Category: inspiration

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contemplations Germany inspiration Photography street photography war

Daily Coffee Talk~ 89/365

This cloud shall pass~ Germany

Hi again from Germany. It has taken me a while to force myself to come back to this blog since current events threw me completely off balance lately. But if there is anything I am sure of, it is that I am the boss of me and there is plenty of coffee left in the world to drink while I write my blog.

I chose this image today because it has felt lately as though a cloud is over us, casting a shadow on what we love to do and how we love to be, but all clouds dissolve and all storms will pass as they have always throughout history. We live on a planet of duality after all and there is always an up that follows a down.

I still remember spending hours trying to ‘melt’ clouds with my sister in Lebanon by firing force at them with our extended hands, and you can believe me or not, it works! Try it next time you feel like having some sunshine in your life.

The best way to get over a hurdle is to help break it down, and with the sad situation in the Ukraine and other wars, well, help, find a way to support the people who are helping by donating, creating, communicating, being compassionate and all of that somehow feels like a breeze that pushed the clouds out of the way.

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children children's rights contemplations Germany inspiration morning coffee talk Photography street photography

Daily Coffee Talk~ 87/365

Today I saw a lot of children and young people enjoying the sun on a cold crisp day here in Germany and it made me think of this new generation.

They have to deal with so much and to inherit a broken world lacking in hope and riddled with corruption and warp.

The world today is so different to the one I had as a child. And yes, I did grow up inside of a civil war, but today feels somehow more volatile than that.

Things seem to be changing so fast and my hope is that change can happen in both directions. I know that sanity will return and morality still exists and good take up center stage at some point. It must…

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contemplations Germany human rights inspiration morning coffee talk Photography street photography war

Daily Coffee Talk~ 85/365

The world around us is always changing, every second could bring a new outcome, could cause a new future to onset. What are we in control of? Only our choices, in the now.

Europe feels so turbulent at this time and that unsettlement, I feel echoed in me. I feel the shockwaves of the despair and fear inside of those facing the unfortunate aggression going on in the Ukraine, and the human in me has a very hard time separating from the pain of other humans at this time.

So I keep pressing on with art, with trying to stay creative and feeling the immense value of having a space where peace can still exist. Every new day feels like a new opportunity and the only way I can help is by remembering human purpose in defiance of those who oppress and who take away from the innocent.

Let’s pray again and again for peace so that life and art can have a chance in shaping our future.

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Daily Coffee Talk~ 81/365

Do you ever have flying dreams?

I had them so often as a child and every once in a while as I got older. The feeling was so intense during my childhood that I completely believed that I could fly. I used to close my eyes and kick off with my feet and just hang there in midair doing swimming like motions to float up towards the ceiling.

This felt so intensely real that I know on some level, at some stage of our lives and in a certain state of reality, we can.

It always felt like a secret I had to keep but then the older I got the more stories I heard of others having experienced this.

A bit more from the mystery box of life…

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Daily Coffee Talk~ 80/365

If we were robots, designed to be born, to live a span of life and then die, then life would have been a straight line of non-events.

But life is not like that and being human is so much more complex that straight lines are overtaken by curves. I often thought About how when you draw a straight line from point a to point b on planet earth, our beautiful globe, you end up with a curve…

Life is like that. There are ups and there are downs, there is joy and there is sadness, success and failure, and so much that makes you wonder why we were born into a duality state of affairs.

I trust in the reason why as much as I trust in my journey to ride the waves of earthly existence. I love life and its mysteries.

Good evening from Germany. The storm has passed, our heating seems to be fixed, the fireplace is quieting down and it’s almost time to slip into a peaceful night of sleep.

Let’s pray for a de-escalation in the Ukraine, because who needs another war!

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Daily Coffee Talk~ 79/365

Our fireplace today in Germany~

As long as I remember, when I still lived in Lebanon, my father would sit by the fireplace at our home at the foot of the mountain and on cold days continuously feed wood to the hungry fire and watch its raging flames and listen to its crackling sounds as it vanished into ashes.

It always made me think that there is a romantic in there hiding behind his seemingly hard exterior that he presented to the world.

The last 3 days, and in the middle of a storm here in Germany, our heating system broke down, so as we shuffle to get it fixed, I started using the fireplace as a means of generating warmth on these very cold days.

And guess what? I find myself as hypnotized by it as my father was and still is at over 85 years of age.

Life sometimes turns full circle on us…

Photo of my dad staring at his chimney 2 weeks ago in Lebanon taken by my sister.
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art children contemplations Germany inspiration morning coffee talk Photography

Daily Coffee Talk~ 77/365

Sometimes my mind goes back to when I was a small child and I can for a split second reconnect to a time of pure joy.

Those were moments when all that existed was the present. Time had a different nature to it. It did not threaten me with the future or blame me for the past.

Is that child that lives in a state of pure joy still there somewhere? How many complex parts come together to make us who we are today?

I want to be that child again even for a brief moment every day.

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Daily Coffee Talk~ 74/365

Sometimes it feels to me that I am cycling through my life in a comfortable pace and watching events happen around me as if on a movie screen.

But every once in a while an opportunity for change and elevation shows itself and somehow because of being so comfortable on the bike, I choose to look away.

Change means risk, discomfort, letting go of what we know, learning to adapt to a new situation and deciding to take the steps towards it without seeing the end of the road. A journey towards the unknown.

Change takes courage, will and determination and ladders are not easy to climb but climb them we will.

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Daily Coffee Talk~ 72/365

Fishermen at Inle Lake ~ Myanmar

There is so much that keeps me doing photography day in and day out for the last almost 30 years, but one of the most incredible reasons is the ability of a single photograph to take me back.

An image has the ability to encapsulate the moment and keep it alive beyond our memories, past our limited recollections and allows us to relive the impressions, the smells, the light and the sights that we witnessed at that moment as we freeze it in time.

And then if someone else can connect to the image and feel what we felt, then wow, mission accomplished.

Have a good day my friends wherever you may be.

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Daily Coffee Talk~ 71/365

A journey of self discovery… that kind of sums up to me what life is about.

We arrive without recollection of why we came, where we came from, what purpose are we serving and who we really are.

Then we begin to feel the great urge to learn, discover and find out the truth.

And some are lucky enough to swim in the shallow waves of the greater knowing, the true purpose of life, whereas others may live their whole lives avoiding the quest.