the road ahead

the future is unwritten…..

If we had a bigger canvas, would we have bigger ideas?
If we had a choice to see the future, how many of us would take a peek?
However we choose to live, we have to know that we live in the now, at all times.
Even if we think about the past or worry about the future, we are always in the now.
How else could it be?

Being present is a gift. Live it wisely.

Hampstead Heath, 2007

(hellyjphotos 2008 Copyright)

comfortable but effective

no need to shout.......

First and foremost, I have to credit a lovely verbacious friend of mine, David Teeple (also because he said I had to!) for the title of this particular post. Ok………here goes.

I was watching a very thought-provoking documentary on a flight sometime last year called ‘The 11th Hour’ (check it out….in a nutshell its about global warming….how what we do impacts this beautiful planet that we live on). One of the scientists being interviewed said something that really struck a chord with me…..to paraphrase: “things are the thief of time, the more things we want, the longer time it takes us to get them…..”

This got me to thinking how many  ‘things’ do we truly need? How the heading of this post came about stems from a conversation I was having the other night with Mr T about cell phones – of all things! He joked that did I choose my cell phone to match my shoes (white with turquoise trim – thats my cell not my shoes by the way!) or vice versa? He then pulled out his cell and quipped ‘my cell (black) matches my shoes (black) very nicely, thank you……comfortable but effective’! Who can argue with that?

As is often when reflecting on many conversations, I thought about how we get trapped into the whole marketing spiel of how we need to ‘upgrade this, upgrade that……upgrade, upgrade, upgrade’! When, in actual fact (and lets stick to cell phones as an example here) the cell phone that you already have possesess all that you need – in that it makes and receives calls, we can text if thats your thing and, on most models these days, we can take the odd photo or too should we so wish. So, why upgrade? Perhaps to end up with a different coloured cell phone to match each outfit for a week?! Why do we feel the need to constantly fix what is not broken and/or why do we need to ‘keep up with the Jones’?’ (which incidently, it being my namesake, when I first ever over-heard this expression around 9 years old in our local village shop, I thought the person was talking about my family…….gave me an inferiority complex for years!!).

Do we need ‘things’ to define who we are, what we are about……..in some way?  That then got me thinking about how we, in many different ways, convey our thoughts, beliefs, passions……….In a society (many Western societies at least…forgive me for generalising) whereby we often need to shout to be heard, or even be ‘seen’, its easy to see how certain individuals can come across with what may be perceived as a lack of passion and/or opinions if one is not particulary vocal (or verbacious!)  about those passions or opinions.

Lets take passion, or what really turns you on in life. This can be conveyed in so many other ways without having to shout it out loud……I guess, in any way that is particular to you (comfortable but effective springs to mind again)…it characterises who we really are.  And if we really look and listen, then we can see the passion that is often always there……… in whatever form it is expressed.

ok…thats my early sunday morning ramblings over with for now……at least it conveys my passion for words……however jumbled at times! 😉

Cans Festival, Southbank, London 2008 (hellyjphotos.2008.copyright)

mr p & jimmy

Holland Park, Nottinghill, London

Photo: Zachary Leeks, March 2009

an air of depreciation

We all know whats happening with the  economy around the world so I’m not even going to bang on about it here. We have enough of that watching the news, reading the tabloids, hearing doom and gloom coming out of everyone’s mouth whilst walking down the street. Living it!

Its all got me thinking, however, about how simple our lives used and how we chose to be exactly where we are now – debt and all (sorry, I did say I wasn’t going to bang on about that particular subject!). Then I got round to thinking about my childhood and how our young lives seemed so free and easy………living for the weekends when we could get up early, hurridly make a couple of egg and tomato sandwiches, grab a packet of Walkers Crisps (Salt & Vinegar for me) and a can of ‘pop’ from the corner shop,  then get on our bikes and be gone from morning until tea time. Cycling down the country lanes to the reservoir or down to the little river to make a tree swing with an old tyre. Or simply to lie on our backs on the roundabout up at the football field, look up at the sky and imagine what shapes the clouds made: faces, houses, whole towns, animals……..what would it be like to be up there, walking on the soft, white, bouncy clouds…….wherever our fancy took us. You could get completely lost up there in the simpleness of it all….where everything would be effortless, gentle and peaceful…..

But, ofcourse we grow and our lives become more cluttered and so much more complicated it seems and we search for more

We see more in situations that perhaps don’t warrant so much weight

We pacify our hungar/lack of with material things

We run around, always so busy.

We don’t stand still long enough to see what it is we really need and realise the simplicity of what our lives can be again.

Perhaps we need to value more of what we have within us/around us and appreciate it…..

Be that spontaneous,  innocent child again, lie back and look up at the sky and see the real beauty and simplicity……….constantly moving and changing, from darkness to light again, at a pace that can’t be forced or altered but …………knowing that it will change

SoHo, NYC, 2009 & Greenwich, London, 2008 (hellyjphotos.copyright 2009)

the inimitable mr p!

florio photo, london, June 08

phone home

whare are you?

What is it specifically about this time of year that prompts you more than other times to think of people who aren’t around?

I’m thinking in particular about an aunt of mine who I was very very close to when I was younger and then one day she disappeared (all due to some silly family falling out where everyone was too bloody proud to say that one simple word: sorry!). She was a great source of comfort to me when my parents parted when I was 11 years old. She introduced me to so much and helped me grow so much too. She taught me how to be strong (in retrospect, maybe too strong-headed at times!!). She seemd to totally understand me. She helped me get through the tough time that comes with your parents splitting up way back then when in our village we were only the 2nd family to have D.I.V.O.R.C.E.  over our heads. Kids at school were so cruel but how would they know how to be if it hadn’t come from hearing their parents whispering (gossiping!)about it in the first place I wonder?

Lucinda Williams ‘World Without Tears’ – ‘how would broken find the bone………….how would misery know which back door to walk through…..?’ spirngs to mind right this minute.

I’ve tried to find her a couple of times and came very close to once but then the letter got sent back as ‘no longer at this address’. I did hear that she was very ill a long time ago and the most hurtful thing is not knowing if she is still alive even. I have had the same mobile number for over 13 years which I am sure she has. Why doesn’t she call? I wonder if its because she needs to forget the family that cast  her out all those years ago – even though I was never part of that?

It will always be the unanswered question for me. But, I can hope that one day, she will get in touch when she is ready.

I do miss her though………………..

London Bridge, London (hellyjphotos 2008 Copyright)

a nation of ‘no’

rules of the game

When did we become such a nation of ‘no’s’ and ‘don’ts’? What happened to the the freedom of having fun?

What real harm can kicking a ball around, hitting a bat against a ball and letting your dog run around freely? All activities that when I was a kid, for sure, were taken for granted. These kind of rules and regulations did not exisit back then.

Would we need all these rules and regulations if we all took responsibility for ourselves? Maybe thats where the problem lies………..perhaps there are too many people out there who don’t? Point in case yesterday: walking my dog, cleaned up after him and went to put the poo-bag in the doggy-bin and as I stepped up to the bin, I felt this squelching under my shoe! Urghhhh!!!!! How can someone let their dog mess right in front of the doggy-bin and not even pick it up?! Hey, I’m not a nazi about stuff like this because if you are walking your dog in a wood for example, then there is no real need to clean up as it will bio-degrade. But, if its in a park etc, then respect the fact that kids will be playing there and someone will invariably stand in it!!!

Ooops…..I’m ranting……..but perhaps answering my own question as well. Rules are there for a reason I guess but maybe its only those of us who are ‘more aware’ abide by them? However, I do know that I like to break them now and again too……I’m off to kick a ball around the park with my dog (off the lead to-boot!) where I took the above pic!! 😉

Highbury Fields, London (hellyjphotos 2008 Copyright)

situations not problems

Do we realise that we limit our potential by the words that we use?

If we think ‘impossible’ then surely it follows that it is impossible?

What would you do if you weren’t afraid? I mean really, what would you do?

Start to believe, really believe, in what you want and your mind will find a way to make it happen.

“You see things and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were and I say ‘Why not?'” ~ George Bernard Shaw

Do the ‘impossible’ – it’s fun!!!!

Upstate New York (hellyjphotos 2008 Copyright)

the wisdom of trees

taking stock

There is a wonderful Tibetan proverb (thank you for the inspiration, V) that basically says that we spend so much time doing, doing, doing…..then before you know it our time here has passed like the blink of an eye.

Why are we constantly running around……or running away from is perhaps more apt? Its so important to stand still, let the water in the glass settle, for us to reflect calmly.

How can we gain wisdom otherwise?

Take note from the majestic sageness of the tree’s around you next time you are in the park. Inspirational.

Whitlow Park, Highgate, London (hellyjphotos 2008 Copyright)

Re-Cycled Boobs

Insert your used boobs here

Silicone goes green

I wonder how many coffins, if they were exhumed in years to come would contain a couple of little (or big!) completely intact prosthesis pouches? Would there be more in LA then anywhere else in the world?

So, this begs the question. Can they be recycled after death?

Picture this:
Portobello Market stall holder
“roll up, roll up, come and get your used boobs here, all shapes and sizes catered for, cheap as chips”!!

Mary Magdelene Church Yard, Highbury, London (hellyjphotos 2008 Copyright)