RGW Inspiration: Words and Images

Never belittle your lofty dreams; Never squelch their seeming madness. Those dreams are your energy and inspiration; They are the fuel that propels you. ~ rgw "The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment." ~ Earl Nightingale ––––– #LeadingLinesMonday with thanks to curators Pam Boling & Jakob Nilsson and Leading Lines Monday #BreakfastClub with thanks to Stuart Williams and *

I like to push the creative envelope with my images, just to see what is possible. It doesn't matter, I can always shoot more or process again. Too many artists fall in love with their work––their "children"––and can't move past the idea to just do MORE. These "children", like real children, need to be let go of eventually. Then the new create can come in, which has the potential to become something much greater. The ability to "waste" your work is actually sanity in the world of creativity. ––––– Another of my wacky, over–the–top skies for #SkySunday  and the sometimes wacky, sometimes over–the–top Simone Linke (who never fails to make me smile!) Sky Sunday - Photography Theme with thanks to Randy Scherkenbach and Patrick Scherkenbach

You are wonderful! It is easy for us to fall into negatives about ourselves from time to time. We get into these modes of thinking that we have wasted an effort here and there; wasted a portion of our lives. Yet spending a lot of time contemplating such thoughts is a waste in itself! If one can push oneself to focus on now and the future only, this creates an open door for what it possible. All the potential for a successful life is right there within a person already. However, to fulfill that potential, it is key that one never spend time making less of oneself, not ever. Any time spent in negative thoughts about oneself is, in effect, tearing down that which one is trying to build! YOU are the best thing you have, and you are wonderful; don't ever forget that. ––––– #SilhouettesOnThursday with thanks to Siddharth Pandit And a skosh early for #ColorsOnFriday , with thanks to the very colorful Gilmar Smith E.E. Giorgi Christina Lihani and Erin Henderson ~ ColorsOnFriday

–––––––––– There is something admirable, something distinctly wonderful in all individuals, if you just care enough and pay attention enough to find out what that is. –––––––––– For #InspirationalSaturday , with thanks to our inspirational curators Charlotte Therese Björnström Khrystiane Friedli and Louisa Catharine Forsyth !!

I stepped out into a post-apocalyptic morning, deep orange light penetrating the dark sky … OK, it is just the morning after Hallowe'en. Nothing worse than a some smashed pumpkins littering the neighborhood and a few candy wrappers about as I scurry along on my morning run. But now that I have your attention, I want to share this for any new readers. You can do it. Whatever your dreams and aspirations are, you are no different than any other human being on this planet, you have within you the capacity to succeed. I have mentioned before the concept of the "talent" myth. The idea of "talent" as some god-bestowed gift to a handful of fortunates was created eons ago by individuals unable to grasp the actual mechanism behind capability, and fostered by individuals who feared others becoming stronger or better than they. The fundamental key to ability is hard work and persistence. That is the singular common denominator to all success. Predisposition might factor in...

Do what you love This is a portrait I painted of my dear friend, Wayne Allwine -- the voice of Mickey Mouse that many of us grew up with ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Allwine ) -- following his death in 2009. His lovely wife, Russi Taylor-Allwine (the voice of Minnie Mouse; yeah, they met at work! ... :oD) shared it at the service we attended at the Disney studios and everyone agreed that it depicted him aptly -- a man of many talents. Not only was he an exceptional voice-over actor, but he was also an accomplished musician (he was an expert in guitar, banjo, piano, drums and harmonica, as well as composing his own music), a writer of children's stories, a humanitarian, a philosopher, an interior designer and a darn good cook! He was good at all of these things because he loved them. He earned a good living for his acting skills, indeed, but primarily because he loved what he did! Money gets a bad rep, when it is the only motivation. Because we are only talking about a repre...