Irrelevant Profoundities has moved!

Dear readers~!

It is with delight and excitement that I announce the arrival of my new and updated (and also regularly posted upon) blog!
With the new season of my life here, it's time for a new blogging experience.

Please, come join me at the new place:

www.irrelevantprofoundities.weebly.com

Enjoy!

~Anna

A Reference Photo - Hungarian Vizsla

This image belongs to my one of many dog books. It depicts some beautiful points of the Vizsla's profile.

Schleich Red Fox - A Walk Around

Warm Chocolate Pudding - Dairy, Wheat, Egg, Nut and Sugar Free

It's not often I do the whole chocolate thing. Aside from only being able to tolerate cocoa in small amounts, it just generally doesn't agree with my system. I sometimes find that when, occasionally, I come across a food that isn't an allergen (i.e. actually stays down and doesn't come up immediately) it can have sad (other) effects. Cocoa, well, it simply spikes my body functions if I have it daily, so I rarely have it.
That aside, somedays I do want a sniff of cocoa powder. And to eat it.
Mmmm.
I invented this recipe ages ago but recently tweaked it to include lots of protein and other goodies. Don't shy away from the ingredients, it tastes amazing.
Eat warm with cream (if you can eat it), or honey, and set in the fridge to enjoy cold as thick, chocolate-y pudding - even better!

Warm Chocolate Pudding - Dairy Free, Egg Free, Wheat Free, Sugar Free

This version of my regular chocolate Porridge Pudding invloves some more protein and makes you fuller for longer! The taste is fantastic so, forget you are getting your serve of  veges too!

For this recipe, ingredients include:

.1/3 Red lentils, uncooked
. 2/3 Oats, rolled
. water 1-2 cups

Add lentils, oats, and water.
Cook all ingredients on low heat, stirring and making sure it doesn't burn - basically like making porridge. Once cooked into porridge consistency add 1-3 tablespoons of cocoa and stevia to taste. Add as much as desired.
Stir through, adding small amounts of water to stop sticking.
Cook on low heat, making sure lentils are no longer lumpy. Believe me - at this point you won't taste them.

Serve, allow to cool. Eat warm, or refrigerated.

The Simplest Profoundities - My Ditzy Darling

Ah, my darling. My Ditzy.

So much more than simply a cute face. She is my baby, yes, but most of all, she is my best friend.

How can a dog be my best friend? Well, she is. She has always been there for me when no one else was.

She has always listened. That's something I needed so badly when I had depression. A lot of people do. I know most dogs will sit with you and 'listen', but this one is something else. We have always connected, and she has always understood my emotional needs. It's like she was made for me.

She has always been there for me. She has always loved me. No matter the struggles of my life, no matter the struggles of my self, she always saw who I truly was - not who I saw. She loved me, for me, and nothing has changed to her. She has loved me, and I have grown to adore her way of loving.

Unconditional love. Sometimes I think God has shown me glimpses of His love through this dog. Of this unending love, which cannot be taken back because of wrongs, or deeds, or thoughts. It continues, on and on.
Many times, this dog has been prepared to give her life for me. To give all she has, all she is - for my safety, and for that, I am grateful. How much more has Christ done for us.

Another side of God through this dog is how she loves me. This dog adores me, as though I am her all. When I leave, she pines, and awaits my return below my bedroom, when I am with her, she is happy to sit and simply be. Yet it is a state of adoration - of worship, if you will - which displays how she loves. I believe God has shown me this is yet another lesson - this is how we should love Him. Forever trusting, unafraid when He is near, adoring, looking only at Him, and being completely content. This is love.

Sheer joy. Of happiness when I am with you, and thinking of you always. That is what I love about this dog. Not because she takes the place of God - no, never - but because she brings me to a deeper understanding of God - and life itself.

Lessons on Love. Perhaps we need these lessons far more than we realise.

Love is a Choice

Love is a Choice.

That's all I have to say for now. Ponder on that.

Apparently... Life Goes on whether we are with it or behind it... Flowing, Going, and Being.. and Other such things

Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the backlog of life, and blogs then will suffer.
As mine is, and has, for rather a long, long time now.
There's a lot of things which shall remain unblogged, daresay, for a very long time. But no matter. What better time than the present, and, why feel bad about being behind? (Unless of course it causes you to miss a bus..)

The only thing I have had time to blog about has been the latest projects, and for that I apologise. Photos without text are simly easier to upload, and appear to be updating this place. Hehe.
But, projects aside, life has been very busy for me lately.
Add to the normal chaos the prospect of finding a job and moving home, and, well, it all turns into a flurry of mess, business, and sanity squeezed in the middle somewhere.
Or, rather, the act of maintaining it. (Or finding it? I'm not sure which.)

Of course life involves a lot of art.
As I mentioned before, I am creating a website, which I hope will be my advertising venue for all my forms of art - repaints, Sculptures, and prohetic art sculptures. That's kept me pretty busy, as well as the work which I will be selling on it - getting that all ready, buying supplies, painting, lots and lots of painting.

I have also been collecting, putting together a huge file system of mine for reference photos to use with repaint and sculpting ideas, especially horses and rare animal species and colours. That's actually taking a lot longer than it otherwise might.

Especially when that involves some incredible photography which I must admire.

Add to that the constant need to find something green to give everyone hope in this terrible drought...
(Do not be fooled by the green in this photo, it is all we have left. This whole area has become a desert and livestock - not to mention farmer's livelihoods - are dying - fast. All prayers for rain, feed and God's answers are hugely appreciated.)

Photography is still, of course, a huge part of my life. Recent photographing jobs have led me to this: a bookshelf of challenges which my mum has chosen to read in this year to come. It is part of her and my sister's new website, an inspirational and exciting twist of direction for them both.

http://www.glimpsesofglory.com.au/

Take a look - you may be very surprised!

And, of course, my website also. This one has been slow yet steady, and will be available soon. Very soon.
I am very excited with its progress!

All this aside my other life jobs have been unrelated to photos, so I can't post photos of them... so to speak. Add to that list the usual farm chores, babysitting, making resumes, job searching, painting, writing, more writing, remembering to eat... the list goes on and on.
Praise God I have Him in the middle - and despite the fact I haven't put much up about Him lately, He is, of course, the very air I breathe and part of my daily existance.
Hopefully I shall be more updated and organised, but we'll go how we go.

That's life.

The Purpose of Life...

The Stages of Letting Go - Denial

The Process of letting go - because it is just that - a process.

Sometimes letting go can appear a simple thing - sometimes it is. Sometimes letting go can be instant, a moment of no return.
It is that, too.

But I am finding the process of letting go can be likened to the process of grieving.

It has stages. 

These stages may all occur at once, or slowly, and,like the stages of grief, follow their course - although,not always in a particular order.

Despite the natural course of grief which ends in resolution, someones a stage can repeat, and that person may not get beyond that stage.

This is seen a lot and can be identified with an unwillingness to even remember or move on. Moving on, also called resolution in the stages of grief, is part of the grieving process and this is where healthy grief heads - the ability to grieve the loss but also remember the good times.

In the same way, we can be when we do not let go.

While we may not be grieving a person, I think there are similar stages which inhibit and affect how wedeal with things, and our ability to let go.

I think denial is huge. Denial can be seen in many forms:

Denial of anything to let go of, of the pain of the past, of feelings, emotions, thoughts - even if we thought we shouldn't have had them. We still cannot deny what is true.

Denial is the first stage of grief. While I am not suggesting letting go of things is or isn't a grieving process (it may well be) I am comparing similarities.

In the same way people clarify and ask for a second opinion when they hear of a loved one's death, in life we also discredit problems and pain which bubbles away under the surface.

We may consider the problem insignificant, or, be very aware of its existence, and know dredging it up will be painful beyond belief - so for own own sakes, we keep it hidden. I, too, am guilty of that.

The trouble here is that while denial eases the present pain, it only bandaids a seeping wound which grows deeper and more painful, as it hides, unexposed to light.

What I mean here is that in order to let go of something, we have to recognise that there is something to let go of.
To forgive, you have to see the unforgiveness, to heal a wound you have to know it is there.

To start healing and cleaning. 

To heal a wound you must know it is there.

Often  the pain warns us, but we can numb the pain with denial like an aspirin.

But aspirin doesn't heal the wound, or open it up, or clean it out. Rather, it helps us to forget. Sometimes only momentarily, but yes,we have forgotten! Until it wears off and we are back to where the pain started. In the same way, denial lies, alters the truth and minimises what is really wrong. 

A huge step to healing is accepting and recognising the wound. Then comes the difficult part - omce the aspirin has worn off, and the pain has become unbearable, the wound must be treated, cleaned out, and left to heal.

but sometimes the pain is too great - and we fear - or the fear is to great, and we refuse to allow the healing process to begin. We are terrified of what we might find underneath our bandaid, so we keep swigging asprin in the hopes it will go away by itself. Don't get me wrong here, but, like too much aspirin, denial eventually becomes dangerous, and causes us serious (and less-deniable) problems.

The wound finally reaches the point where it is painful beyond the work of aspirin, and beginning to debilitate, immobilse, and seep. Now everyone knows it is there.

What's worse, you now have no choice but to open it up and let it be treated - or else.

Unfortunately for us, our denial keeps these wounds hidden, leaving them to rot and get deeper.

God has always wanted to help us heal them. 

Denial hasn't. Denial has prevented the healing while it was still a small cut, surface level and easily cleaned. Denial and fear have let it rot, have let it become deadly. Because denial is deadly. Hiding, lying, denying the truth - will eventually catch up. Like invisible bacteria infecting a wound, denial works deeper than we know. 

The good news is that the master physician is the healer, and He does heal. No stage of sickness, no intense pain, and no problem is too big for Him. 

But like an unwilling hospital patient, he cannot help or heal us if we will not admit that we need healing.

If we think we can fix it ourselves.
If its not as bad as that.
If its not there at all.
Denial is dangerous.

Truth is life.
Truth is painful.
Truth is opening up the wound, dressing it, prodding it, cleaning it.
Making it bleed.
Truth and them love.

Love is the cleansing, as care is given. 

Then comes the healing.

But healing cannot be given to a hardened heart.

I think you know what I mean.

Don't let denial keep you in pain.

No pain is too great, no wound too deep.

He will heal you.

Let Him.

Papo Boxer - A Walk Around

Photography Portfolio - Old Photography Files #3 - Assortment of Images

Schleich Horses - the Tail End of It