manhattan, i lived with a spry, lively, hilarious sagittarius who was more than twice my age, and we were the best of friends. don’t misunderstand – she could keep up with any 30-something i knew! i often don’t speak of her directly, nor do i of many of my friends, out of respect for their privacy. however, this week i just had to post something in honour of the news i received from my former roommate in NYC.
this foto was taken in 2010 at our favourite spot, quigley’s, which is now closed. we frequented “quig’s” at least once a week, sometimes more – depending on fun events like mardis gras. it was like our own personal “cheers” – everyone knew our name. the lady across from me in the foto is my lovely former roommate and still very close friend… we’ll call her “JG”. the gentleman next to her is the quintessential new-yorker with the best sense of humour. the gentleman behind me just lost his battle with cancer this week. his wife, behind him, recently had the same fate last year. i like to refer to them as the “IRISH” – because they are.
these people had a HOUSE in my heart. not just a room, a house. the couple that lost their lives to cancer were like family to me. quite literally – they invited JG and i over for every holiday dinner. most of JG’s family didn’t live in NYC, and obviously none of mine did either. after a while, it became a running joke to call us “the stray cats” because we would just wander over for dinners, as they always invited us and made us feel like family. the IRISH had a home business and they even hired me to take some fotos for their marketing. these people were just so special to me. when i found out about MISTER IRISH’s death, a part of my heart died, too. that may sound morbid, but that’s how special these people were to me. i never got sick of hearing stories about how they fell in love, or how much they remembered about the city changing, or how they knew about the “best little bakery in town” — or just their warm, kind, open, and loving spirits. it chokes me up to think about how special the IRISH’s are/were and just how blessed i am to have met them and been so immersed in their lives {and vice versa}.
things i miss most : morning paddle tennis games with a cup of coffee from the bodega downstairs, long chats in the living room with evening light drenching all the furniture, my endlessly-full wine glass, their amazing taste in art – particularly that italian painting above the kitchen table – i was obsessed with it!!!… what i’ll miss most is the way i felt whenever i left their presence… just so enriched!
so, in honour of the IRISH family, and my lovely former roommate JG – i bought these simple and gorgeous magenta carnations… they are JG’s favourite flowers. i’d often buy them for her, since there are flower shops on every corner in new york. yesterday i bought them in honour of her, as well. she stayed by IRISH’s side in his last days, and told him “the stray cats love you” — that meant a lot to me, since i couldn’t be there to say goodbye. i also love carnations because they may be the ‘bottom of the totem pole” when it comes to flowers, but they last so long and they smell incredible and they will remind me of all the amazing memories i had in NYC with IRISH and JG.
heaven has another angel… and i know he’s being greeted with endless amounts of love.
thank you for reading. have a beautiful sunday – and just please go out and share a little love… with the ones you love, and even with the ones you don’t. the world just needs more of it.
xxoo
{new year’s eve 2013 – goodness, it sure has been an eventful 12-months!!}
31 Decsunrise – snowmass village, colorado © audrey michelle 2013
it really has been a very very eventful year! personally, i’m kind of glad to be saying good-bye to 2013. i always say you can start over ANY time in your life, you don’t need an event like new year’s eve to make resolutions, start fresh, or even kiss a stranger 😉 but i’m still looking forward to wrapping up one year and starting a new one… i have been releasing a lot of old “stuff” over the last month… and i’m ready to welcome in the new!
i just really feel good about bringing in 2014 this year… things feel a little more peaceful in general, and that is great!
it’s been exactly 3 weeks
however, since my entire life changed in one single {terrifying} moment… i completely survived my car rolling twice on the icy highway roads on monday, december 2nd. not a single person was harmed nor animal or lamppost involved… no semi-truck in the way, no major abrasions, pain, trauma, or overall inconvenience other than losing my awesome car, shelby the subaru. but like everyone said, “you can replace a car, you can’t replace YOU!”
i’m still shaking my head at how it even happened and most of all HOW i survived… walking away totally unscathed and mostly just in shock. the bizarre twist to all of this is that i have found many blessings come out on the other side of it all. i’m even going to write about the event, as it really did change my life. any event like that shakes up a person’s whole being… and when it’s “over”, it’s kind of impossible to claim to be the same person afterward. Continue reading
{whatever wednesday} — being OK with being okay…
26 Sep
so… here’s the thing about me… or at least, here’s how things have typically been for me…
although i see the world as very “gray” — i LIVE it very black and white. what i mean by that is… it has appeared that for me i’m either super high and on top of it creating world peace the whole nine… OR, i’m super down and depressed feeling useless and hopeless and thinking even the flowers are out to get me… there is hardly an in between. seldom did i feel comfortable, content, “in a groove,” or most of all – peaceful. that wasn’t always something i could FEEL and feel okay with…
i suppose this stems from a shaky childhood and the survival instinct of maturing faster than most due to losing a parent. it could also have to do with my astrological chart, or the fact that i am a very very impatient old soul… but the truth is, it has always been hard for me to find a balance, or to find some comfort, some love, and some peace in the every day. i speak of this in past-tense now because i can, because i am confident in saying that i no longer live like that. i’ve spoken a handful of times now on how i feel i’ve changed over the last year, and am continuing to. i’ve written about not only feeling the change but seeing it actually play out. i make conscious choices each day to effect how i see life. what’s frustrating is when i see people in life for who they are, and all they want to do is fake it — it’s just annoying, because i want to be like “you ain’t foolin’ me” but… i have to be a friggin’ politician about things sometimes and i’m kind of over that…
i digress, as usual. Continue reading
i am audrey michelle
i am a minimalist
i am a ritualist
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food & foto 