RGW Inspiration: Words and Images

No More Excuses! The primary difference between a creative person and a non-creative one is that the creative person creates because they want to have something; they visualize what they want to have and then they keep going until they have it. You don't become an artist by thinking, "I'm going to be an artist." It isn't about the mechanics of what goes into being an artist, it's about the mechanics of creating an end-product and not stopping until you have that end-product. That's it. It's nothing more complex or lofty than that. Stop lying to yourself that you aren't "creative" enough … just create something. I'd love to see it ... ;o7 – #promotephotography with thanks to Nikola Nikolski Naghmeh Khadembashi Gittan Beheydt Milena Ilieva and Promote Photography #LandscapePhotography with thanks to Margaret Tompkins Jim Warthman David Heath Williams Kevin Rowe and Landscape Photography #rgwoodpost #photography #googleplusphotos #h...

Strengthen Your Core Several years ago I decided to change my physical condition. I had gained a lot of weight over the years and confronted it one Christmas visiting my brother -- and his bathroom scale ... ugh. I took on a program of running and weight-lifting and changed my eating. However, after a year and a half of that, I had only managed to lose about fifteen pounds. I was healthier, sure -- probably gained more muscle weight and lost some fat -- but I was still frustrated at not being able to get to where I wanted to be. Then ... my back went out on me like a faithless lover. I felt so betrayed. It was the first time anything that debilitating had ever happened to me. I couldn't move at all. When I went to the doctor, he told me I had to do something like yoga or pilates (similar to yoga). I laughed to myself -- the last thing that I wanted to do was bend like that!! So, I ignored him. Throughout the following year I was still unable to to break my plateau, but during that ...

The World Is My Teacher   All of the knowledge to be found in this world was originally empirical.  It did not come from a book or a teacher; someone figured it out based on observation. True, it is often faster to have someone show you how to do something, but to move into an area on your own and teach yourself based on your own observation, that is where creativity is born -- the ability to reach beyond the observations of others.  This gives you the ability to see something that no one else has seen before.   ––––– Love posting to themes? You might enjoy these great themes with excellent curators! Themes and hashtags are not necessarily about getting more attention, but are a valuable indexing method, which help others find relevant posts via clickable links as well as a great way to meet like-minded people. I tend to only promote those themes with active, caring curators. #ThirstyThursdayPics with thanks to  Giuseppe Basile & Mark Esguerra #thirstythursday #CoastalThursday wi...

Revealing Your Vision -- Part 2 At my post a couple of days ago (part 1, here: https://plus.google.com/+RobinGriggsWood/posts/2pVyWXQHLDg ), some interesting ideas were brought up in the comments and I felt I should address those in a new post, because I think many more people could benefit from the concepts. Being Paralyzed or Being Lazy You know this one; you're stuck. Nothing has changed in ages and it's the same old problems staying put or repeating themselves over and over. There are times it feels as if you are completely paralyzed by all the problems. You can't seem to overcome them.  You would rather play video games, watch TV, or surf the Internet for interesting memes and diverting conversation then try to tackle those problems yet again! Sometimes, you are told by others (or yourself) that you are just being lazy because you're not getting a handle on your life. Oh, that one bites hard! Why does being told you are lazy bite so hard? Why does it make you fe...

Revealing Your Vision Do you have a vision for your life? What is it? Do you actually know? What is "vision"––you know, when we're not talking about something which might involve your optometrist? The definition of "vision" I'm talking about is: "The ability to visualize, think about or plan the future." So, back to: Do you know what your vision is? If you don't, I can at least tell you what your vision was yesterday, a month ago, a year ago. Ready? You're sitting in it right now. Yep, that's right. The course, direction, circumstance of your life, as it is right this very minute, is the vision you've been working on. It's the one you've been holding in your mind and it's manifesting itself today. Do you want to change that? Here's the how-to.  First, think about what you want to have or do. Next, write out a list with those aspirations on it leaving enough space on the side of each to write the obstacles preventing ...

Overcoming Your Fear Firstly, I'm going to offer up a host of platitudes: “One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” ~Andre Gide “Do one thing every day that scares you.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt “No man ever achieved worth-while success who did not, at one time or another, find himself with at least one foot hanging well over the brink of failure.” ~Napoleon Hill “He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson "Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy." ~Dale Carnegie Actually, that last one is my real springboard ... ;o7 Here's the key to overcoming fear: DO! Fear isn't actually supposed to be the crippling emotion we allow it to be.  It's a driving force.  It's an energy source to be capitalized on! If you're feeling fearful about...

"That Brighter Day"   The changes you are looking for in your life will come about when you spend more time focusing on the things you want to have happen than the things you are worrying could happen.   ––––– #TreeTuesday #BreakfastClub  #10000photographersaroundtheworld  #promotephotography with  #TheMagicOfLight #LandscapePhotography #rgwoodpost #canonphotography #canonphotographer #digitalphotography #naturephotography #inspiration #color #colors #fineart #fineartpls #landscapeart #light ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Please feel free to ask me, if you would like any of my images  available for print at robingriggswood.com

––– Wallpaper, WALLPAPER! The other day, I found one of my paintings ( http://goo.gl/3STnp ) strewn around the Web on "free wallpaper" sites. They had gotten it off "CGSociety" (notorious for having works stolen from), cropped my signature off the bottom and ran it through a pixel bending program, stripping my copyright and generally uglifying it. Some even had the audacity to plop their copyright logo over mine. Not that this is anything new. What did I do? I was reminded on something a girlfriend, one of the great teachers in my own life, said to me one day, "When you make something, give it away … then you'll just have to make more." When you start to think of the works that you do as too important or significant you start to lose objectivity––the one thing you need for honing skills.  Make something, give it away, throw it away, burn it or just do it again.  Make it unimportant and you lose the stress and pressure -- those are the top two creativit...

Why can't I do the things I want to do? There's so much I know I'm capable of that I never actually do. Why is that? –– The trick is to realize that you're always doing what you want to do ... always. Nobody's making you do anything. Once you get that, you see that you're free and that life is really just a series of choices. Nothing happens to you. You choose. ~ The Answer Man …………. ––––– #SunsetSaturday #LandscapePhotography #hqsplandscape #rgwoodpost #amazing #naturephotography NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY Nature Photography #color #colors #inspiration #canonphotography #canonphotographer #digitalphotography #sunsetphotography #skyphotography (\_(\ (=’ :’) :* (,(”)(”)¤°.¸¸.•´¯`»#Spring ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

Are you an artist? ––– If you are a photographer and you've ever wondered if you are an artist, I offer you this from Ansel Adams: "Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art."   Sure, there are photographers that only document what is in front of their lens, and you may well be one of those. So how can you tell if you are an artist? This is what I tell my students:  You are an artist if you wish to create something with your media which communicates more than its component parts.   Now, you become a remarkable artist when you become fluent in the language of how to communicate with the tools of art and move past merely documenting what is in front of your lens.  An artist will use these tools to show us what we have never seen before.   The best artists will show us what we never could have imagined.  This is the stuff that makes your jaw drop, makes you stop in your tracks and makes you say, "Wow!"  I am still a...

The Healing of Bali ––– Don't wait for inspiration …  Create it. ––––– #ZenSunday #SacredSunday  #LandscapePhotography #BreakfastClub  ––––– #rgwoodpost #canonphotography #canonphotographers #digitalphotography   #naturephotography #sunsetphotography   #AutumnPhotography   Five images, composited in Photoshop . #digitalart #surrealart #inspiration ––– Please ask me, if you wish this image were available for print at robingriggswood.com

––– Life is Beautiful ––– … especially with you in it with me! ––––– 42 shots later, I have one image. o_O Why so many? … you may ask … (thinking, of course, to yourself that this Robin is few pistons shy of a running engine.) I'm trying to fight noise you see. So, for this panoramic stitch of six aspects (three on the bottom row three for the top), I shot 7 each and stacked them in layers to lessen the noise pattern on any given one. It's always a battle with my little cam … but sometimes I get to win the round. ––––– #BreakfastClub with huge thanks to dear Gemma Costa #SacredSunday with thanks to SacredSunday™ , Manfred Berndtgen , Robyn Morrison ,  Chatchai Rombix , Justin Hill ,  Steve Barge , Carolyn St.Charles , Sherrie von Sternberg #ZenSunday  with thanks to Charlotte Therese Björnström , Simon Kitcher and Nathan Wirth #SkySunday with thanks to Randy Scherkenbach and +Patrick Scherkenbach #LandscapePhotography with thanks to Margaret Tompkins, Carra Riley, paul t beard,...

Elevating Your Mood and Overcoming Depression:  The 10 Most Selfish Things You Should Do For Yourself 1. Eat well and feed your body properly. Did you ever pause and look at the connection between how you feed yourself and your mental lows? This is a "biggie", folks. I have a friend who gained a bit of local fame for his work with depressed and troubled children. All he did was put them on good nutrition. Within three to six months, typically, he created radical changes in their behavior for the good. Your mood and the health of your body are on a direct link. A quality liquid mineral supplement is a very good start. 2. Volunteer your time to help another or others that cannot help themselves. It is harder to see your own misery when you are focused on others. 3. Learn yoga, pilates, tai-chi or some form of quiet physical discipline––at some point in your life. Whether or not you continue doing it for the rest of your life, the time spent doing it for a year or so t...