When I was a kid I stepped onto old metallic bucket that was laying out in pasture. The bucket was rusted out and my foot went through the bottom of upside down bucket. Little did I know that I was invading the home of hundreds if not thousands of black hornets! The North American black hornets (Also known as the Bold Faced Hornet) is one of the most aggressive bees ever. By the time I pulled my foot out of their nest it was so covered with bees that you couldn’t see the color of my socks. Thankfully my grandfather was with me and was able to knock most of them off of me before they could sting. But the fear of being stung stayed with me well into my adult life. I have nearly wrecked cars and trampled children to escape from a bee that was buzzing around my head. The phobia of bees finally climaxed in the late 90s when while running from bees I got my same foot tangled up in the underbrush and broke my ankle. The details are kinda long but the bottom line is that I wound up having to hike two miles ( about 3 kilometers) out of the mountains on a broken leg. While I was healing I realized that it wasn’t the bees that caused my injuries. It wasn’t even the fear itself that caused my injuries. It was my reaction to the fear. That was the key. I couldn’t just turn the fear off anymore than I had turned it on. But with practice I could learn to control how I handled the fear. I began slowly approaching bees as they worked. Like any other living creatures they can sense fear. As I became more comfortable the bees did too! By facing my fears and consciously controlling my reactions I have overcome my fear. Today I am excited to find bees working on the flowers or even wasps and hornets on patrol for pests in my garden. I no longer have a panic attack when I hear buzzing nearby.
Category: Uncategorized
Challenge accepted 2.11.18
Hello Friends!
I was given a direct challenge to answer the questions posed by Zankhana Goyal in her Sunshine Blogger/Liebester Award post.
- What are some things you haven’t seen or read, but know everything about because of popular culture? A. To be completely honest I’m not really interested in what most people consider pop culture. I know that sounds odd but I always have had a non conformist streak to my personality the made me reject a large portion of the populist mindset.
2. What advice can you give to new bloggers?
A. I’m a relatively new blogger myself. But, because my life experience has been working directly with the public for 30 years I think that I can say it’s all about perception. Be yourself. Be honest with your following. They chose you for a reason so try to be consistent with your interaction.
3. What is the one thing you wish people knew about you?
A. When I’m blunt about an opinion it’s not because I’m angry or upset etc . I simply have no other way to express myself or the subject matter is too important to allow room for misunderstanding.
4. How did you pick your blog’s name?
A. My blog was conceived as an advertising tool to promote my business. “Lloyd’s Lens Photography ” Each post is really more about the image than the writings. I write about the thoughts that the image invoked for me as a wayto give a little extra to the observer.
5.What’s the favorite post that you’ve published? (Link, please!)
A. I can’t really say that I have a favorite but I do visit this tree often. I have several images of this spot.
The writing is about a place where two lovers meet in the dream world only but in their waking life they have never met. Each person thinks that the other is only a fantasy. The story is one that I started a long time ago but have never had the time to finish.
6.Which profession do you think is best?
A. The one that you would do for free if you didn’t need money. I’ve spent my life going from one job to the next and I’ve gained a lot of useful experience that way. But I’ve never been happy. I have come to realize that I was only chasing a paycheck. We need money to finance our lives for sure but don’t sacrifice too much of your life to get money. If at all possible become an independent business owner doing what you love.
7. What can you do for your own country?
A. The USA is in the cusp of a paradigm shift. I don’t want to get too political but to say that anything a person can do to gain personal liberty and be responsible for themselves on an individual level will make a nation stronger. Anyone who has to care for a person on an individual level will have power over the individual. The stronger the individual is the stronger a nation will be.
8. 3. What do you observe first thing if you met?
A. I watch people’s body language. I do this a lot as a photographer because it helps me to get better pictures of my clients and to find potential new clients.
9. How can India be DEVELOPED NATION ???
A. Well, building on my answer for question number 7, the individual is the key to everything. The individual must reduce his/her dependency on government and large corporations. Food is a good place to start. Even if person is only able to grow one meal for themselves that’s one meal that did not divert resources. I recommend learning permacultre. There are many free resource online.
10. Sports / music or dance ?? Why ??
A. I really don’t have much time for sports and I would rather play a game than watch a game. My dancing looks like a monkey with an itch so no public dancing. Ah but music! I can put my music on and be inspired while I work.
11. Most beautiful part of India/your home country ?
A. It’s really hard to choose but I’m partial to Eastern Woodlands of America and my mountains.
With the questions answered I would like some feedback from my followers. I want to do something maybe on a monthly basis to help promote each other’s blog. For me this is much easier than a random award. I’m thinking about interviews, shoutouts and the like but I need some ideas. This would be specific to my followers. The idea is to build a community. Please comment below. 🙂
As for passing along the challenge I’m not going to ask eleven questions. The reason why is that I want to maintain a certain consistency to my website. I would rather ask a fewer number of questions that help a person to reach a deeper level of contemplation and improve their quality of life.
1. Assume that you won the lottery and you have more than enough money to last your family for the next three generations. How would you use the excess to make the lives better for your hometown? Would you give it away or invest in a regenerative business partnerships with your neighborhood?
2. What is happiness to you?
3. Can justice truly exist without mercy?
I know those are some pretty heavy questions so I’m going to cut it off at three questions.
Wanderlust
My lifetime has been lived between mountains and rivers. One of the things I love most is that the hills and ridges always seem to have some secret just waiting for us to discover. I eventually found the time to head across the river and explore only to find more questions on the other side. There are days when I wish I could just load a good ATV up with supplies and see how far down the tracks I can go.
The mountains in the background were once occupied by the Adena. Our local history says that there was a huge wall that stretched for miles. I have daydreams about what the landscape would have been in those times. What were they keeping out? What were protecting? Surely a culture that built a huge stone wall would also have buildings. Is there abandoned temple hidden somewhere in the deep forests? The Adena had copper tools. Is there also a golden idol tucked away just waiting for Indiana Jones to find? Maybe and maybe not. But I would love to find out.
The Liebester Award
Hello Friends! I was nominominated for The Liebester Award by Daily Life’s Journey
The rules are simple.
Acknowledge the bog that nominated you.
Answer 11 questions denominator asked you.
Nominate 11 other bloggers.
Let them know they were nominated.
The questions are as fallows:
Q.What inspires you to write a blog?
A. I started the blog as a way to showcase my photos and eventually promote my business. I have truly been blessed with the friends I encountered on WordPress.
Q. Does your mood effect your writing?
A. Yes. My mood profoundly effects everything I do. It’s one of the sources of my inspiration.
Q. How often do you travel?
A. I very rarely get to travel for myself. Fortunately for me I’m blessed to live in the beautiful Appalachian mountains. The image below is only a few minutes from my home.
Q. What is photography to you?
A. To me, photography is way to place time into a bottle and enjoy the special moments of life over and over. It’s also the best way I have showing people how beautiful they truly are.
Q. What do you do when you’re feeling down or troubled?
A. I like to get out into the wilderness and pray about my next move. Getting back to basics is often the best way to find answers.
Q. When was the recent fulfilling moment in life?
A. This is a hard question for me. I tend to find a fulfilling moment every day. You just have look a little longer sometimes.
Q. How much do you love your family?
A. Beyond description.
Q. Who is your greatest inspiration in life?
A. The Lord Jesus Christ.
Q. What Hobby do you like most and why?
A. I have so many interests that is hard to narrow it down to a favorite. I do seem to spend a lot of time listening to documentaries and podcasts. Basically anything that either teaches me a skill or inspires imagination.
Q. What does “true friendship ” mean to you?
A. When you love someone like family that’s true friendship.
Q. How do you handle the different personalities of people around you?
A. I try not to let the negative things get to me. And I try to set boundaries when appropriate. Because my home is so isolated it’s something that I don’t need to think about often.
As for the nominees I’m going to pick at random since I have encountered so many talented people on word press.
As I understand it I’m allowed to set the number of nominees between 5 & 11 and the number of questions between 5 & 11.
Due to some time constraints I’m only going with 5.
1. Opening Doors in Brick Walls
2. nesha `e
1. What is the best part of blogging for you?
2. Tell me something about the best day of your life?
3. What is your favorite spot in the whole wide world?
4. What is your greatest challenge?
5. What is the best surprise you ever received?
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