View allAll Photos Tagged optimism
"life is good" redux.
It's a progress report. I already posted a shot of this fine setup over a year ago and at the time I thought what was there was just a start and was going to get even better and it did. More slogans added to the effect that life is good and beach is all you need. What you see is only a part of the whole thing, there are more flags, more artificial palms, more everything . Basically it is a very localised , confined to a small garden , explosion of optimism.
Which reminded me an old silly joke:
pessimist: "it just can't get any worse!"
optimist: "Oh I am sure it can!"
anyway, apart from enjoying the scene I also thought wouldn't that be fun if I had a spare house next door to this one and lots of time on my hands and money to waste , to setup , merely as an art act , an alternative display "Life sucks"..
IT would be a fine selection of skulls, skeletons, black flags, posters "I wanna die" , "Life is hard but fortunately short", "No future" etc etc , maybe a few stuffed animals you know .
I recon that would be awesome duo.
But sadly I have no spare house next door , no money to waste and basically no spare time, so life basically sucks ..
as for the optimistic lot in this house I am sure they have this tune on repeat:
Sometimes you shoot things that you just like. I don't know why, but the balance just appeals to something.
I like this.
The tie is one I collected from a Pfizer drug rep when Viagra first came out. For some strange reason, this hopeful guy is the only one I could get to wear it for me!
Our Thursday Photography Group had the theme of City Triptychs this week. These sculptures found around the city streets are NOT named as I have titled the triptych, but looking at them in the row I thought it matched their postures.
This Is an illustration based on a quote about optimism, could not find the author of the quote so if anyone knows please give us a shout!
The illustration should hopefully be included in a self published book with all the proceeds going to support those in need. Those are the only details I know, more news soon..
230/366 8/17/2016
This Optimist Dinghy sailboat was part of a children's sailing lesson fleet which sailed out of Falmouth Harbor to practice drills in Nantucket Sound.
This happy little carved head adorns a gateway on Taquile Island, in Lake Titicaca Peru. We could all do with some of his take on life, eh?
Maria's photo.
40% floof, 40% determination and 20% optimism. 100% dog. #Floof, #Determination, #And, #Optimism, #100, #Dog #Contfeed
Check out here >> cofd.co/6q2kr
This clothesline speaks a lot to me -- cheery, innocent optimism held up against a Cuban world that might not be seen in such light.
This design was my entry to Spoonflower Optimism Challenge with limited colour palette. Hope you like it :) x
“A Pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity;
An Optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
“Our brains aren’t just shaped by the past. They are constantly being shaped by our future.”
80% of people describe themselves as optimists. Our brains are wired to see the bright side. Tali Sharot’s TED talk on our collective bias toward optimism went online.
“We are more optimistic than realistic, but we are oblivious to the fact. Take marriage for example. In the Western world, divorce rates are about 40%. But when you ask newlyweds about their own likelihood of divorce, they estimate it at zero percent. Even divorce lawyers. Optimists are not less likely to divorce, but they are more likely to remarry. In the words of Samuel Johnson, “Remarriage is the triumph of hope over experience.”
Some say ‘Happiness correlates with low expectations.’
It’s a good theory, but it turns out to be wrong for three reasons:
1) Whatever happens, whether you succeed or you fail, people with high expectations always feel better, because how we feel — when we get dumped or we win employee of the month — depends on how we interpret that event.
2) Regardless of outcome, anticipation makes us happy.
3) Optimism changes subjective and objective reality. Optimism leads to success. If we expect the future to be bright, stress and anxiety are reduced.”
A winter memory.
Optimism: 1. Finding the good in one's circumstances. 2. The belief that goodness pervades reality. 3. Maddy
That's a snowy cornfield in the background.
March 1, 2018.
IMG_8502 iPhone
in a rainy munich, a cleaning lady in orange becomes part of the store's vibrant message of a clean future. amidst the drizzle, her silhouette is a burst of warmth against the coolness of the rain. she moves methodically, her presence as much a part of the storefront as the promise emblazoned above. the world outside continues its wet whisper, but inside, there's a bright insistence on order and optimism. even as the rain blurs the lines, her efforts carve out a space where clarity reigns.
Square pattern print in polyester jersey knit fabric. Pink, orange, and yellow crocheted granny square. Beads and buttons.
I was an early riser yesterday so managed to get to work earlier and finish earlier. So what started out as a great day got better as I sold my first Canvas of one of my shots through my Website (blog). To celebrate I thought I would get down the beach for a nice walk and some great shots as a gap in the clouds appeared. However, when I got there my optimism faded as I was greeted by a blanket of grey. I still decided to get some shots anyway before walking away as all hope of that 'perfect light' eventually vanished. Still it was a great day :)
As Paul pointed out yesterday I missed my Monday portrait. This was because I had grand plans for a beach portrait on Tuesday. With the naff light though the plans changed and I ended up with this shot! The original idea will have to wait for a brighter day!
Life is weird sometimes. So many odd things going on in our family, and I am grouchy all around. So I am just putting it out in the universe that I intend to be an optimist. See how that works for me. 361/365
Detail of the enormous tapestry designed by Graham Sutherland adorns the end wall beyond the altar, forming the focal point and climax of the interior.
Coventry's Cathedral is a unique synthesis of old a new, born of wartime suffering and forged in the spirit of postwar optimism, famous for it's history and for being the most radically modern of Anglican cathedrals. Two cathedral's stand side by side, the ruins of the medieval building, destroyed by incendiary bombs in 1940 and the bold new building designed by Basil Spence and opened in 1962.
It is a common misconception that Coventry lost it's first cathedral in the wartime blitz, but the bombs actually destroyed it's second; the original medieval cathedral was the monastic St Mary's, a large cruciform building believed to have been similar in appearance to Lichfield Cathedral (whose diocese it shared). Tragically it became the only English cathedral to be destroyed during the Reformation, after which it was quickly quarried away, leaving only scant fragments, but enough evidence survives to indicate it's rich decoration (some pieces were displayed nearby in the Priory Visitors Centre, sadly since closed). Foundations of it's apse were found during the building of the new cathedral in the 1950s, thus technically three cathedrals share the same site.
The mainly 15th century St Michael's parish church became the seat of the new diocese of Coventry in 1918, and being one of the largest parish churches in the country it was upgraded to cathedral status without structural changes (unlike most 'parish church' cathedrals created in the early 20th century). It lasted in this role a mere 22 years before being burned to the ground in the 1940 Coventry Blitz, leaving only the outer walls and the magnificent tapering tower and spire (the extensive arcades and clerestoreys collapsed completely in the fire, precipitated by the roof reinforcement girders, installed in the Victorian restoration, that buckled in the intense heat).
The determination to rebuild the cathedral in some form was born on the day of the bombing, however it wasn't until the mid 1950s that a competition was held and Sir Basil Spence's design was chosen. Spence had been so moved by experiencing the ruined church he resolved to retain it entirely to serve as a forecourt to the new church. He envisaged the two being linked by a glass screen wall so that the old church would be visible from within the new.
Built between 1957-62 at a right-angle to the ruins, the new cathedral attracted controversy for it's modern form, and yet some modernists argued that it didn't go far enough, after all there are echoes of the Gothic style in the great stone-mullioned windows of the nave and the net vaulting (actually a free-standing canopy) within. What is exceptional is the way art has been used as such an integral part of the building, a watershed moment, revolutionising the concept of religious art in Britain.
Spence employed some of the biggest names in contemporary art to contribute their vision to his; the exterior is adorned with Jacob Epstein's triumphant bronze figures of Archangel Michael (patron of the cathedral) vanquishing the Devil. At the entrance is the remarkable glass wall, engraved by John Hutton with strikingly stylised figures of saints and angels, and allowing the interior of the new to communicate with the ruin. Inside, the great tapestry of Christ in majesty surrounded by the evangelistic creatures, draws the eye beyond the high altar; it was designed by Graham Sutherland and was the largest tapestry ever made.
However one of the greatest features of Coventry is it's wealth of modern stained glass, something Spence resolved to include having witnessed the bleakness of Chartres Cathedral in wartime, all it's stained glass having been removed. The first window encountered on entering is the enormous 'chess-board' baptistry window filled with stunning abstract glass by John Piper & Patrick Reyntiens, a symphony of glowing colour. The staggered nave walls are illuminated by ten narrow floor to ceiling windows filled with semi-abstract symbolic designs arranged in pairs of dominant colours (green, red, multi-coloured, purple/blue and gold) representing the souls journey to maturity, and revealed gradually as one approaches the altar. This amazing project was the work of three designers lead by master glass artist Lawrence Lee of the Royal College of Art along with Keith New and Geoffrey Clarke (each artist designed three of the windows individually and all collaborated on the last).
The cathedral still dazzles the visitor with the boldness of it's vision, but alas, half a century on, it was not a vision to be repeated and few of the churches and cathedrals built since can claim to have embraced the synthesis of art and architecture in the way Basil Spence did at Coventry.
The cathedral is generally open to visitors most days. For more see below:-