The warrior of light needs time to himself ..

The Warrior and the Soul of the World ..

The warrior of light needs time to himself. And he uses that time for rest, contemplation and contact with the Soul of the World. Even in the midst of a battle, he manages to meditate.

Occasionally, the warrior sits down, relaxes and lets everything that is happening around him continue to happen. He looks at the world as if he were a spectator, he does not try to add to it or take away from it, he merely surrenders unresistingly to the movement of life.

Little by little, everything that seemed complicated begins to become simple. And the warrior is glad.

From the Manual of Warrior of Light by Paulo Coelho - (more here).

And so that is that .. Geoff.

'The warrior of light needs time to himself.' - Chippendale - 5 Jan 2010 (picasa)

'And the warrior is glad.' - Newtown - 11 Feb 2010 (picasa)

I have learned (by unknown)

I found the following piece while poking around Paulo Coelho's myspace page (he is on every social media site :-). Anyway, I like this and thought I would put it here to share as well as remember. What I have learned. There is much wisdom here:

I have learned (by author unknown) ..

• I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.


• I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back;


• I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.


• I've learned that it's not what you have in your life but who you have in your life that counts;


• I've learned that you can get by on charm, for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better know something;


• I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do.


• I've learned that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.


• I've learned that it's taking me a long time to become the person that I want to be.


• I've learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may b the last time you see them.


• I've learned that you can keep going long after you can't.


• I've learned that we are responsible for all we do, no matter how we feel.


• I've learned that either you control your attitude or it controls you.


• I've learned that no matter how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take it's place.


• I've learned that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.


• I've learned that money is a lousy way of keeping score.


• I've learned that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.


• I've learned that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're downhill are the ones to help you get back up.


• I've learned that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.


• I've learned that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.


• I've learned that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean that they don't love you with all they have.


• I've learned that maturity had more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.


• I've learned that your family won't always be there for you. It may seem funny, but people you aren't related to can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again. Families aren't biological.


• I've learned that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.


• I've learned that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to forgive yourself.


• I've learned that no matter how bad your heart is broken, the world doesn't stop for your grief.


• I've learned that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.


• I've learned that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.


• I've learned that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.


• I've learned that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.


• I've learned that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.


• I've learned that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will get hurt in the process.


• I've learned that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.


• I've learned that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.


• I've learned that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.


• I've learned that the people you care about the most in life are taken from you too soon.


• I've learned that it's hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people's feelings and standing up for what you believe.

'Angel's Hand and Wing' - A Church / Brussels - Europe 2009 - A Second Look - 11 Sep 2009 (picasa)

A Warrior practises a powerful exercise for inner growth ..

A warrior of light practises a powerful exercise for inner growth: he pays attention to the things he does automatically, such as breathing, blinking, or noticing the things around him.

He does this when he feels confused, and in this way he frees himself from tensions and allows his intuition to work more freely, without interference from his fears and desires. Certain problems that appeared to be insoluble are resolved, certain sorrows from which he thought he would never recover vanish naturally.

He uses this technique whenever he is faced with a difficult situation.

From the Manual of Warrior of Light by Paulo Coelho - (more here).

Last day of 3 months off work. This and the next few posts might help describe what it has been all about (a future post will talk about the Warrior of Light, how I found it and what it means to me).

I know I have needed this time and I appreciate the help I have had from many people to make it possible and to help achieve what I have done. Thank You to All, as always .. Geoff

'he pays attention to [..] noticing the things around him.' - One Day at a Time - Collage@Global Gossip/Kings Cross - 22 Mar 2010 (picasa)

'He does this when he feels confused, and in this way he frees himself from tensions and allows his intuition to work more freely,' - One Day at a Time - Redfern - 22 Dec 2009 (picasa)

'Jenny with Europe 2009' - One Day at a Time - Alexandria - 19 Mar 2009 (picasa)

Jenny and Joanne's Birthday - This Time Last Year

This time last year, we celebrated Jenny and Joanne's Birthday in Cairns.

Jenny had won a trip to Cairns at the 2008 Sutherland Shire Relay for Life and this was the last chance to take it. As usual it was left to the last week the tickets could be used as we had been busy with either paddling committments or Medical and Hospital appointments for Jenny. The trip was for two people and I said to Jenny, early on, that she should take Joanne with her, and that I would come up separately a couple of days later.

On the 11 March 2009, Jenny was diagnosed of multiple tumors in her in Liver and she had already started treatment, which included chemotherapy and another drug called Avastin which worked on the blood system. These treatments were to be every second week. So everything worked out paddling and treatment wise, and we were all able to get to Cairns. I dropped them to the Airport on the Sunday, and I arrived on Tuesday, their Birthday.

We had a great time and Jenny wrote a postcard with a thank you to the lady from RAMS who made the trip possible. The trip will always be special time for Jo and I, and we are particularly grateful to those people who made this special trip possible for us.

Last night, Joanne showed me a small Photo Album of that day in Cairns, their last Birthday together. I have just put them in my Picasaweb Album - here.

Jenny, Geoff and Joanne - Birthday Cake Photo - Tue 24 Mar 2009 (picasa)

Joanne and Jenny - Cairns - Tue 24 Mar 2009 (picasa)

Collage of Jenny and Joanne's Birthday - Cairns - Tue 24 Mar 2009 (picasa)

Photographer: Murray Fredericks

Murray Fredericks is an Australian Photographer. I was aware of him and his works from my foray into large format photography. I had bought a 4x5 inch large format camera in Shanghai in November 2004 (that's another story) and I needed to learn how to use it. Murray was offering a weekend workshop at a rural location in western NSW, near Oberon, and I had considered attending. With assistance of my friend Leigh Perry, I was able to work it all out and did not need to take Murray's workshop in the end. Some scans of my initial transparencies, by an Epson 4990 scanner, are here

I follow news regarding photography and photography exhibitions in Sydney - typically article written by Robert McFarlane who writes occasionally for the Sydney Morning Herald (just found he has a blog at ozphotoreview.blogspot.com). I have known of Murray since the time his work was exhibited at the Point Light Gallery in 2003. His initial SALT work was also reviewed by Robert McFarlane

When flying to Prague, on the flight to Prague from Helsinki on FinnAir, I was pleasantly surprised and delighted to read an English Newspaper (The Financial Times) that had a review of Murray's exhibition in London at the Hamiltons Gallery in Mayfair. I pulled out the page inflight and put it away with a mental note to make sure I would find the Gallery and view the Salt Exhibition when in London a few weeks later. Was very impressed to read that his photos were being compared to Turner paintings and that the largest and most expensive photo was being sold for 30,000 Pounds - pretty impressive for a humble landscape photographer who started his career as an Economist from Sydney University.

Blue Sky Thinking - Murray Fredericks - SALT II - A Newspaper Article found inflight between Helsinki and Prague - Sat 22 Aug 2009 - (picasa)
The day before the Great River Race, I had organised our seats on boats and I had time to do some sight seeing in London. I found the Gallery using Google Maps and made my way there on the Tube. I found the Gallery easily and chatted with the Gallery guy, who gave my a DVD of the SALT Documentary of his trip to Lake Eyre. Managed to sneak in a few photos before I left for the Photographers Gallery (yet another story), which was walking distance away (well maybe at least a couple hours rambling through the back streets of London).

Murray Fredericks: Salt Exhibition - Hamiltons Gallery / London - Fri 04 Sep 2009 (picasa)

Murray Fredericks: Salt Exhibition - Hamiltons Gallery / London - Fri 04 Sep 2009 (picasa)

Murray Fredericks: Salt Exhibition - Hamiltons Gallery / London - Fri 04 Sep 2009 (picasa)

SALT37 by Murray Fredericks - Sep 2009 (www.gosee.de)

Self Portrait in Lake Eyre - Hamiltons Gallery / London - Fri 04 Sep 2009 (picasa)
The ABC are showing his SALT Documentary tonight. There was a review in yesterdays Sydney Morning Herald titled - Searching for infinite space in extreme locations. An extract follows:

Murray Fredericks - Sydney Morning Herald 22 Mar 2010 - Searching for infinite space in extreme locations - Tue 23 Mar 2010 (picasa)
Having been "the guy with a camera" at high school who took pictures of sports teams, Fredericks was a serious photographer with commercial and artistic ambitions in his mid-twenties. He shot what he calls traditional coffee table-style photos until he realised he wanted more from his work.

"I reached the point where I went through everything and went 'there's nothing new here'. All I'm doing is finding new angles and new locations but the message itself - and the way the message is delivered - isn't changing'," he says.

"So I went through everything again and I thought 'which images affect me differently?' and they were the images that conveyed a sense of space."

That discovery has taken Fredericks 14 times to Lake Eyre in outback South Australia in the past six years. His aim was to photograph the flat salt plain with its low horizon and lack of distinctive features.

Hauling his gear to the location by bicycle, he spent up to five weeks by himself trying to capture the nothingness. And when things changed, he wanted to capture that too.

"Everything happens on the cusp, on the change,'' he says. ''It's the transition periods that are interesting because that's when the stuff you can't imagine or you can't expect happens."

Fredericks's shots of land and sky have proven so popular there are three galleries - in Sydney, Melbourne and London - waiting for his new work.

SALT 8 by Murray Fredericks

Found a nice review by Rebecca Wolkenstein who writes:

.. it wasn’t until I viewed his film SALT, that I decided my roster couldn’t live without him. The film and the work had a spiritual element I had never really understood before then. It sounds rather dramatic to be speaking this way, doesn’t it? When the film comes out [..], I highly recommend that you immerse yourself in the landscape. It’s full of surprises.

SALT 5 by Murray Fredericks

My friend Leigh Perry shoots very similar photos, but typically from the shore of Sydney's coastline - see his portfolios: Invariance and Peripheral Vision. Beautiful photos ..

Invariance #116011 - Reef by Leigh Perry

Invariance #332 - Lake. by Leigh Perry

my iPhone Photos

A new toy and a new picasa Album - my iPhone Photos. Just worked out how to do emails. A few of the first photos which were emailed to picasa from the phone. Lots of fun ..

my iPhone Wallpaper - Newtown - Sat 20 Mar 2010 - (picasa)

me and my iPhone Wallpaper - Newtown - Sat 20 Mar 2010 - (picasa)

Jo and my iPhone Wallpaper - Newtown - Sat 20 Mar 2010 - (picasa)


Go the Bunnies - Redfern - Mon 22 Mar 2010 - (picasa)

Rust and Paint - Redfern - Mon 22 Mar 2010 - (picasa)

Green - Milk Crate - Newtown - Mon 22 Mar 2010 - (picasa)

Vertigo - U2

Vertigo by U2
Always liked this song and in particular the video (embedded above). Makes me think of my brother Tim. I had given him the CD (How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb) for Xmas 2004, a few months before he died.

Apart from grief and despair, vertigo is probably how I felt. I arranged for the song to be played just before the beginning of his Funeral Service. Also played another U2 song - Where the Streets Have No Name. Finished with I Can See Clearly Now.

Vertigo - Flame Tree Flowers - Hyde Park / Sydney - Nov 2002 (picasa)