194/365 Chapter One

4:45pm | The wallpaper. Bernadi's Gelateria, Brunswick Heads.

192/365 Home. First Light.

Home. First light.

The winter sun shines on this photo { taken in Thailand a lifetime ago } by our front door each morning. Such a beautiful way to welcome the new day...

The Simple Extravagance of Nature | A Byron Bay Sunset

T said he needed to walk on the beach.

Too much screen time up my sleeves - I readily agreed. We bundled our boys straight from the school bus and into Byron. They said The Pass. 

We parked at the top of the hill and walked the track down. The trees closing in on us brought an early darkness that spilt us out at the bottom onto the sand and the most sublime sunset.

Ohhhhhh...

T walked.

The boys ran. 

And I was lost in light and colour.

The sun set over the water, the sky blending from a golden yellow to fiery burnt orange and when it finally dipped completely beneath the craggy mountainscape of Mt Warning and I didn't think it could get more beautiful a wave of pink swept in from the right; it swept right around from Wategos beach and.. it turned everything into magic.

{ You can actually watch a video I posted on instagram that night if you like - turn off the sound; it was windy! }

Oh,
Mother Nature you are just SO sublime.
So heartbreakingly beautiful.

I am still in awe of the amazing theatre of colour that danced around me that night. These are the moments that stop us. That keep our eyes open and our hearts singing. That fill us up with reserves of bliss and gratitude for life. The extravagances of a life lived simply.

Where do you go to find your bliss? What fills you up and keeps you going? Please share :)

Amber. XO

173/365 Burnt-Orange Perfection aka A Byron Sunset

If you follow my instagram you would have seen the amazing pink sunset that Byron turned on last night [ I shot a very windy but very pretty video from The Pass ]. 

But before the sky turned pink - it looked like THIS. Ahhhhhh, mother nature just blows my mind sometimes!!

Wild, rugged, burnt-orange perfection. 

156/365 The Hotel Brunswick

Friday night.
The Hotel Brunswick.
Brunswick Heads. 

152/365 Living The Country Life

Morning sunshine on dew. Newrybar. 

146/365 Byron Sunset Over The Bay

Glory glory glory. Man - tonight's sunset was just insanely beautiful. #nofilter

132/365 Nights of Gold

I bet you can't tell the days when I leave taking my #photoaday2014 shot 'til late? ;) XO

87/365 Om

Om Mani Padme Hum.

This was my late-night-realisation-that-I-hadn't-taken-a-photo save. 11:30pm. I rolled out of bed and picked up my camera with sleepy eyes, surveyed the darkened room for inspiration and quickly knew what it would be... the loveliest thing about being home - apart from being able to see your friends and family of course! - is having your favourite things around you. Travelling is so minimal, so spare, which is definitely one of it's joys but your home tells so many of your stories.

I could tell the stories about these two pieces. But it's almost that time again and my eyes are getting sleepy again and instead I want to share the Dalai Lama's translation of the infamous mantra. My own food for thought as I drift to sleep.

"It is very good to recite the mantra Om mani padme hum, but while you are doing it, you should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast …. The first, OM … symbolizes the practitioner’s impure body, speech, and mind; it also symbolizes the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha….
The path is indicated by the next four syllables. MANI, meaning jewel, symbolizes the … altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassionate and loving….
The two syllables, PADME, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom….
Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable HUM, which indicates indivisibility….
Thus the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha…."

- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

x

6/365 Universal

Santucci's celestial sphere from the Medici collection at Museo Gallileo in Florence. 1593.

A multitude of golden layers representing the pathways of the stars and planets circling around an earth-centric Universe. 

With half a day left in Florence we headed to the Basilica di Santa Croce to see the tombs of  Michelangelo and Galileo Galilei. Sadly it was closed for Befana which was disappointing but gave us a little extra time at the Museo Gallileo (and Institute of Science) which we choose over the Uffizi. We are all  feeling a little galleried-out post-Paris!

Museo Gallileo. Istituto e Museo di Storia Della Scienza. Piazza dei Giudici 1. Florence. Italy.

p.s. The museum also has a comprehensive virtual museum and portal for all things Galileo, if you want to learn more without actually going to Florence. I've added the link. x