L. O. V. E

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”  ― Lao Tzu

source:https://tenor.com

This year I choose to celebrate love...

The love unforgettable, love undeniable, love unconditional, the selfless love, love un-regrettable, tough love, the forever love.

I celebrate the love unconditional..

that enabled me to  run back to it whenever life hit me hard,

the love that put food on my table and a place called home,
the tough love that made me want to break away.

I celebrate love unforgettable,

that kept me up with late-night phone calls and pink cheeks,
the love that brought family and friend together for special moments,
the love that held me together when everything seemed to fall apart,

I celebrate the love undeniable...
the  love that put fire in my eyes and passion in my heart,
the love that brought with it great ideas and renewed hope,
the love that died before its time,
the love that left me curled up in tears with great lessons.

I celebrate selfless love...

that love that enabled me to pour myself into another soul,
because that is what love does,
the love that enabled me to look myself in the mirror and accept who i am.

I celebrate forever love...

the ever constant, never changing love
that has been before the beginning of time..

UNLOVING ME

“You can be the most beautiful person in the world and everybody sees light and rainbows when they look at you, but if you yourself don't know it, all of that doesn't even matter. ― C. JoyBell C.

LOVE- A very difinitive word. i do not even know if there is a true definition for this. Its four letters put together that have so much power, its an emotion you cannot describe enough with any word or action.

Google Images

We love, We are loved. But how do you unlove yourself?
An article i read recently from my favorite webpage thoughtcatalog.com inspired this post:

UNLOVING ME..

I will unlove me,
I will put away all the regret and past hurts,
And remember that you know my future better
I know my own past,

I will Put away those lonely thoughts and hurtful dreams,
And remember that my name is inscribed on the palm of your hand.
I am never alone because you promised never to leave me,

I will forgive those who hurt me and created monsters out of me,
Because your were always there with me, Standing by me,
even when i put them before you, loving me still..

I will stop obsessing over my social media pages,
And comparing my life to everybody else's,
Because your have a great plan for my life,
That gives me hope and a good future

I will put down my phone often,
And pick up your word,
Because your word is always true,
Everything you say you mean,

I will not let another human have power over me,
Because are you are my source,
And they are just resources from you,

I will unlove my self and love you more,
Because you can't unlove me.

ANOTHER MMM... DAY

Isaiah 48:13

"Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together."

NASA Hand Of God

The Hand Of God captured by NASA in early January this year.This image has been verified as authentic and was captured using an X-ray Satellite. Read more about it on their webpage.
How incredible is this vision to behold?!
For me, its a whole new revelation on the nature of God.
Every scripture where the Hand Of God is mentioned, just came alive!

'WAS IT NOT MY HAND WHICH MADE ALL THESE THINGS?'

Prayer Point:  Hand Of God, Come upon me!

Peps.

Isaiah 48:13
"Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together.
Isaiah 48:13

Verse Concepts

"Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together.
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Hand-Of-God#sthash.qG25zC0o.dpuf

Isaiah 48:13

Verse Concepts

"Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together.
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Hand-Of-God#sthash.qG25zC0o.dpuf

SENTRIMENTAL

“Do not despise your own place and hour. Every place is under the stars, every place is the center of the world.”
― John Burroughs, Studies in Nature and Literature

I wanna pinch myself.. then pinch myself again.
I am at the gorgeous Sentrim Elelmentaita Lodge in Naivasha for our annual team building.
After a twelve hour drive from Mombasa,we finally checked into this amazing hidden gem.

I LOOOOOOOOOOVE my room!
It has a balcony facing the breathtaking Lake Elementaita!
Its earthy.. and roomy ... and simple with wooden finishings. So ME!
Its feels like a sunny day tonight :) hehe.

I want a home that feels like a cosy hotel,
That i never get to checkout of,
I want an earthy, roomy, simple home,
With a breathtaking view someday :)

This morning i went by the Lake, all i could think of was how truly AWESOME God must be.
To curve the lake in the midst of all the hills in the background. How majestic is HE!
The thorn trees fit perfectly in the distant shores and the ridges add that touch of perfection. Truly GENIUS if you ask me.
I felt so small beside the Lake.
All my worries and doubts shrank, the majesty of my surroundings was big enough to drown all the negatives . Le sigh!
And the truth is God is bigger than that surrounding! So, how much more can everything disappear in his presence?! yep! FOOD FOR THOUGHT.

It's my last night. Am all packed up. Loved my stay.

 

 

 

 

HI SEAS.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
― Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad/Roughing It

This week am working out of town once again. Am down at the Coast.
I must confess it has been several years since my last trip down south.
A whole lot has changed. Mombasa is no different from Nairobi in lots of ways.. traffic, matatu madness.. human traffic.
 Driving down to Mombasa without prior hotel bookings was total madness! Finding a suitable guest house took us hours of driving around viewing numerous places. #NoteToSelf

Today i visited Kilifi Town for the very first time. :* Love at first sight!
It is definitely a place i would have a second or third home. lol.
I loved the weather, the small town, the view of the yatches in the waters, the beach properties. Breathtaking!

I have learnt a couple of hard lessons since coming down here:

1. I need to travel MORE.
2. I need to travel MORE.
3. I need to travel MORE.
4. I need to travel MORE.
5. I need to travel MORE.

Seriously people, i really do need to travel and socialize much more! So much to see out here!

Meanwhile ... Back to hotel junk food and my animated movie :)

LOOKING AT LOVE

In this day and age where love has grown and transformed into many spheres, we celebrate LOVE.
The one ever constant verb we do anything to keep.
Today i present my favorite LOVE quotes a series is pictures "LOOKING AT LOVE" (... re-blogged from  Newyorker)

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close. 

Pablo Neruda

Molly Landreth, “Meg and Renee, Seattle, WA” (2007)

This image is from my series “Embodiment: A Portrait of Queer Life in America,” which I photographed primarily between 2004 and 2010. Each image in this body of work is like a love letter to and about my subjects, as well as the larger queer community that we work together to represent. I think that the caption, written by the friends in this image, proves that it is possible to photograph love, in it’s many complex and subtle forms. “Looking back at this photograph, I feel a sense of calm happiness remembering a night driving around aimlessly in the world we’d created for ourselves, far from home, in the quiet darkness of a lakeside parking lot sitting next to someone you love and have grown up with, chilly and nestled together with our eyes shut, trying to stay still while flashes burst all around. While living in the Midwest, we were often the only community we had. Now, grown up, we continue to be close friends and to learn from each other. At the time this was taken, it just seemed like a fun weeknight project, now in a frame on a wall it reminds us both of that moment in time and how amazing it is to know someone whose shoulder you can rest your life upon.”

Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue, a wonderful living side by side can grow, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky. 

Rainer Maria Rilke

Ute Klein, from the series “Resonanzgeflechte—leibhafter Raum” (2009)

Ten years ago, I fell in love with my partner. But, soon after we started our relationship, our lives pulled us in different directions, and we ended up in a long-distance relationship. It was heartbreaking to be in love but be apart, and it made me question the general idea of relationship. Why do people decide to be together? What does it mean when they are actually apart? What do we expect from our relationships? What roles do they play in our lives? With this in mind, I started exploring the very general aspects of love and partnership. I wanted to depict relationships in their complex and multilayered facets, transforming them into sculptural-looking figures, in strange and ambiguous poses, with colorful surfaces. I do believe that it’s possible to find ways to photograph love, as I believe that a relationship can survive hard times. Sometimes, it just needs to be looked at differently to be better understood.

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.  

Paul McCartney

Lauren Fleishman, “Yevgeniy and Lyubov Kissin, Brooklyn, New York” (2009)

This is an image from my series “Love Ever After,” which documents the love stories of couples that have been together more than five decades. I met the Kissins at a dance for seniors, and I immediately noticed Lyubov’s beautiful hair. Each time I tried to photograph another couple, she would pull me away, bringing the camera back to herself. She loved being photographed. Do I think it is possible to photograph love? Absolutely, I’m a romantic!

Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.  

James Baldwin

Sage Sohier, “Stephanie and Monica, Boston, MA” (1987)

This picture is from my series “At Home with Themselves: Same-Sex Couples in 1980’s America.” From 1986 to 1988, I photographed over a hundred gay and lesbian couples and conducted extensive interviews with them. I feel privileged to have been let in on this private, intimate moment. I don’t feel like a voyeur but, rather, like I’m being included in this special realm. It’s moving, and it makes me reflect on my own experience of intimacy. “Love” is a tough one to photograph. I certainly think it’s possible to photograph intimacy, and to make pictures that give a visceral and tender sense of touch.

We must get beyond passions, like a great work of art. In such miraculous harmony. We should learn to love each other so much to live outside of time… detached.
Federico Fellini

Sabine Mirlesse, “L & V” (2012) from the series “Preventricular Arrythmia”

I started this series after a breakup, in 2010. At the time, I was so overwhelmed with the subject of happy and unhappy couples, and what that meant, that I decided to just give in to it. I began shooting in New York, and then Paris, often using the too-small apartments young couples find themselves sharing as a player in the scenario. The series developed from there, and it took the title of the diagnosis a cardiologist gave me for a heart condition, very common among young women in their twenties, in which you have extra heartbeats. As for what I’ve learned: in retrospect, whether or not a couple is still together perhaps matters less than the fact that at the time the picture was taken, there was love in the room.

HAPPY LOVERS  DAY!!