As every year around this time, we had some lovely rains for Nature to breath and rejoice – followed by beautiful sunshine and an almost tropical heat inviting everybody to relax on the beach!
Many friends have arrived from overseas to spend a Happy Christmas 2011 on the sunny side of the globe, i.e. in South Africa.
Happy Christmas 2011
It’s not easy to write “Happy Christmas 2011″ when being aware of so much desaster in the world right now. I am thinking especially of our friends in Mindanao – but not only there…
In those situations it takes strength and courage to believe in ourselves as part of the universal “All that Is” – and with it in the promise the light at the end of the tunnel brings. As long as you keep seeing it! The people in the Philippines are strong in their belief and it’s part of their beauty… but they as many others need our loving thoughts and, where possible, our care and attention. This is what the real Christmas Message is all about… like a candle touching and setting alight the next candle…
I will take this picture into the night – magandang gabi.
Finally, Monkey Valley Resort can shout loud and clear: “Follow Us on Twitter!” and “Follow Us on Facebook!”
Follow Us on Twitter and Facebook
While it may be totally normal for Internet Marketers and Social Network professionals to have a Twitter and Facebook account and to invite everyone to “Follow Us on Twitter and Facebook”, this is by far not the case – yet – with many of our customers. In fact, it can take quite some effort and persuasion to get the accounts set up and then connect the new website to both Twitter and Facebook!
While we want to automate the posting process itself from one end – for instance with a plugin – visitors to the website need to find the famous little blue bird to ‘tweet’ or the big blue “F” to follow and like – or a personalized version to “follow” as I designed for the new Monkey Valley Resort website, using the branded little logo with the monkey on the golden triangle.
Just wishing everybody a relaxed and happy weekend right from my webcam!
Happy Weekend
Also thinking of all our European friends who are going through some rough moments…
May the right solutions be found with Vision, Wisdom and Peace; may People discover themselves in other People and realize that there is only ONE way: together… with mutual respect and understanding!
In South Africa we say “Ubuntu”: “I am because you are. ”
Good Morning from Noordhoek is an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa… and who hasn’t been dreaming of a real wild and wondrous “African Experience”? Here you have it… solar radio en al and thoroughly ignoring anything beyond the ‘normal’ way of life: what’s that anyway?! Yeah… Noordhoek is idyllic… and we Noordhoekers just simply love it…
Good Morning from Noordhoek
Once again, the day started with some heavy rain – but contrary to the rest of the world we are extremely grateful for it as you can literally feel Mother Earth breathing and the plants and flowers reaching out for more in unison! Probably my “rainmaker dance” with a “rain stick” bought just aside the boutique on the picture here, the so-called “Pompous Fly” in Noordhoek Farm Village, did its magic… besides all the Noordhoek trolls and fairies :)
Actually, I had rushed down to the beach hoping to spot some of the many dolphins said to still be in the bay… but despite the awesome colors of the sea they seemed to be frolicking somewhere else. I will keep checking… they are just too lovely to watch and well worth the effort!
Wishing YOU a cheerful day and sending tons of sunshine!
Good Morning from Noordhoek is an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa! Today’s picture choice was a difficult one as it’s just such a beautiful day! A little windy… so it’s difficult to catch the flowers when in full swing and even less the birds rocking on them while indulging in a delicious breakfast…, however – it promises to be a Sunday exploding with blessings that I wish to share with YOU!
Good Morning from Noordhoek
May my meditative excursions inspire you to get out into Nature… be fully immersed in it… fuel on its abundant light and energy and feel how you vibrate on a higher level, radiating what you receive to others! Everything around you will change!Just do it… be it!
Good Morning from Noordhoek – bringing you Joy and a Smile every day!
Good Morning from Noordhoek is an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa
Good Morning from Noordhoek
“Good Morning from Noordhoek” is a form of meditation for me – but also an experiment and a strict discipline bearing in mind that each morning a new photo has to be captured, never mind how you feel or how the weather god greets you! Today we had some of the long expected rains… very necessary for the gardens, the ponds and water catchment areas.
The above image shows Chapman’s Peak wrapped in dark clouds after the first heavy showers had gone down and the sun forced its way through for just a few absolutely smashing moments, setting off my garden against the dark mountains with a beautifully dramatic light. It didn’t last long… and as you see on the picture I shot yesterday afternoon from my kitchen window, even the shy heron can’t believe how empty the dam is… usually filled at this time of the year far above the head of this huge bird… and a real nice lunch-pond to fish in!
Using Filters in Digital Photography
While I believe in taking a good picture right from the beginning, we have to compensate the general flatness and lack of quality we get with simple low-end cameras in the post-editing process, ideally using Professional Phototools.
Part of the exercise here is to continue experimenting… and while the art is to be so precise and minimalistic that noone actually sees what has been added to the original photo to enhance it, it is also interesting to work with effects that give more expression to an image in an obvious way, like on the Blue Heron Photo above. Using Filters in Digital Photography is an endless story . . . but one that teaches us something each step of the way.
Good Morning from Noordhoek – an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa… and wishing to put a smile on your face and see the world positive!
Good Morning from Noordhoek
Heavy storms this night and even now, as I went out into my garden in Noordhoek, South Africa, to capture the picture for “Good Morning in Noordhoek” the wind was still howling and enveloping Chapman’s Peak in dark and dreary clouds! Nevertheless… my orange pincushions stand up fiercely against the dark sky bringing the promise of sunshine…and yet another beautiful day!
Opening my Safari browser a few minutes ago just made my heart stop for a few moments: there he was, one of the true visionaries and movers of our digital era, a man who has transformed the way we communicate on the mobile web and this with incredible style, efficiency, functionality…and financial success: Steve Jobs, looking straight at me through his fine-rimmed glasses in clean, elegant black and white Apple-style. Even before I saw the dates: 1955 to 2011… I knew the Apple legend had passed to the next level:
Good bye Steve Jobs.
Good bye Steve Jobs
Once again, Steve Jobs grabbed our attention and all the world is watching!
In my case here in Noordhoek at the tip of South Africa – full-screen on the highest valued real estate in the world! Again he demonstrated that with being on the Internet and having joined the virtual reality there is no escape; here we are all one. At least here it becomes blatantly visible… which all has both sides, good and bad and it certainly accelerates our evolution at an incredible pace. It often made me ponder as to how all this connected to our spiralling and accelerating path towards a higher consciousness… as I have no doubt that we too are on a transformational journey. Comparing the terminology both environments are using – the spiritual and the digital – is revelatory alone…
Is this too a look into the future?
Strangely enough – this picture has no finality to me…
There’s much more to come – but for the moment and leaving the real laudatio to the big boyz, I just say “Thank you” as I too have learned a lot…and : Good bye Steve Jobs!
Earlier today, I was asked as to whether the Internet was good or bad – and all I could answer was that it was a matter of perspective and our clear decision as to whether we would use a rather neutral tool in a positive or negative way. Meaning for a good or a bad purpose.
Not always the choice is that easy – and that may cause inner conflict.
Within the loudness of the virtual world … of Social Networks like Twitter, Facebook and so many others with their distinctive Social Media Marketing glitz and glamour… an environment where so much is spoken with so little being said… it’s essential to stop spinning from time to time, realign, anchor oneself and find that inner space where we are still.
Whether we go out into Nature… practise yoga or meditate… we want to reach that level where everything ebbs away… where we start flowing… where we are listening to silence.
Listening to Silence
Ironically, it is this loud and dizzying virtual world that offers us incredible opportunities, bringing us into contact – almost direct contact – with some of the most evolved minds, allowing us to listen, learn and expand our horizon.
Here is one of those rare pearls that gives me something more each time I listen… with so much being expressed between the words. I’m talking of J. Krishnamurti, one of the world’s most influential thinkers and teachers.
The below memorable Interview by famous controversial British journalist and broadcaster – Bernard Levin – took place in Brockwood, UK, on 20th June 1981 – about 30 years ago. Thanks to the Internet, we have the privilege of listening to it today – and nothing has been lost in terms of meaningfulness and quality… it’s incredibly direct, it’s loving and encompassing. In our world today – filled with conflict and going through dramatic change -, Krishnamurti addresses fundamental values, our thoughts and our thinking, the importance of being light and … without conflict.
Love to share it with you.
I will add the next part of the series as time permit. The direct link to YouTube is HERE.
