Dear ,

If you are a new subscriber to Picture to Ponder, welcome! It is my pleasure to have you joining our subscriber family members who appreciate the weekly photos and queries, some simply the photos.

Before introducing today's photos, I want to put out a reminder for those of you whom might be looking for a creativity boost, in an "eye-opening" way, you can experience this in the upcoming Point and Shoot Photo Course. The official start date was moved to this upcoming Tuesday, January 26th.

Our pre-class revealed an exciting, excited group of participants. The call was on How to Use Flickr for communicating and sharing photographs. It was recorded and will be made available for participants. There is still time to join us. See COURSE for information and your subscriber's savings.

Today's Photos -

Today's photos are from a recent walk through the Morikami Gardens in Delray Beach, Florida, with visiting friends from New Jersey. I had several choices for photos to select for today. Then concern set in on the photo I originally thought I might use. I decided some might find it "disturbing." I will include a separate link below for the latter.

Because my friend loves azaleas, my attention was brought to one above on our walk through Morikami Gardens.

Most appealing to me was this close-up of ferns and the posts from a dam-like "wall". (See broader view.) For some unidentified reason, I get a peaceful feeling from the above picture, a sense of "aliveness', perhaps from the bright lights and contrast.

The most dramatic photograph from the outing was a yellow (golden) iguana - beautiful colors and patterns. This is the one I hesitated to feature here in Picture to Ponder.

Firstly, some of you could possibly find it repulsive-looking, despite what I see; and, secondly, in South Florida iguanas are becoming a serious nuisance, invading residential areas, eating prized plants and more. So "honoring" it might be offensive to some. You can see the photo by clicking on iguana.

Self-Reflecting Queries -
My "story" today is a demonstration of how we often allow our actions to be governed by our expectations of what others may think and feel. And, it's not always even the reality of the situation.

I invite you to look into your own life.

Are there places now where you are stifling your own thoughts and feelings because you don't think they will be accepted by others?

If so, do you take the time, sometimes the courage, to actually check in with the ones upon whose presumed thoughts you are taking, or not, action?

As you ponder these queries, I invite you also to look to see, "Can you identify some areas in your life where you do allow yourself to be truly open/authentic and others where your don't?"

What would it take to be totally free and open? Is that even something you want for yourself? from others?

Last Call -
Although none of the above was meant to lead into one last reminder of the upcoming Through and from the Lens Point and Shoot Photo Course, 4 weeks, starting Tuesday evening, January 26th at 8:30 PM, I would be remiss in not making one more mention here.

The course does provide a fun, experiential platform where, with your camera, you can start more freely, playfully, identifying the most meaningful areas of your life.

For specifics and registration see Through and From the Lens Course.-

More Upcoming Important Events in which I am participating. You can too.

1 - My friend, amazing Adela Rubio is continuing her teleclass series: Conscious Business Summit: Mastering the Inner Game a global network of Conscious Business Experts^(TM) ready to power up your potential in just 11 days.

Adela states: "Launch a Powerful and Profitable 2010 by Mastering Your Inner Game. Tap Into Your Creative Genius and Unleash Your Built In Greatness to Create an Abundant, Authentic and Conscious Business powered by YOU. . ."

These calls are F*ree, with a 24-hour window to listen in if you can't make the live call. Check out Mastering the Inner Game.

Adela is one of the best interviewers I encountered and TOTALLY authentic and open, inspiring her guests to be the same.

2 - Ordered at Amazon, and already delivered, Allison Maslan's book - Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan to Launch Your Dreams Into Reality is waiting for me to dive into it . There are several bonuses, still available for anyone who orders the book by January 31st. See Blast Off!

I am offering a wonderful REFLECTIONS bonus for this launch, including 30 Reflections Photos in a PDF slide show, plus a separate PDF with thumbnails and Queries for writing prompts. By agreement, you will be given permission to use any of the photos for you web activities. Again, see Blast Off!

Reader's Comments are welcome.
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If posting on a blog is not your style, please continue to send your comments directly to me. Learning what you are experiencing means a lot. It is part of the reward, for me, of publishing Picture to Ponder.

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Inspirationally,


Sheila
sheila[a]picturetoponder.com
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© 2005-09 Sheila Finkelstein
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