Face The Fear
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"Petting, scratching, and cuddling a dog could be as soothing to the mind and heart as deep meditation and almost as good for the soul as prayer." – Dean Koontz
My puppy ran out into the garden to run from one place to another after the bugs, the butterflies, and even after his shadow. As soon as he heard me go out to the garden, he ran up and jumped on top of me to hug him. I couldn't refuse and immediately, his drooling kisses. This puppy is magical, doesn't remember my scolding, only knows how to give me love and happiness.
♫ Karen Souza - Feels So Good ♫
Feels So Good
Drumknott
No one has to tell me to love you I just do
All the stars are shining above you know it too
Everything you are is everything I need
You're the one who's changed
Everything I believe and it feels so good to me
Feels so good when you're talking to me
Feels alright sharing the air breath
Feels so fine to be here alone with you
And it's real it feels so good so good so good so
All I ever needed was one love who'd be true
All you ever needed was one girl me for you
You and me alone with only half a heart
We belong together and it never part and it feels so good to me
Feels so good when you're talking to me
Feels alright sharing the air breath
Feels so fine to be here alone with you
And it's real it feels so good so good so good so
Talk about it dream about it no one never live without it
Boy it's you don't never doubt it
You're the right guy on the right time right for me
Feels so good when you're talking to me
Feels alright sharing the air breath
Feels so fine to be here alone with you
And it's real it feels so good feels so good
And it's real it feels so good feels so good good
Dear Friends,
Please enjoy my new therapeutic and meditative musical creation, Magical Lake
It has been made to be experienced together with my new fairytale, which you can find both on my English and Russian blogs (see links).
Lead in...
Imagine yourself walking along the shore of a beautiful, fabulous lake. Everything around shines in the gentle rays of the sun and amazing music sounds in the air... Beautiful outlandish flowers grow all around, dropping droplets of precious nectar into the sparkling water. With each step you feel the silken touch of water and melody, which wash away all your sorrows and fill you with an unlimited sense of love and harmony and happiness ... :)
... and the story begins ...
The Enchanted Prince & Riding Hood
Радужные Размышления Моего Сердца
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 💖✨
Elena 🌈☀️
A beautiful scene I saw and tried to capture as I worked to do my best to stay present and cope with the reality of my past experiences while riding home from a neurofeedback appointment. In this image I see a story I can relate to.
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This is one of many photos I’ve taken from the passenger seat as we spend at least 6 hours in the car on a weekly basis to drive twice a week to my neurofeedback appointments. This practice of seeing, appreciating and capturing my surroundings from the moving car can sometimes be very helpful for me. This image was captured on 12/20/2023.
Appreciate my work? One way you can support me is through ordering my zines—links below. This helps me to be able to continue my practice of therapeutic photography and with out of pocket costs for neurofeedback therapy which is necessary in my recovery and healing process. Any support is greatly appreciated—thank you!
Clouds zine: www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/2289133
in the moment | collection 1: www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/2357266
in the moment | collection 2: www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/2383037
It’s been a therapeutic week off, to say the least. Hera has been really easy to find; I like to think I know her pretty well by now, as I’m familiar with all her favorite perching spots and I can even predict where she’ll want to go next in some cases. However, I didn’t expect this. My neighbor often puts out scraps of meat that are usually picked up by crows and sometimes vultures. But, any bird would be a fool to not be an opportunist in the winter, and I’ve found that Hera in particular has turned out to be quite the opportunist. She will take a couple of meat scraps herself, and usually flies to a nearby low perch to consume them. Historically she hasn’t been the biggest fan of letting me watch her eat up close, but yesterday was different for some reason and I was able to get what I consider my best photos yet of this breathtaking beauty! Hopefully, there will be more to come before I’ve got to head back to school next week.
Tokaanu Thermal Walk (20 minutes)
This short walk provides an interesting glimpse of a natural thermal area. See steaming hot mineral pools set in sinter basins and spluttering mud pools amidst the native bush.
For hundreds of years, Maori have used theNet@Artresources of this area for cooking, bathing and leisure. Share in this tradition by having a therapeutic and relaxing swim at the nearby Tokaanu Thermal Pools.
Rainbow trout can often be seen here in the cold Tokaanu stream that flows beside the thermal area.
Hot pools range in hues of turquoise blue and rich green to burnt orange and sulphuric yellow, making the steaming waters a must-see!
The vibrant colors are caused by miniral and sillicate interference .....
Yellow - Caused by Sulphur
Orange - Is due to antimony
Green - Sulphuran ferrous Salts
My appreciation and thanks to all of you for your comments awards and faves !!!!
I found this scene so captivating and beautiful when I looked out the window a couple nights ago and saw the falling snow illuminated by the yard light. For a while I haven’t been able to get myself to take pictures like I had been, but in this peacefully captivating moment I felt inspired to go grab my camera and spend a few minutes trying to capture what I saw through the window.
View Large On Black (Recommended).
Streams flow out of Earth like blood from our veins...
Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada.
For MM: "Poisonous".
The Celandrine is toxic. It ought to be used with caution because of enclosing venomous alkoloids.
On the other hand, there are numerous therapeutic uses of this plant.
The Celandrine can be grinded and dried up as on this shot.
Its therapeutic to wander round woodland when conditions remain fairly constant and not quite the usual frantic photography of early or late light.
The quiet silence of birdsong and the crunch underfoot is pretty special. ©mattoliver
I just love watching the sky especially on a bright and beautiful day!
*Note: More pics of Sky and Scenery in my Sky and Scenery Album
Now the flowers and then the leaves.
Giallo terapeutico
Ora i fiori e tra un pò le foglie
🌻👋👋
All rights reserved © Nick Outdoor Photography
The tone and mood of this image seemed like an illustration for how I often feel in the car on the way to and on the ride home from my neurofeedback appointments. Neurofeedback is tremendously helpful for me, and for my complex situation it also involves a lot of sadness, difficult and painful feelings as I do the very hard and rewarding work of recognizing and facing the unspeakable reality of the harm I have experienced at a pace that can be handled by my body, mind and spirit. I am thankful I don’t have to face this completely alone, that I have the hope of a very small and supportive group of people and God’s faithfulness.
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This is one of many photos I’ve taken from the passenger seat as we spend at least 6 hours in the car on a weekly basis to drive twice a week to my neurofeedback appointments. This practice of seeing, appreciating and capturing my surroundings from the moving car can sometimes be very helpful for me. This image was captured on 1/3/2023.
Appreciate my work? One way you can support me is through ordering my zines—links below. This helps me to be able to continue my practice of therapeutic photography and with out of pocket costs for neurofeedback therapy which is necessary in my recovery and healing process. Any support is greatly appreciated—thank you!
Clouds zine: www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/2289133
in the moment | collection 1: www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/2357266
in the moment | collection 2: www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/2383037
…and trying to survive, do the intense work of healing and striving to live a healthy balance of grace and truth.
It’s so scary, overwhelming, overpowering and feels inescapable when the terror of your reality pulls you back into your past and feels like it’s happening in the present and you experience an involuntarily mental escape for the sake of your survival. This is not a sign that you are bad. This is not a sign that you did something wrong. This is not a sign that you are worthless. This is not a sign that you are too messed up. This is not a sign that you are lazy. This is not a sign that you are weak. This is what happens when your body and mind are faced with a reality too intense and overwhelming to handle—a protective gift to help with your survival that was built into you (and everyone else) when you were created. You fight so hard to survive these moments too terrorizing for words, these acts of horrendous harm done to you that still have excruciating, debilitating, painful effects on you. Please keep breathing, please keep trying to look for tiny pieces of light when it feels as though you’re pulled into the inescapable darkness and your surroundings are unrecognizable. You are a survivor, courageously fighting for life.
Though your experience with feeling the need to escape the brutal effects of harm is still extremely difficult and continues to be incredibly painful, you can see some evidence of your dedication and deep, hard work. While still terrorizing, debilitating and isolating, sometimes you can notice just a little less darkness in your blurry and disorienting reality. You can sometimes see a tiny bit more hope, light, and connection to yourself, others and your Creator. You still suffer a lot, still have a long journey ahead of you and you’re doing the work of growing, recovering, restoring and healing. Thank you for continuing on in the fight for your life.
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This image was created one evening, outside in our yard and I tried to do what I could to cope. One tool that helps me cope with the effects of trauma is through therapeutic photography. Among other benefits this helps me to have a voice when I am unable to speak audibly, gives me a sense of safety and control (things that harm and trauma took away from me), to be mindful, to process thoughts, feelings and experiences and gives meaning and insight to my experiences, especially when it seems to be beyond what I can express with words.
[image created on 4-7-2023]
I did this over three nights. After the first night I thought it was a throwaway, and nothing could be done for it. It looked a little better after tweaking the blend modes, but it wasn’t something I was happy with. Inspiration struck the second night and it became something I’m proud of. I love it when that happens.
Original Digital Painting with iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, and Procreate.
So thankful for these eggs that were generously given to our family (this is about two dozen of the five dozen that were given), that helped provide some meals for our family. I was captivated by the colors and unique features of each of the eggs as I carefully washed them and found them and the goodness and meaning behind them so beautiful that I was compelled to photograph them.
This is a quick self portrait image I took with my phone using Hipstamatic yesterday when I was pushing my husband in a wheelchair on our way out of the hospital as we waited for an elevator. My husband had a minor surgical procedure to have a port placed because he requires frequent IV medication for lung infections which he often does at home for at least two weeks due to having a heart/double lung transplant 31+ years ago, failing lungs, bronchiectasis. For me, there are at least a thousand words or more contained within this self portrait I took with my husband yesterday. It seems impossible to put into words all that I see in this image….after all the appointments, procedures, surgeries, hospitalizations, major medical emergencies that I feared my husband would not live through, sadness, hopefulness, miracles, provision, life, strength, sorrow, rejoicing, experiences beyond comprehension, my own severe struggles that intermingle with my husband’s health condition, complex situations, experiences that seem impossible to recover from, no easy fixes, a way of life that seems so different than how most people our age are living, an extreme pull to stop trying to survive and function, doing the impossible, a deep love for and connection with my husband and so many more things. This image really does hold a lot of personal meaning for me. I’m incredibly grateful for the gift of photography and how it allows me to have a unique “language” when it seems impossible to explain experiences and a way of life that feel impossible to accurately express with words, a way to try not to keep all this trapped inside where it grows and intensifies in harmful ways. I’m thankful for a way to try to express a thousand words.
The self-protection that seems necessary is suffocating, impairing and isolating…working to gently hold this truth, to heal and recover.
Orthodoxy then is not so much a settled system of beliefs as a ‘tool,’ a set of self-reflective practices, ‘a tradition of discriminating, imaging and symbolising.’ It is the church’s therapeutic response to the trauma of Christ’s resurrection. The church remains orthodox only to the extent that it remains attentive and answerable to that universal event which lies at the origin of its life.
---Christ the Stranger: The Theology of Rowan Williams, by Benjamin Myers, pg 47
Crushed and devastated by what was done to me and the horrific effects it still has on me. Often my audible voice is stolen from me, so I tried to use my voice in a different way, by creating this scanograph, showing my experience and what I feel incapable of expressing with words as a way to try to help myself survive.
A scanography image I created which holds a lot of meaning for me—a way to express how it feels when it seems impossible to find words to explain.
On this day when I got home from one of my many neurofeedback therapy appointments I noticed the lenses of my glasses were covered with the tiny, speckled evidence of the tears I had cried as I faced the unspeakable during some extremely intense moments while at my appointment. Even though there is an incredible amount of sadness, grief and devastation buried and trapped within me, I don’t cry all that often (hello, trauma response) so documenting and capturing the teardrops felt significant, meaningful and worth recognizing. It seemed “necessary,” like something I needed to do as a part of the process, to capture what I saw and create something from the terror, pain, awfulness and many more elements I experience that I can’t find words to describe.
It seems this is one of many moments where I don’t have the words to explain the meaning this image has for me personally and the thoughts, actions, pain, insight, experiences, doubts, victory, questions, growth, change (and much more) the creation of this photo holds for me. At the moment it seems to go beyond words for me.
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I just found the shells of some fresh eggs from my friend’s chickens captivating after I hard boiled the eggs so I decided to capture what I saw.
Pages in my sketchbook…it feels like the waves are never-ending and sometimes it helps a tiny bit to express my feelings and experiences in doodles that are meaningful to me.
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This is one of many photos I’ve taken from the passenger seat as we spend at least 6 hours in the car on a weekly basis to drive twice each week to my neurofeedback appointments. This practice of seeing, appreciating and capturing my surroundings from the moving car can sometimes be very helpful for me. This image was captured on 2/14/2023.
If you’re interested in my work, one way you can support me is through ordering my zines or sharing them with others—links below. This helps me to be able to continue my practice of therapeutic photography and with out of pocket costs for neurofeedback therapy which is necessary in my recovery and healing process. Any support is greatly appreciated—thank you!
Clouds zine: www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/2289133
in the moment | collection 1: www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/2357266
in the moment | collection 2: www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/2383037
Moving Forward zine: www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/2406230
My zines “behind the scenes” blog posts: amandacreamerphotography.com/tag/zine/
So thankful for the generosity others show our family. We’ve been given eggs multiple times by different people, as well as being blessed by many other generous forms of sharing. This image serves as a reminder of the kindness we have been shown by others.
So thankful for these eggs that were generously given to our family (this is two dozen of the five dozen that were given), that helped provide some meals for our family. I was captivated by the colors and unique features of each of the eggs as I carefully washed them and found them and the goodness and meaning behind them so beautiful that I was compelled to photograph them.