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Vision Board Clearing

About every 10 months, or so, my vision board is full and begins to remind me that it is time to start over. Time for new growth to be shared and experienced. A bit of sadness comes over me as I look over this board and I am reminded of all the inspirations I have experienced the past year. And of course I am filled with joy as I look over my board. A few highlights from the vision board:

"Dont be robotic about anything," a quote from the REVEALED: Portraits from Beneath One's Surface and a reminder to me to keep shaking things up.
"A turning point" - I felt the past year there has been some big turning points
Several paintings my daughter purchased from orphans in Haiti
The Hug business card I got. Hugs are good. :)

Now the board is clean and awaits new inspirations and insights into my journey. My last vision board can be found here.

What would you put in your REVEALED box?

The past few months have been a whirlwind of REVEALED activity. A new set of subjects, an art museum exhibit, the film showing at film festivals, it's 6-year birthday, and the REVEALED book. Phew!

The other day there was a Q&A after the REVEALED film screening at the SENE film festival. One attendee asked myself and the filmmaker a simple and interesting question. "What would we put in our box?" No pressure... Subjects have 2-weeks to determine what they put in their box. There have been many times I have gone through this 2-week process to decide what I would put in my box. Now I am asked to answer that question with a few seconds of thought, knowing that what I'd put in my REVEALED box has changed over the years as I grow.

I answered that I'd put fire in the box and I would have to think about this further to determine what items go into that box. Two days later this question popped into my head again. What would I put in my box? Maybe ashes that represent the past and wood on fire that is fueling the future. That came to me rather quickly and it felt good. His question reminded me that it has been a few years since I have put myself through the REVEALED process other than a facilitator. While I do look within often, I haven't walked around my daily life wondering what items would represent where I am today. His question nudged me to give this more thought over the next week or two.

With that said, I ask you to give it some thought today and even this week. What would you put in your box?

Spirituality and Looking Within

Yesterday, Reverend David Shire and I were guest speakers at the Palliative care Pharmacy class at the University of Rhode Island, URI. The 3-hour class engaged in thoughtful discussion around the meaning of spirituality and the importance of looking within.

I began the class by asking students to define inspired thought, exploring the emotions around inspired thought and understanding where it begins. We then transitioned to what the students would put into their REVEALED box after they had a few minutes to share their ideas with one another about what they'd put into their box.

Starting with my own example of an inspired thought (REVEALED), I encouraged the students to quickly go within and see what came from putting yourself on the spot to think about what represents your beliefs. Sometimes our best ideas come to us in an instant when we were thinking about something completely different.

We then viewed the REVEALED film and expanded our conversation, now that everyone had some time to truly contemplate what they would put in their box. One student felt their life experience wasn't long enough to find something of deep meaning to put into the box. I found this to be a very interesting comment ... one I had not heard before. I shared that REVEALED includes children from the fourth grade ... and those children have insightful revelations, even after only being alive for a decade.

Reverend David Shire then spoke about Spiritual issues in Palliative Care. By examining the Body/Mind/Spirit Triangle we can understand how mental illness may disconnect us from our deeper self, and how spirituality and religion can be used in the healing process. The questions and discussions around our topic were energizing and really brought inspiration and joy to me...I always enjoy the thoughts and discussions that stem from people going within.

Since this experience, I find myself searching to define my spirituality and evaluate my life experiences that are defining who I am and what I believe in.

REVEALED Class - Thank you touches my heart

The 4th grade class of Friends Academy asked me to attend their their REVEALED Class presentation to the entire school. They created their own multimedia presentation of all their REVEALED class portraits. In addition, they made me this most amazing REVEALED box containing an accordion book in which each page was an individual thank you note from each student that participated.

I am deeply touched by this gesture and this box sits on my box and reminds me everyday how special this project is. I shared this with our monthly photographer breakfast meetup and one photographer looked at me and said, "If this was given to me, I'd have tears in my eyes." And he is so right.

Here are some quotes from the thank you notes:

"What I liked about this project was that there wasn't really a limit to things I could do on it and I could get as creative as I wanted." Ava

"Thank you Sir Indermaur, for opening up another artistic vision for me. My experience with you has doubled my success in art ... My box helped me explain to my friends just how much I love nature." Leah

"I love this project because it really revealed what was inside of me and I will always thank you for that." Hannah

"... I have learned a lot about myself and the kind of person I am." Grace

"I liked this project because we could use anything we wanted to." Ethan

Of course, every thank you note in this book touched me.

A REVEALED Whirlwind

Lots going on with REVEALED!

The REVEALED: Personal Visions of Transformations and Discovery book is printed and in transit to Rhode Island. I am signing all pre-order copies, so today is a good day to order your book.

I have posted many of the book updates on the Kickstarter page. It's nice to read about the step-by-step progress of this book.

I did receive my advance copy of the book this week and it's beautiful! A very insightful book with much energy behind it.

Also, please share the REVEALED store for people to order a book, film and a few other cool things. It's a great time to order a book. Or even a few extra books. :-)

REVEALED Class - The 4th Grade Experience

2011 fly by with a tremendous amount of REVEALED news and activity. A book is now in production, art exhibits, and REVEALED additions...which happen to only be REVEALED Class subjects. This is a branch of REVEALED that I am very excited to see grow. In 2011 I photographed a class of 5th graders in the Spring and then a class of 4th graders in the Fall. The project begins by me visiting the class and meeting these eager students that are excited about a new art project... And maybe even having a guest artist. :) I return to the class two weeks later to photograph the children with their self designed REVEALED boxes that they get to keep.

I just posted the latest addition of 30 fourth graders and two of their teachers. More about the process and experience is available here.

You can also read what SouthCoast Today wrote about this latest addition of fourth graders.

Kickstarter REVEALED iPad and iPhone Wallpaper

This is for Kickstarter pledgers to be used as iPhone or iPad wallpaper. Enjoy. Drag the image to your desktop and then follow instructions on setting your iPhone or iPad wallpaper. I find the easiest is emailing the image to my phone, saving it to the phone/iPad's photo libray and then setting the wallpaper to that image.

iPad

iPhone

Kickstarter REVEALED Book Holiday Bookmark

This is for Kickstarter pledgers who would like to give a bookmark as a gift as we wait for the book. Just drag the image to your desktop. You can then print the bookmark. Please contact me with any questions. scott@siphotography.com :) Scott

New Revealed and The Box Process

I carry within me a deep fascination for the unseen, for that which is hidden and not evident to the naked eye. The mysteries of worlds, and universes beyond that which we cannot truly fathom. As a Spirit Medium I know with absolute certainty that there is afterlife, that there is existence of powerful energy which can only be described as pure love in eternity. It is that place where all our souls seek wisdom and solace, when we loose sight of our true paths. It is a place where all our souls connect, we are all part of the powerful energy in eternity and we are all one. It is the place of our origin and our destination. Life is an ever changing energy from one second to the next. There is no future, there is no past. There is no time. There is only now. It is in the now that I attempt mindfulness. For that reason, I have no regrets I only have profound faith, and I try to live in a moment of peace and love. Growing up in a Iceland, where trees were scarce, and lava fields and glaciers were in abundance. Being surrounded by rough sees and a rugged coastline, I gained deep respect for life and death. It was a home of peace, tranquility, adventure and magnificent energy, yet with constant reminders of my ancestors' hard lives. The symbols in my box, represent life and death and the beauty of that ever evolving cycle. It represents toughness and fragility of life. And the compass is a symbol of my direction in life. Knowing always where home is, knowing always that I am in the right place at the right time for the right reason, having a profound experience. I am deeply touched by the evolution of souls and the wisdom of eternity.

New This I Believe Revealed

I Believe in Art Saints by Ana Flores - I know people who�ll make courageous innovative efforts to have art in their lives. They�ll eat peanut butter for a year in order to pay off an artist month by month for a piece they�ve bought. They believe art is necessary food for their soul. As an artist, I love these kind of people, I call them art saints and this year I�ve been lucky enough to have a few in my life. Andrew, a new friend, called last summer six weeks before his second marriage to speak to my husband and me. �Friends keep asking us about a wedding registry and Megan and I�ve decided we don�t need another blender so we�d like to list your web sites as our registry. With the funds collected we�ll commission a work by each of you. What do you think?� I paused, stunned. �We�d love to create pieces for your new home and what a great idea- registering with artists instead of pottery barn!� Over the next three months fourteen friends registered and a �village� of patrons blossomed ea- ger to see the work we�d make for the unique spaces that he and Megan had designed together. Luli is another saint. �I�d rather invest in something I love rather than the stock market,�she told me as we sat in her terraced garden. She�d spent a decade transforming this overgrown hillside along the Hudson River. �I want to see one of your pieces there�. She pointed to a space be- tween two trees. �The cost of bronze is like gold these days.� I warned. She was unfazed, excited instead by the prospect of watching the sculpture grow. Unfortunately there�s not enough saints to go around for so many artists, but an art collecting idea I learned about when we lived in New Zealand might offer a template for collecting on tight budgets. While there I met the Stitchbury club, fifteen women from Auckland whose focus was contemporary three dimensional work ranging from jewelry to outdoor sculpture. Each contributed a set amount annually to their art bank. Every month - like a book group�they ga

Go Within, Reveal, and Inspire Others

A flower from my garden is the symbol I chose to represent my spirituality. The dirt and the roots gives me a feeling of being grounded, connected to the earth. The flower reaches up to God - opening to the radiance of love. I feel close to God when I am in my garden witnessing the miracles and the cycles of life - seeding, nurturing, growing, fading away, resting, rebirth.

Where the Hell is Matt - Joy!

When I stumbled across this Where the Hell is Matt video and project a few months ago I was blown away. Yes, it came out 2 years ago, though it is new to me. This was discovered while I work on my dream to photograph REVEALED subjects around the world. How a simple concept of dancing at locations around the world showed me how small this world is and how we are connected to everyone. Amazing. I look forward to taking REVEALED around the world and going below the surface and discovering our connection with each other.

What would Matt put in his box? Or I should ask me how does that connect with me?

Check out Where the Hell is Matt's websit e. I also find it refreshing that a company, Stride Gum funded such a powerful project. I now remember that when I buy a pack of gum.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY&w=660&h=405]