In the blogging world, it pays to follow up links and check out other people’s commenters. It helps to cement your relationship with other bloggers, and you’ll find new and interesting blogs, too. Today, by doing so, I found a new meme which appealed to me: Friday Finding Beauty over at Dipity Road.
Don’t worry, The Depp Effect isn’t going to dwindle into a simple meme vehicle. This is a meme which doesn’t require a weekly commitment, and I probably won’t take part every week. But I find it useful sometimes to have a prompt for what I write, and perhaps a reason to post a photo I’ve taken which I haven’t found a way to use, and so it turned out today.
I found Dipity Road through Long Island Daily Photo, via Mille Fiori Favoriti. See? That’s how it works. Long Island Daily Photo has a Johnny Depp post up today – go check it out! It’s fun. Anyway, Claudia at Dipity Road has recently started Friday Finding Beauty, because, as she says “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
How true that is! You can go through life really not noticing very much (and most people do just that) but if you do, you miss so much. Noticing the beauty in small things can honestly uplift you in a way you can’t imagine unless you’ve experienced it. I’ve known for a long time that happiness depends on the small stuff, not the huge windfall, or the cruise around the world, or a champagne party with 250 friends and relatives, but the new flower opening on your favourite rose, a child’s hug, a butterfly, your dog at your side, whatever speaks to you on that level. And sometimes, when you really notice those things, they seem to transform before your eyes into something much more meaningful. It’s as if you make a deeper connection with the universe.
So, when I was walking with Sid at Cuckoo Hollow, and arrived at a little bridge over a stream and looked down into the water, did those swans really swim into formation just for me? Are they dancing, or is this just a serendipitous rearranging of the flotilla? Whatever the reason, I was uplifted and just for a moment, I felt the grace of their motion and smiled.
Join in if you feel so inclined. You’ll find the rules here.
I love photo memes because they do force me to look at the world differently and I like that. I also like the people that it has brought into my life, like you. But I also like to have a post or two that is truly my own. Posts that I put up there just because I wanted to.
Love the swans. I imagine them moving this formation into an arrow shape next!
Colleen´s last blog ..Good morning!
Oh MY!
You soooo get this blog thing and I am now so excited to have found you!
You have great skills and look forward to the Serendipity path you will take and us being on the recieving end. (DipityRoad –:)
I too love JD and refuse to see myself limited to the numbers on my drivers license.
Thank you so much for starting on this journey with you. I hope we see you tons…if not I now have a great spot to stop and visit none the less!
Have the best day!
Claudia
Claudia@DipityRoad´s last blog ..Friday~~ Finding Beauty 1/22/10
Well, I’m glad you joined us today. This is a lovely photo and how obliging of the swans to pose in formation for you. Isn’t it a wonder when your out taking photos and something like this happens? Yes, there is beauty all around us.
Rhonda @ Shellbelle’s Tiki Hut´s last blog ..Food and Angels @ The Tiki Hut
I like the little guy at the back – like you I love the beauty in the little things!!!
Kate´s last blog ..January Projects
wow you surely found it, and are blessed. We are as well that you shared iot woth us.. Send me necklace prices i am interested sk
sandy´s last blog ..Don’t eat too much this Weekend !!!
Formation dancing! It’ll be an Olympic event soon.
liz´s last blog ..I’m a proper granny
What a lovely photo, Jay! Wholeheartedly agree with you! Thank you for the reminder, as I too often forget!
Btw, I just found the answer to macro Monday. I should have known better! Now, it’s so obvious! Sigh.
Have a wonderful weekend, Jay!
p.s. Can anyone else but hubba hubba be Don Juan deMarco aka Jack?
)
petra michelle´s last blog ..JACK AND JILL – An encore presentation
I love white swans, they’re a rarity here as ours are black with vermillion beaks. Beautiful little flash photo. Looks like a family! The cygnets haven’t quite got their grown up plumage yet.
Baino´s last blog ..Friday Funny Fuckwit
I love your swans! I guess I must live under a rock. I don’t even know what the word meme means. Much less photo meme. I will have to delve into the links to find out more.
Diane´s last blog ..Memory board from Pulp Products
that little mallard is saying, hey, you big guys…wait on me
Beautiful picture for sure! Isn’t it fun to discover new blogs like that. I found Claudia’s blog through Mary’s Mosaic Monday that we both participate in. Now I’m discovering more new ones with Claudia’s meme.
jeanne´s last blog ..Friday~Finding Beauty Jan. 22nd
Colleen – Oh, wouldn’t that be fun? Perhaps I should have stayed to watch them, to see what happened next, but Sid was getting impatient. Greyhounds are not known for their bird-watching skills! LOL!
I agree. A blog composed purely of memes is (to me) boring. I like to see a glimpse of the writer’s soul shining through. How can you get to know people properly otherwise?
Claudia@DipityRoad – Oh, how nice of you! Thanks!
I shall definitely be back. This meme fits in so well with my love of nature, especially tiny things like insects, but including oddities and the unexpected. Beauty is in the detail sometimes.
And you’re a Johnny Depp fan too? Even better!
Rhonda@Shellbell’s Tiki Hut – Thank you!
There is indeed beauty all around if we care to look. I was very lucky to find that fleeting moment.
Kate – I knew you’d get it!
Yes, the little duck in the back is what saves the picture from ‘chocolate box’ pretty, isn’t it?
Sandy – Wasn’t that amazing! I felt lucky, for sure!
I’ll email you about the tag collars, when I’ve worked out a price! Thanks for the interest!
Liz – Trained swans in the Olympics? Ha! I might have to start watching them then! LOL!
Petra – Thanks!
No, no-one but Johnny could have played Jack, or indeed, Don Juan, in that particular way. He did a great job on both, didn’t he? Can’t wait for Pancho Villa!
Baino – You’re right – a little family, with the cygnets almost grown. I should think come spring they’ll shed those remaining brown feathers and become pure white, then they’ll be ready to breed themselves, I suppose.
Funny – to us, black swans are the exotic ones!
Diane – Nobody knows what the word ‘meme’ actually means.
Usually it’s just some kind of post prompt, or challenge. It’s useful to have something to trigger an idea for when you run dry, but also some are great fun in their own right.
Skoots1Mom – I know! I thought the same! And then I thought, ‘It’s the ugly duckling in reverse!’ LOL!
Jeanne – It is indeed good fun to discover new blogs! And I think Claudia’s meme is a great idea.
Hi Jay – Lovely photo of the swans, however I hopped straight on down to your post on your pups! Love their faces and I had no idea they needed clothes to keep warm. I did think they were a sensitive breed, however. I’ve heard terrible stories of how they are treated by some after they no longer race – hence the rescue groups for them. Your last picture just melted my heart – the sweet little girl who has cancer. She looks like she’s in good hands. I like your blog – it took me forever to figure out your gender! LOL Have a “beautiful” day. Nancy
PS – I’m the sheltie person.
Nancy´s last blog ..Friday – Finding Beauty
Great shot! What a lovely grouping of these regal birds…
Have a great weekend.
ellen b´s last blog ..FFF ~ Light In the Midst of Storms…
You have been gifted with an eye that finds beauty in places many people would not see. How fortunate that you chosen to share your vision with us. I came just to say hello and stayed much longer than I planned. You have a singular blog. I really like what I found here. Have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Mary´s last blog ..Baked Portobello Parmesan – A Dieter’s Delight – Foodie Friday
You arrived on that bridge at just the right time!
Nancy – Things have improved enormously in the racing industry on both sides of the Atlantic, thank heavens, and the adoption groups and greyhound charities are working hard to make sure that things continue to improve. One thing we are working on is getting the message out that these dogs make wonderful pets. We take them out to ‘Meet and Greets’ so that people can see how gentle and sweet-natured they are, and hopefully might consider taking an ex-racer one day. The biggest problem with dog racing is the fact that so many are bred and retired each year, and they only race for such a short part of their lives.
If I can help spread the word, even a little bit, I’ll do it! I love these dogs so much.
Sadly, Renie is no longer with us. She was very much loved and pampered, but sadly, not everything can be fixed.
Ellen B – Thanks! You too!
Mary – Thank you! I’m so glad you liked the post, and my blog, too! I hope to see you again.
Porch Days – I did! We often see ducks and swans at Cuckoo Hollow, but this was something special.
Beautiful image…and I do believe Claudia’s idea for a meme is so very encouraging to remind us to stop and look.
pam´s last blog ..When life throws lemons your way….HAVE FUN
I totally understand where you are coming from – oh, and Cuckoo Hollow – what a gorgeous name, you just know it has to be a special place, don’t you?
Moving from London to this lush little island, I made myself a promise to never take the beauty of it for granted. Eight years down the line, I still get a huge lift going from A to B, even the bleakest of moods are lifted if can can just LOOK at what we see!
Shrinky´s last blog ..Emergency Phone-Call
Interesting view you have of memes.
Personally I think they make me think “outside the box.” Besides, they lead me to interesting people. Otherwise I would likely post the same sorts of photos every day and talk to myself, my only visitor. Hahaha!
EG Wow´s last blog ..Follow the Leader/ Camera Critters
Lovely post. Swans have such grace and beauty. Is that an (not so) ugly duck I see?
carolina´s last blog ..Uncomfortable bike
Yes I do agree Jay. For me it was flowers. For many years I just looked and saw a rose or a pansy or a primrose, whatever. The one day I really looked at them and saw just how intricate they were and that was the true beauty of each one of them. A x
What a lovely post. A timely reminder to me to cherish the small things, as I can lose sight of that sometimes and get stuck in the rut of focusing on the negative. Thank you for that.
Thanks for visiting me and mentioning my blog in your post! That was very kind of you! I’m sorry it has taken me so long to visit you..my computer has been having issues and my husband was working on it all weekend.
I love your duck photo…they are fun to watch aren’t they?
I like Johhny Depp also! I’m looking forweard to seeing him in the upcoming Alice In Wonderland movie!
Pat´s last blog ..Custer State Park, South Dakota
Pam – That’s absolutely right. I do tend to look for the detail anyway, but it’s a great reminder.
Hmm. Maybe I should take part in a ‘take the broader view’ meme, to balance my thinking?
Shrinky – Ah, well, you have a wonderful place there to live on, do you not? No wonder you’re constantly amazed and delighted. It’s a good philosophy you have, too.
EG Wow – Oh, absolutely! Memes can be invaluable for triggering a good post, or for making you think (as you say) outside the box, or outside your comfort zone. I just meant that since I now do three different memes each week, I am going to make sure that I also do posts which are not based on memes. I think it would be too easy to get lazy, if I just used memes all the time.
Carolina – Yes!! I thought that the little duck made the picture so much better for being there. Looks like he’s saying ‘Wait for meeee!’ LOL!
SJ Anne – A perfect example! Flowers are endlessly intricate and fascinating and yet most people do as you did, and see the flower, but not see the flower.
Jennyta – Thanks! I think we all forget from time to time. This meme is a nice way of helping us to remember.
Pat – If I take an idea from a blog, or want to link to a picture, I always mention that blog and give the link. It’s only fair. And in this case, since I used your blog as a ‘stepping stone’ in finding this meme, and liked your blog so much too, it’s right to pass it along! Isn’t that how the blogging community works? If not, it should.
I’m looking forward to seeing Alice in Wonderland too – should be a great movie!
yeah, I am with the other commemter on this one, what does MEME mean? what is that? but those are some beautiful birds.
Chris´s last blog ..Bridgestone Motorcycle Tires
Is Cuckoo Hollow the place we went to walk Sid? Those swans & cygnets look familiar!