Driftwood

As in log, chunk, piece, timber, wood, and to a lesser extent, block, bole, length, stick or trunk.

All Words and Images ©2014 Brian Hallas.

No use without written permission. All rights express or implied reserved.

A Littoral Quarry, Literally…

All Words and Images ©2014 Brian Hallas.

No use without written permission. All rights express or implied reserved.

Checkerboards

I love the design and execution of these handmade boards that live outdoors for the public to enjoy.  They’re not more than a year old, but time and the elements have already aged them well.

All Words and Images ©2014 Brian Hallas.

No use without written permission. All rights express or implied reserved.

Back to the Beach

The day continued on from the bridge to the beach. And the birds.

I think of all the creatures on this big blue orb, I’m most envious of the birds. Does the exhilaration of navigating the airstreams ever dissipate for them? I dream of drafts keeping me buoyant, afloat, debonaire. Freeing me from the sacred need to hold on.

I used to wonder what would happen if gravity let go for one second, a bat of an eye, a fleck of time. The responsibility of gravity is a grave one, indeed.

And the birds defy it with their very essence.

And then laugh at us from above.

All Words and Images ©2014 Brian Hallas.

No use without written permission. All rights express or implied reserved.

Beneath the Bridges (uno)

I find the underthings, the underpinnings, the underbelly of many things, pinnings and bellies fascinating. Bridges are especially captivating when given the opportunity to explore their skeleton with my camera. And when you get a pair for the cost of a single, it doesn’t get much better (I’m easily entertained).

All Words and Images ©2014 Brian Hallas.

No use without written permission. All rights express or implied reserved.

Late Summer Flora

All Images ©2014 Brian Hallas.

No use without written permission. All rights express or implied reserved.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

More from Sunday’s Yoga Festival by the Sea on the Asbury Park Boardwalk. It was a lovely day for babies, origami makers, didgeridoo players,  sun salutatorians, volley ball players, huggers and birds. And photographers. And of course, the environment.

All Words and Images ©2014 Brian Hallas.

No use without written permission. All rights express or implied reserved.

 

300 Yoginis Walk Into a Bar…

From yesterday’s Yoga Festival by the Sea on the Asbury Park Boardwalk.

Thank you to everyone who marched worldwide yesterday for the planet and those of us who inhabit it. You’ve made me proud to be here!

All Words and Images ©2014 Brian Hallas.

No use without written permission. All rights express or implied reserved.

Elegance

I think we should all strive to be elegant. It is the epitome of living. Coco Chanel: “Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.”  I couldn’t agree more. It means living at your best in the least-encumbered way possible. It means cherishing beauty and the complex within the simple. It means appreciating all the colors that surround you. It means living with purpose.

Paolo Coelho, from Manuscript Found in Accra: “Elegance is usually confused with superficiality, fashion, lack of depth. This is a serious mistake: human beings need to have elegance in their actions and in their posture because this word is synonymous with good taste, amiability, equilibrium and harmony…Elegance is achieved when, having discarded all superfluous things, we discover simplicity and concentration. The simpler the pose, the better; the more sober, the more beautiful…The simplest things in life are the most extraordinary. Let them reveal themselves.”

To be sure, elegance is not external: the façade only reveals the spirit. Be vigilant in that we have control in every way—physically, mentally, spiritually.

So don’t settle for frumpish. Don’t settle for homely or stodgy or shabby—please don’t demean yourself like that. Don’t deny yourself the chance to blossom and thrive. Look in the mirror every morning before you face the world and ask yourself if you are at your most elegant at that very moment. If not, do something that won’t betray your own sense of style (and if you happen to think that frumpishness is your best route, then make it an elegant trip). You, we, I, all deserve nothing less.

All Words and Images ©2014 Brian Hallas.

No use without written permission. All rights express or implied reserved.

Envy

At first, I figured I’d call this series “Flight.” But then I thought about it a little more. It is what it is…

All Words and Images ©2014 Brian Hallas.

No use without written permission. All rights express or implied reserved.