 Wilson Bentley Today, I would like to talk about snow. I'd like to offer a second look at the "white stuff" that blanketed the East Coast last weekend and is the norm for people in certain parts of the planet. While driving, shoveling, losing power and avalanches can be some downsides to snow, we have to admit that we all kind of love it. Snow is fun: snowmen, snow angels, sled riding, snowmobiling, snowball fights, skiing, snow forts and more. Students, teachers and most people in the work force all wish for snow days - they provide us with the opportunity to take a break. One teacher created a parody of Adele's Hello around wanting a snow day that has gone viral. If you haven't seen her video, you can click here. I love to watch the snow fall - it's beautiful and peaceful. It's also pretty easy to take snow for granted. When you look out at a dusting of snow, or even 4 feet of snow, we tend take it as a whole. We're not really thinking about the fact that the snow is comprised of individual flakes - each unique and distinct in its own right. I was reminded of this when I was outside with my nephew trying to catch snowflakes in our mouths and I noticed one on the sleeve of his coat - it was stunning. I started to research snowflake photos and came across Wilson Bentley. He took over 5,000 photos of snowflakes starting in the late 1800's. National Geographic has an article about him and a gallery of some of his amazing photos (click here). There is also a website for his work, set up and maintained by the Jericho Historical Society in Vermont (click here). Bentley stated that, "Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind." Wow, a fleeting beauty that most of the time we have no clue about. I started to really think about snow and how each snowflake is unique and how it contributes to the whole. How, when it is time, it transforms back into water. How it comes for a short while and then is replaced by new flakes. Sounds a bit like the human race. We all come in and are unique - no two of us are exactly the same. When you're taking into account eternity, we're here for a very short period of time before we transform back into our original essence. If we would just look a little closer at each other (instead of clumping people into some group), we would see the unique design and beauty of each person. We all have a purpose of why we're here. I encourage you to check out the links for Wilson Bentley. I also suggest you check out the beautiful snowflake photos by Russian photographer Alexey Kljatov. He has taken some amazing shots as seen in his post. Be sure to scroll down his post to the rainbow snowflakes - they are Ah-mazing. The next time you encounter snow, take a moment to take a closer look and appreciate just how beautiful Nature is - how beautiful we all are. Love, Adrienne :)
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 Photo by A. Almamour Meet Mizaru, Kikazaru and Iwazaru, otherwise known as the The Three Wise Monkeys, who see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. They are understood to be a model of propriety - to act by conforming to conventionally accepted standards of behavior or morals. Some say that they are telling us to turn our backs on what's happening in the world - to turn a blind eye. A spin off of this is the modern phrase, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." In this case, I think a fourth monkey is needed: I didn't see it, I didn't hear it, I won't talk about it and I won't snap a picture of it and post it online. I believe the wise monkeys can also be interpreted at deeper levels. They could be telling us to be careful of our energy - what we surround ourselves with, we go into resonance with. Let's apply this thought to modern times: See no evil - how much violence and negativity are you watching throughout the day? Are you always watching the news? What kinds of movies and t.v. shows do you regularly watch? Are you into playing violent video games? These are all ways to tune into and even go into resonance with really negative energy. Hear no evil: what are you listening to? It's disconcerting how much hate you can be exposed to through music, radio talk shows and negative, angry people you may spend time with on a daily basis. What you're listening to does affect you. You can always change the channel. Speak no evil: be aware of what's coming out of your mouth. Are you starting or participating in negative conversations? Are you vocally expressing your rage and hatred towards others who you perceived have harmed you? Not only are you in resonance with negativity - you're contributing to and feeding that energy of the collective conscious. Now, let's take this a step further. Let's go a little deeper. What if another interpretation is they're showing us how to reconnect to our true Self? Close your eyes - stop looking for the truth with your eyes. Your eyes can and do deceive you. Look to your inner visioning. Connect with your inner guidance and ‘see’ that way. Close your ears – stop listening to everyone else’s truth or their version of the truth. Find your own truth. Shut out the world, go inside and listen to that part of you that simply is Truth. Close your mouth – stop talking. Get silent. Listen, observe from the inside out - instead of taking what we see outside of us and internalizing it. Become aware of your thoughts - are they even yours? Are they negative? - if so, do they serve your highest good? Are they false truths? Years ago, when I took the photo of the Three Wise Monkeys at the Tosho-gu Shrine in Nikko, Japan, I remember thinking - "oh, hey, they represent that famous saying." Eight years later, they hold a very different meaning for me. I believe the Three Wise Monkeys impart some very deep wisdom indeed. Love, Adrienne :)
I read a lovely article a few weeks back titled: 11 Beautiful Japanese Words That Don't Exist In English by Marie Sugio. I was drawn to the article as I'm fascinated by languages and partially because I had lived in Japan. I find that I keep coming back to the article as it offers some perspectives that are helpful to living a happier, more from the heart life. There are 3 concepts that I would like to share that perhaps may resonate with you as well. #1 and #3 are two of the eleven words that we don't have in English. #2 is just a fun term that we need to be reminded of.  1. Kintsukuroi 金継ぎ/金繕い When we break something - we may try to glue it together if we feel it has value - or we dispose of it. When we ourselves are broken, we often wonder if we will ever heal. We know that if we work at it, we will be put back together, but we'll never be the same as we were before we were broken or cracked. I love this idea of how our cracks have the potential to display our beauty. Sometimes, when we're so broken, we believe that no one (including ourselves) will ever be able to love us or see our beauty, our inner Light. Now, imagine how beautiful we can be if we heal those cracks and holes using the magnificent golden light of Love. Yes, we can even be more beautiful for having been broken.  2. Kotsu kotsu こつこつ Kotsu kotsu is an onomatopoeia (a word that imitates the sound you hear, like sizzle or splash). It basically means step by step. In today's culture, we want everything NOW. We have very little patience for our desired outcomes. Can we plant a watermelon seed and expect a watermelon to instantly appear? No, we must have patience. We must water and care for the plant as it grows. Taking things step by step allows us to be more in the present moment. If we are diligent with our steps, we have a greater likelihood of arriving at our destination - our desired goal. Some things in life need to be taken kotsu kotsu.  3. Shoganai しょうがない Shoganai can be translated to: it can't be helped, basically meaning that if it's something out of your control, then it's best to accept it and move on. It's very easy to get stuck in past situations that were out of your control. Some situations may feel damn near impossible to move on from. If you can accept that it's time to move on and not dwell in the past, then you find ways that help you move on and you do so kotsu kotsu. The article also shares some words describing Nature that are pretty fabulous. Click here to read the article. As you contemplate your New Year's resolutions and goals - remember that your cracks have the potential for beauty, that sometimes you have to just accept what's out of your control and move on, and that often, we just need to take things step by step. Love, エイドリアン
 As we welcome in another new year, we set our goals and resolutions. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a way to know what we might expect this year or what we should be focusing on? There is and it's something you can do yourself - it's calculating your personal year number. Perhaps you've heard of numerology? Numerology is the science of numbers and patterns and how they apply to our life using our birth date and our full name given at birth. Your birth name can give you insight into your talents and abilities, as well as your strengths and weaknesses. Your birth date can give you insight into the direction of your life, along with opportunities and challenges you may face. The first numerology reading I had was 8 years ago in Australia. Until that time, I'd never even heard of numerology. I thought it was interesting, but didn't do much with it. Lately, I've become intrigued by numerology and how the numbers are pretty cool indicators to clue us in on our life's journey. If you would like to be aware of what may be trending for you in 2016, you will want to know your personal year number. Our personal years run in cycles of 9. Year 1 is a great year for beginning something. Year 9 is a great year for ending or wrapping things up to move onto something new the following year. It's actually pretty easy to calculate your personal year number. Numerology is based on the numbers 1-9. Whatever numbers you use that are more than 9 must be reduced by adding the digits. For example, 11 can be reduced to 2 (1+1=2), 23 can be reduced to 5 (2+3=5), 37 can be reduced to 1 (7+3=10 (10 is more than 9), 1+0 = 1). There are 3 parts to the equation for finding your personal year number. You add your birth month plus your birth date to the current year. If you were born in January, your month number is 1. February is 2 and so on. September is 9, but October reduces to 1, November is 2 and if you were born in December, your month number is 3. Next, is your birth date. If you were born any day after the 9th, you must reduce the number by adding the digits. For example, if you were born on the 31st, your number would be 4 (3+1=4). The last part of the equation is the current year. We're presently in 2016 and that reduces to 9 (2+0+1+6 = 9). Let's look at an example. Say you were born on November 15th. November is the 11th month of the year, so 11(month)+15(day); 11 reduces to 2 and 15 reduces to 6. Next, we plug the numbers into the equation: birth month (2) + birth date (6) + current year (9) = personal year number (17 which reduces to 8). Great! Now, that you know how to calculate your personal year number, you can look up the meaning for that year's cycle. The following is a summary of the 9 year cycle from http://www.decoz.com The 1 Year: A year of new beginnings, seed-planting, and high energy. The 2 Year: A year of relationships, sensitivity, and cooperation. The 3 Year: A year of creativity, motivation, and inspiration. The 4 Year: A year of hard work, discipline, and opportunities. The 5 Year: A year of change, freedom, and unpredictability. The 6 Year: A year of responsibility, domestic affairs, and service. The 7 Year: A year of contemplation, self-awareness, and spiritual atonement. The 8 Year: A year of reward, respect, and recognition. The 9 Year: A year of completion, release, and transformation. I'm also including two links to get a more in depth description for you personal year number: http://astrology-numerology.com/num-cycles.html http://affinitynumerology.com/using-numerology/personal-year-number-8-meaning.php Remember that nothing is written in stone, you always have the ability to change. While we may have a certain destiny, we are the ones who create our own future. Whatever cycle you're in, may 2016 be a year of blessings, awareness, love and BEing more from the heart. Love, Adrienne :)
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July 2024
AuthorHello! I'm Adrienne Almamour, an empathic intuitive conduit. I assist people by detecting and clearing their subconscious emotional energy blockages. This blog is a commentary and reflection of life from an intuitive standpoint which also incorporates ways that allow us to be from our heart. |
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