Earlier this week was World Photograpy Day – celebrated on this day in honor of the invention of the daguerreotype, a photography process invented by louis Daguerre on August 19, 1893. Instead of photography, I wanted to showcase hyperrealism art, which – for me – is a roundabout way of appreciating photography – anyway here are this week’s amazing Sunday Seven!!
(All images courtesy artist Instagram accounts).
Shimon Peres, distinguished politician, statesman, and Nobel laureate was born on this day in 1923. He served as both prime minister and president of Israel. He was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for his “efforts to create peace in the Middle East.” This week’s Sunday Seven Quotes are from his speeches and his books:
We started reading Czech author Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis in English last week and I am still trying to understand what I am supposed to make of this book. On its surface it’s quite simple – if one allows for all suspension of disbelief – a salesman goes to sleep a normal human being and wakes up a bug and seriously what kind of life did Kafka live to have such a wild imagination. I realize we are dealing with deeper issues like an existential crisis – but still what an imagination. I decided to find interesting quotes by Kafka for this week’s Sunday Seven.
And my favorite:
Mother Teresa is considered one of the greatest humanitarians of the 20th Century. She was a nun and a missionary who dedicated her life to helping the orphans in Calcutta (India). She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997, and was canonized as Saint Teresa of Calcutta after her death in 1997. On this Mother’s Day Sunday, I want to dedicate my Sunday Seven to her quotes.
Have you noticed how beautiful and lush trees look at this time of year? I love going for a walk on the trail near my house and walking amongst the trees – a sense of calm washes over me when I am with the trees. I decided to do this week’s Sunday Seven about trees and what they mean to different people.
The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit. Nelson Henderson.
Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky. Khalil Gibran.
Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven’t done a thing. You are just talking. Wangari Maathai.
When you’re outnumbered by trees, your perspective shifts. Jessica Marie Baumgartner.
What a joy it is to see, trees dancing in the rain! Charmaine J. Forde.
Things that can’t move, learn to see. Louise Glick.
Believe me, for I know, you will find something far greater in the woods than in books. Stones and trees will teach you that which you cannot learn from the masters. Bernard of Clairvaux.
Be like a tree, let the dead leaves drop. Rumi.
(Image – Gustav Klimt, The Park, 1910 or earlier. MOMA)
On this Easter Sunday I started thinking of the magnificent Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, which had a devastating fire almost a year ago. On Good Friday this year the cathedral had a small closed service. Regardless of one’s faith, the beginning of the rebirth of this medieval church from the ashes of that devastating fire, is reason enough to celebrate.
Today I heard a speech by Queen Elizabeth on TV – she was speaking to her nation to remain united and resolute in the face of the current epidemic. What was startling for me about the speech was that she referred to a speech she and her sister gave in 1940 – that was 80 years ago!! I can’t imagine that there is any other world leader, part or present, that can say that. That got me thinking about all the brilliant, funny, and poignant things she may have said over the course of these years, and I decided that I would find some of the ones I liked and make that my Sunday Seven for this week.
I am dedicating today’s Sunday Seven – with some teacher quotes I found on Instagram – to all my teachers. We have gone from classrooms to online learning without skipping a beat – and I can just imagine the herculean effort this has required on all your parts. Hats off to all of you – you are amazing!!
I was supposed to go to a Persian friend’s New Year part but that was cancelled. The Persian New Year or Nowruz is on March 20th. Every year Nowruz coincides with the arrival of spring – it is a celebration of the links between humans and nature. In honor of the Persian New Year I decided to do quotes by Persian poets for this week’s Sunday Seven.
Whatever is produced in haste, goes hastily to waste. Saadi Shirazi (1210 – 1291).
Have patience, all things are difficult before they become easy. Saadi Shirazi.
Be melting snow. Wash yourself of yourself. Rumi (1207 – 1273).
Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion. Rumi.
Raise you words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder. Rumi.
Live life as if everything is rigged in your favor. Rumi.
I died a lot to love a little with you. Yaghma Golrrouee
Your heart and my heart are very, very old friends. Hafiz (1315 -1390)
Ever since happiness heard your name, it has been running through the streets trying to find you. Hafiz.
It does not matter where I am. The sky is always mine. Sohrab Sepehri (1928 – 1980).
In these uncertain times when people all over the world are suffering immeasurably, the only thing that is giving me hope and joy is nature. The skies look clearer, the birds are chirping – telling us to hang in there – and flowers are blooming everywhere. For this week’s Sunday Seven I want to write about the beauty and hope that comes with the arrival of spring, so we all remember that even the toughest and darkest of times are followed by spring.
mimisawhney.com 