Tags
Communicating with Nature, Egrets, Flying Birds, Herons, Howler Monkeys, Jaguar stories, Let's Be Wild Look Up, Mangroves, Moon, Paulo Coelho, The Valkyries Quote, Tree Art
“…Paulo said, “I want you to pay close attention to the people who pass by.”
She did as Paulo had asked. Â In the next half hour, only five people passed by.
“What did you see?”
She described the people in detail – their clothing, approximate age, what they were carrying. Â But apparently that wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Â He insisted on more, trying to get a better answer, but couldn’t do so.
“Okay,” he said. “I’m going to tell you what it was that I wanted you to notice:  All the people who passed by in the street were looking down.”
They waited for some time before another person walked by. Â Paulo was right.
“Gene asked you to look to the horizon. Â Try that.”
“What do you mean?”
“All of us create a kind of ‘magic space’ around us. Â Usually it’s a circle with about a fifteen-foot radius, and we pay attention to what goes on within it. Â It doesn’t matter whether it’s people, tables, telephones, or windows; Â we try to maintain control over that small world that we, ourselves, create.”
The Valkyries – Paulo Coelho
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Let’s Be Wild prompts us to “Look Up” this week. Â Photographers and artists often look way beyond that 15-foot circle mentioned in Paulo Coelho’s book, The Valkyries. Â Â Sometimes we are rewarded with refreshing surprises, like these young boys scampering in the ‘jobo’ tree in search of ripe plum-sized fruits.
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Once when briskly walking toward home, I sensed that something was a tiny bit amiss as I passed a ‘garrobo’ tree. Â I stopped and peered over my shoulder and was delighted with my discovery!
Read the post about Luis in the (above) tree here! The Highest Of Arts
Years ago while living in Costa Rica, I discovered that the resident jaguar had shadowed me home one full moon night after a rainstorm. Â She left random footprint-calling cards along the muddy trail home then circled my studio before marching away. Â After that, my friends often teased me to ‘watch out’ for the jaguars when I walked home at night. Â One friend reminded me to look up when I passed beneath the towering trees that lined my moonlit path.
I never pondered that a jaguar might be perched above my trail and plotting novel ways to spook the gringa! Â After that, I always remembered to scan not only the overhead branches, but also a circle much wider than 15 feet!
The resident cats often left subtle hints that they were still watching over me, though the howler monkeys were always more obvious. Â At times they were like attention-craving children and demanded that I come talk to them. Â Once while raking leaves, I heard puppy-like whimpering sounds coming from the nearby branches of the saman tree.
Three precious young monkeys were peering down at me! Â A huge smile crossed my face, and I greeted them! Â “Hey!” and then mocked their sounds.
We studied one another for a short time, and then I said, “Well, sorry, but I have work to do.” Â
I resumed raking, and my fan section protested with more loud whimpering. Â I stopped again, whimpered back, gave them a few more minutes of time, then returned to my rake. Â They whimpered a third time. I turned and smiled and said, “Sorry guys, but I have work to finish, and then I am leaving.”
How lucky I am that they taught me those sounds, as now I can summon the little ones! Â The adult monkeys aren’t too happy when that happens, but they all seem to trust me. Â Looking up rewards me with great moments.
Switching from mammals to birds, I Â have a wealth of riches here along the mangroves on Rio Jama in Ecuador. Â The birds distract me hourly, and I often abandon all tasks for the joy of observing the majestic beauty of the birds.
Experiencing the magic of an eclipse is always a reward for looking up! Â I’ve braved cold temperatures to witness an eclipse, and I’ve enjoyed basking under a Carl Sagan night in tropical climates. Â This particular eclipse provided a beautiful memory for my friends and me in Costa Rica. Â Solstic Eclipse
While you’re out and about look beyond your comfort circle and remember to LOOK UP! Â Thanks, Let’s Be Wild, for another great challenge! Â This also is perfect for this week’s WordPress Weekly Challenge for UP.
Have a good week, everyone!
thought you might like to know that Fausto died two days ago…for some reason I thought you might want to know this. love you Lisa.
hey
thank you so much; wow; please give my love to his entire family – especially mel and his immediate family.
i was thinking of you earlier this morning, and now here you are with a comment!
love you too, gwen!
Loved this post!!! Your photos are beautiful and perfectly underline the idea!
Thank you for the reminder to “look up” and around. It is always so rewarding to look out farther than our own little circle and actively observe the world around us. This was a rewarding stop for me :), thank you.
thank you so much for your genuine feedback! yes, we have to remember to look up, down, all around and beyond our 15-foot circle!
z
You have a rich abundance of wildlife distractions…a good thing to have and definitely makes you look up. Love the moon shots.
thanks; yes, the moon casts its own magic spell doesn’t it? z
Wonderful set Lisa! Can never get enough of your monkey shots 🙂 Is there a time limit for this challenge?
Hey! The challenges end each Wednesday afternoon, Eastern USA timezone. All they ask is that the photos are taken outside, as they encourage others to get outside and enjoy our planet!
It will be great to have you join us!
Mine are no match to your stunning shots, but let me see if i can find something before Wednesday 🙂
ha! your photos are always stunning. you probably have several hundred that would be perfect for this week’s challenge! z
Not of the right kind for this challenge Lisa…..but I did it anyway 🙂
http://theurgetowander.com/2013/03/06/dont-forget-to-look-up/
Fabulous! Love the tree art and Paulo Coehlo.
Thanks Lisa and friends.
Monika
you are so welcome, and than you, Monika! Coehlo always has amazing wisdom that he shares so unselfishly. z
You really have an exciting world up there, Z. And everywere I presume.. 🙂
si; we create our own happiness and carry it with us, though i do admit that it’s hard for me to stay cheerful when my teeth are chattering from the cold! i salute you in that department!
z
Love the post and the pix. Thumbs up again, z.
I love Paulo Coelho his books are so good. Like your take on this, beautiful photographs Lisa, those monkeys are so cute, they let you take pictures and all looks like the are posing 😉 The last pictures are my favorite, I will look up take some pictures too see what I see, good post like always amiga!
Thank you, amiga! It’s great seeing your posts in the story alphabets and hopefully soon with the ‘look up’ week!
A young doctora working in this area drops by the house, and we are ‘reading’ Veronica Decides to Die – poco a poco. Doctora brings her copy, and I have mind, and she reads each sentence outloud and then we discuss the words. We might finish in three or four years!!!
z
Oh the things you can see when you look up. I didn’t know about the 15ft circle but I do know that when we look down all the time we are more likely to trip and fall even though we think that by looking down we are being careful to avoid pitfalls. Looking up, or to the horizon, seems to give us better balance and a better alignment with the world around us.
i’ve not thought of that, but you’re right..looking down is not the safest way to move between points! z
I love your photos and your message Z. That is what I love about hiking in the wilderness, the wonder all around, from the tiniest little wildflower along the trail to the striking beauty of the clouds and the mountains above. 🙂
yes, there’s such peace in the wilderness if one can get quiet and appreciate what’s there! z
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Sigh..I am so far behind reading posts from my favorite bloggers. I think this has to be one of my favorite posts so far. Thank you for reminding me to “look up!” Too many times, I have my nose to the ground. I’m one of those people who finds lost money everywhere. And the quotes from “The Valkyries” are perfect! Paulo Coelho is my favorite author. Thanks Z. Your insightful posts are treasures to me.
buenos dias! how funny that i just highlighted and copied a paragraph fromcoelho’s post from a few days ago! it will go in the black’white let’s be wild post.
even though you have your nose to the ground, you find money! that’s a great bonus, and it proves that it pays to do that as well!
i’m glad you enjoyed the post, and i totally understand about catching up!
z
Wonderful and sorry it took me so long to see this! Congrats on the honorable mention!
you always make me laugh – honorable mention? i suspect you’re referring to let’s be wild! i love having you on my very own personal support team!
z
Your flying monkey…great shot! Glad that I make you laugh Z!
amazing selection.
Thanks! “Up” is a fun challenge!
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I’m so glad you shared the Paulo Coelho quote – its a reminder that I haven’t read enough of his books.
I love your monkey pictures amiga
Thanks, amiga! If the internet will allow, I’m about to post another one. The service has gotten really sluggish, and midnight is about when it works well, when everyone else is offline! I’m missing my fixes of DearRosie and hope to catch up soon!
z
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Absolutely cannot choose one!! You are very talented.
ha! thank you so much for the compliment! z
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Beautiful! 🙂