Joyfully Green: 5 entries from June 2016

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My Top Pick for Summer Reading (plus an almost-announcement and an actual announcement!)

After last week's post about my summer reading list, I received all kinds of wonderful emails and messages from friends near and far who wanted to tell me (a.) they were looking forward to reading some of the books I'd mentioned, or (b.) they had good book recommendations to share with me, too (which I love, despite my own stacks of still-unread books teetering and toppling all over the place). It's downright refreshing to know there are so many bookworms out there!

So, in honor of my book-loving buddies, instead of my usual round-up of "Joyful Reads for the Weekend", I want to give you one more must-read. It's my favorite non-fiction book so far this year: Meditations on Intention and Being: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga, Mindfulness, and Compassion by Rolf Gates. I've mentioned it before on this blog, but it's well worth repeating. Certainly not just for summer (but why not start it now?), it's brimming with daily wisdom on every single page, and every time I flip it open, I'm just...awestruck. I've underlined and re-underlined like crazy! (Of course, Delilah heard me taking pictures of it and ran right over to get in the shot! Never fails.)

Happy July 4th to those of you in the states, and Happy Weekend to everyone!

Before you go...

I CAN'T WAIT to share some very BIG news with you, but I can't officially let the cat out of the bag until July 6th! (Rats! It's sooooo hard to keep a secret!)

Here's something that I can officially announce: Enrollment is now OPEN for the next session of my online photography course, The Art of Photography: How to Take Your Pictures to the Next Level, running in July 2016. Click here for all the details and join me online to create some GORGEOUS pictures together this summer!

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© 2016 by Joy Sussman/JoyfullyGreen.com LLC. All rights reserved. All photos and text digitally fingerprinted and watermarked. Please do not use any photographs without asking me first for permission at [email protected] and then clearly linking back to this site with photo credits. Site licensed by Creative Commons.

Posted on 06/30/2016 at 06:27 PM in books, dogs, meditation | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: art photography, beach reads, good reads for summertime, learn photography online, online photography classes, photo e-courses, summer reading

A Day at the Beach: My Summer Reading List

The lazy, hazy days of summer are finally here and I, for one, am VERY happy about that!

Today, despite my admittedly daunting to-do list, I'm taking the kids to the beach for the first time this season, and I'm quite excited to simply stick my toes into the warm sand and await the "salon treatment" of cool mud from a beach bucket mixed with lake water. (If that doesn't sound good to you, you haven't tried it yet!) I'm downright terrible at relaxing, but I think my kids have perfected the remedy.

There's something so heavenly about the way a beach muffles the sounds of the world. Everything seems so far away. Little kids yelling seem like they're yelling from Mars. The insignificant stuff washes away with the waves. Whoever said "Life's a Beach" really knew what she was talking about!

To get your season off to a sweet start, I thought I'd round up some summer reads from the archives. (If you're just starting winter where you are, perhaps these will warm you up!)

Summer Unplugged: 20 Good Books for the Beach (and Beyond!)

20 Ways to Simplify Your Summer, "Old School" Style

Pictures Save the Day: 7 Ways to Make Your Vacation Photos More Memorable

My Summer Garden Tour: Can You Identify These Flowers?

The Roadmap to Fewer (and Greener) Vacation Souvenirs

I hope your summer is a very cool one!

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Before you go...

Enrollment opens VERY soon for the next session of my online photography course, The Art of Photography: How to Take Your Pictures to the Next Level, running in July 2016. Stay tuned here for details, or get on the list for my free monthly photography e-letter, "Writing with Light", which is where the big course discounts and early registration can be found. (Sign up for "Writing with Light" in the righthand column of this blog.)

Did you enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to Joyfully Green via email or RSS reader: just click here.

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Posted on 06/24/2016 at 08:48 AM in beaches, Joyful Reads, summer | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: good books for the beach, summer activities, summer fun, summer is here, summer reading

Joyful Finds for the Weekend, Vol. 69

Hello there, and Happy Weekend!

I'm midway through teaching my newest e-course, Beyond Auto Mode: How to Really Work Your DSLR Camera, and I have to say I am SO happily overwhelmed by how the students are all supporting each other as they learn the technical stuff that makes their cameras tick! It's a really wonderful fringe benefit of teaching these online courses--watching friendships form as people move along the learning curve together. It's like they're all helping each other cross a bridge, so I thought this photograph above was à propos. It also seems like a good shot to welcome in the weekend, along with the following interesting tidbits I gathered this past week. Enjoy!

Go ahead, make their day.

Helping helpless bugs

LOVED this video so much: Elders react to David Bowie

Man and his pet chicken are sailing around the world together!

Caring for a senior polar bear

Maine student rejects scholarship from bottled water company

15 kids' picture books celebrating great writers, artists, scientists

And last but not least: Fairytale macro world

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Posted on 06/16/2016 at 09:15 PM in BUGS!, Joyful Reads | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: best books for children, Elders react to David Bowie, helping bugs, macro photography, new kids books, pet chicken sailing around world

Be the Eccentric Neighbor

Today I am writing you a permission slip, if you think you really need it. (You don't).

It's your ticket to letting yourself relax, care less about what some people think of you, and notice more of the world right outside your door.

Because sometimes, that means looking like the crazy neighbor.

You know, the one who is lying flat down on the front lawn to take a picture of a ladybug climbing on a blade of grass, when the other neighbors are driving off to work, hunched over in their cars, disapproving scowls aimed in your direction. Or maybe they're just immersed in their own worries or petty miseries, too caught up in their personal dramas to notice you lying flat down on the front lawn.

Maybe that lady who is joylessly tugging her dog down the street will see you--the one who is yelling into her cell phone at somebody who needs a good chewing-out. Maybe she will stop mid-sentence to wonder what on earth you are doing. Or maybe (very likely) she'll be too wrapped up in her own concerns to notice you.

Because that's another important thing you learn as you get older and wiser: Not everybody is watching you.

And even if a few of them are...so what?

(Really. So what?)

Is it worth missing a once-in-a-lifetime picture of a seemingly supersonic hummingbird barely one foot away from you? If you run inside and put on "proper clothes", that hummingbird will be long-gone by the time you re-emerge.

Go ahead, be that eccentric fellow who is wearing his bathrobe outside as he walks around barefoot in the grass, sipping his coffee and admiring the clouds. The one who notices there's a hawk soaring way up high, drifting effortlessly on the ever-so-slight breeze that barely ruffles the leaves.

Be the wacky neighbor who climbs up into the kids' treehouse while the kids are off at school. (A treehouse is a great place to read a good book.)

I hereby give you permission to whisper "hi there" to a squirrel who has stopped mid-scamper, wondering who you are and what you're doing out here in the yard in your pajamas. Shouldn't you be back inside, scrubbing a pot or folding some laundry? Nope, not right now. There's a squirrel who is three feet away from you, head cocked to the side in wonder. Take this moment to gaze right back.

Be that nutty neighbor who saves a beetle by flipping it back over and watching it fly away until it's only the tiniest speck in the big blue sky.

Shed your veneer of cool; let go of the need to be "normal."

You don't want to miss this one and only moment.

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Before you go...

LAST CALL and just a few spots left for my brand-new online photography course "Beyond Auto Mode: How to Really Work Your DSLR Camera." Join students from around the world--class starts this Monday, June 13, 2016. For all the course details and registration, click here.

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Posted on 06/08/2016 at 09:22 AM in BUGS!, mindfulness, photography, priorities | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: how to use your DSLR camera, joy of being different, mindfulness, nature appreciation, noticing nature, online photo classes, photography e-courses

What Makes Your Heart Go Mellow?

"Blue makes my heart go mellow..." sings my eight-year-old daughter in lullaby-style from her bedroom, where she is playing with a selection of her stuffed animals, pretending to be their mother.

I've always loved it when my children make up their own songs and sing them without knowing or caring if anyone is listening. I remember my son singing long ago about "a monkey walking down the street in his monkey pants with a monkey belt." And my daughter singing "squirrels in the trees like to nibble, nibble, nibble." These spur-of-the-moment songs are like a secret peek into their busy brains as they're making sense of the world, or making up new worlds entirely.

In the middle of my work, I pause to listen to my daughter's little song (and to melt). What a lovely turn of phrase: "Makes my heart go mellow." It makes me think:

What else makes my heart go mellow?

Seeing an elderly couple holding hands.

Whenever my velvety-eared dog (already a heart-melter) lets out a deep, contented sigh, right before settling down for a nap.

The heady scent of lilacs wafting on a spring breeze.

Every last little thing about Mourning Doves.

As soon as I saw the trailer for "Far from the Madding Crowd", I knew I'd be smitten by the movie (and boy, was I right!).

People who rescue animals for a living.

A baby's "Ritz Cracker" hands (you know, with those little dimples at the knuckles) and pudgy "Flintstones" feet.

The Collected Tales of Beatrix Potter. (And I love, love, love how Beatrix Potter spent her author royalties on buying up woodlands in England to save them from development.)

My 104-year-old great aunt.

Chipmunks, especially mid-scamper.

Ray Bolger singing as the Scarecrow, Gene Kelly singing in the rain, and Dick Van Dyke singing his children to sleep in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Studying tiny creatures through a macro lens and realizing they're just going about their day, doing the best they can to make it in a very large world.

Jeff Buckley's version of "Hallelujah."

Remembering my gruff grandfather, who had a soft spot for me when I was very little and let me put sponge curlers in his thinning hair while he watched the Yankees and smoked cigars.

Coloring books, paper dolls, wooden pull-toys.

Typewriters--the very oldest ones with circular keys.

Looking through boxes of old photographs, curled at the edges and yellowed with age, of my parents and grandparents--and their parents, too.

Remembering so many furry friends who are no longer with us.

Remembering the magical woods of my childhood home.

Remembering, remembering, remembering...and being immensely grateful.

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Before you go...

Last few days to sign up for my brand-new online photography course "Beyond Auto Mode: How to Really Work Your DSLR Camera." Join students from around the world--just a few spots left! For all the course details and registration, click here.

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Posted on 06/02/2016 at 09:01 AM in BUGS!, e-courses, forest, gratitude, parenting, photography | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: Beatrix Potter land conservation in England, DSLR photo courses, Far from the Madding Crowd, heartwarming things, Jeff Buckley Hallelujah, mourning doves true love birds, online photography classes, photo courses