Giving Thanks

Today many of us will sit down and give thanks for all the good in our lives.

It is a positive thing, to have a day to remind us to be grateful for all the good fortunes in our lives.

But before we start to devour large amounts of food, after feeling content with our gratefulness, consider this.

Why not make this a daily thing rather than a yearly event? Why not remind ourselves everyday of our good fortunes.

And remember, being grateful is not just about what you have in your life, but also about who you have.

For me, I know I am an incredibly fortunate soul, just by the amazing people I have around me.

To all of you, I am eternally thankful.

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Wishing everyone here a happy, safe and joyful Thanksgiving

❤️❤️❤️

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Photo and words © by Shadowjo

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The Art Of Survival

The art of survival

On the surface of a small rock

Floating in the midst of creation

Can be difficult to achieve at times

But it has been done.

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This Wondering Leaf

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I came across this wondering leaf

On a day the clouds were few

In a park where wild things roamed

And free birds gracefully flew.

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We chatted for a little while

Of things that we both knew

Of family, life and dreams

And of the current world view

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He told me how he broke away

From the family tree, in the Fall

He was tired of hanging around

And had left the family I recall.

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We exchanged our contact details

And then went our separate ways,

To date I have not received a word

But hope to, in the coming days.

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I wish him well in his endeavors

For it's hard to reject the family tree

And stamp your mark on life

Just to taste how it feels to be free.

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November 15, 2014

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Photo and words © by Shadowjo

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Touch Of Magic

Some folks search for glory

Some search for riches

Some for a happy state of being

Some for a little self-esteem

Me, all I search for is,

A little touch of magic

To keep alive my dreams.

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August 14 2018

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The Spider Revolution

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The time has come

The moment seized

The word has spread

The revolution is here

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The Spiders From Mars

Like the Ants of Jupiter

The Beetles of Saturn

The Moths of the Moon

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All clambering for power

All jostling for position

All hustling for the win

All howling at the wind

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A revolution they want

A fair count that's all

A way to win the lost

A seat at the very top

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But

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There's no rule for that

There's no law to live by

There's only an anarchy

And a bully's gasping threat.

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November 15 2020

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Photo and words © by Shadowjo

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Shades Of Heaven

Death is just another way of life telling you that you are no longer compatible with living!

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No need to take it personally. 😊

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Photo and words © by @Shadowjo

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The Memory Trap (A short story)

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He walks outside and lights another cigarette.

As he bends down to sit on an old wooden bench, he moans a little, them creaky old bones are struggling a bit. He draws in a deep puff of smoke into his sickly lungs, and ponders over the vision before him.

The menagerie of animals loitering about his yard give him comfort, especially his chickens. His brain sends him a sharp nudge,

"I must do something about that gap in the fence of the chook pen, bloody foxes have been spotted by the neighbor’s pen, only a matter of time before they take one of my girls."

The roosters are squabbling among themselves again, but he pays no attention to them. The cats are looking a bit scrawny but contended.

“I’m not wasting good money feeding them when there's plenty of rats around the farm”

Not once considering that the rats are better fed, and often larger in size than those poor cats.

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He brushes away some flies buzzing around his eyes, as he recalls a much different time when his mum and dad were still around. Back then there was a constant traffic of family and friends through the doors of this old place.

"How different it was back then, dad always took care of everything and made all the decisions, and mum was always cleaning or in the kitchen cooking something. Silence was not something this place was used to, and yet, now, that's all I have."

Few visitors call here now, and when they do, he wishes they hadn't.

“Ohh let’s face it, they always come when I’m in the middle of something”

And he’s always in the middle of something, or getting ready to be. His routine has become his protective barrier against his disintegrating past, and he holds onto it with the determination of stubborn mule. Once a routine is established, it cannot be undone!

Nothing new enters his life, unless the old is beyond repair, and that’s not from a lack of trying.

His world is crumbling around him, but he doesn’t see it, for he has only retrospective vision. In his world something new is met with fear disguised as contempt and mistrust. He has fallen into that memory trap, and now it’s

shut tight and impossible to escape.

Photo and words © by @Shadowjo #shadowjo

America Under Cover . . Photo and words by Shadowjo @ Shadowlands https://m.facebook.com/Shadowlands/ #shadowjo #color_captures #asi_es_colorsworld #colormyworld #colors_photogroup #unintentionalart #tv_hiddenbeauty #through_the_details #the_detail_lens #simplephotography #creativecontentbuilders #addicted_to_colors #jj_art #jj_colorlove #details_and_closeups #details_world #addicted_to_details #alluring_details #bestcolorpics #history #politics #accountability #showsomerespect #duty #total_myflag #americana #flag #usa #patriotic #becauseican https://www.instagram.com/p/CHfx7VQFKB_/?igshid=18c3l346cjibh

Cryptesthesia . There is wonder And there is beauty Within this world So often gloomy Nature always speaks In a language so clear Yet we choose to play deaf And hide amongst our fear We serve up and swallow A banquet of conceived dread And live a life not a life instead. Look around you See the magic under the fear The beauty so near A world simple and clear Open your eyes to the charm Of our forgotten macrocosm Bring back that lost memory That disappeared unnoticed Under an avalanche of greed Put aside your mature hysteria And recall your childhood wonderment. . November 1, 2014 . . Photo and words © by @Shadowjo #shadowjo #color_captures #asi_es_colorsworld #colormyworld #unintentionalart #tv_hiddenbeauty #through_the_details #the_detail_lens #simplephotography #creativecontentbuilders #addicted_to_colors #jj_colorlove #details_and_closeups #details_world #addicted_to_details #alluring_details #bestcolorpics #ig_magical_nature #nature #colors #beautiful #flowers #picoftheday #colourful #naturephotography #bees #poetry #poet #childhood #innocent https://www.instagram.com/p/CHdNOv5H2Ay/?igshid=k4j3jmpcfi8p

Synesthesia Gone Vision of you in a bright summer dress Came to me in vibrant colors Words you spoke were in rainbows Happiness I felt was a bright blue-green My world it seems was awash in magic. Time looked yellow to me But worked its damage in gray Slowly bleaching our world away Liquefiable colors fading like water Leaving nothing but stains of brown. My world now is all but ghostly gray The words I hear have lost their iridescence Where rainbows once appeared I see nothing but an endless void of hue Where once you stood there’s only a pale mist. The golden winged Iris has left my world And taken with her the magic of old The beauty of life seen thorough a kaleidoscope Words filled with letters from a rainbow Feelings saturated by a spectrum of colors. I will now bathe in colors of ghostly gray And recall all the words we say To calm a breaking heart I will gaze into the horizon till blinded by time For a rainbow that I can truly call mine. February 27, 2011 . .Photo and words © by @Shadowjo #shadowjo #unintentionalart #tv_hiddenbeauty #through_the_details #the_detail_lens #synesthesiagone #breakup #relationship #brokenheart #endofmarriage #livingingray #AmWriting #WritersLife #getpublished #shortstories #stories #writing #words #wordssmith #tales #creativewriting #writingcommunity #wordgasm #poetry #poetrysociety #poetrycommunity #poetrylovers #poet #instapoetry #instabook https://www.instagram.com/p/CHaMr2PH8YS/?igshid=1704jbe72wsj7

Time To Unite As One . Regardless of your political incline Whether Left, Right or Central, no nation can be great when divided. To be great, a nation requires a great leader who believes in the strength of unity, not the corrosivenes of division. Just as important, the people must believe and practice unity. . In the words of John Dickinson . "Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all, By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall; In so righteous a cause let us hope to succeed." . The Liberty Song (1768) . . . Photo and words © by @Shadowjo #shadowjo #color_captures #asi_es_colorsworld #colormyworld #unintentionalart #tv_hiddenbeauty #through_the_details #the_detail_lens #simplephotography #creativecontentbuilders #addicted_to_colors #jj_art #details_and_closeups #details_world #addicted_to_details #alluring_details #election #politics #america #usa #unity #peace #love #standunited #united #unitedasone #united #goingforward #people #onevoice #oneheart https://www.instagram.com/p/CHTh1iiH2Mt/?igshid=8m9ry4tll7j

Mud And Duty . I could see it in his eyes, the fear and anger that cemented together to form an impregnable shield. Every time he went to put on his muddy boots, he vanished from this world. Not for us, we could see him clearly, but in his mind he was somewhere else. He walked like a hunted wolf who was never going to show his fear, or ever let down his guard. We all knew who he was, but none of us recognized him once the muddy boots went on. We had lost a part of him in those hell filled fields covered in snow and ice. Where he lost mates, we lost our father. Though the body came back, the mind lingered on there. There were moments, when the sun shone warmly, and the breeze was soft, that he would tell us stories, and even sing some of those old songs, that so many lost souls sang to give them courage. But time eroded the anesthetic effect of those words, and slowly he fell silent. He had nothing to say and no explanation to give, he simply lost himself in the corners of his memories and only came out when the sun was bright enough. We became accustomed to having our father lost to the mud and duty called The War. . . . . Photo © by Shadowjo #shadowjo #photo_art #photosociety #btw_art #bnwmood #blackandwhiteonly #black_and_white #blackandwhitephotography #black_white_photography #jj_art #jj_mobilephotography #shortstories #writersofinstagram #shortstory #writing #writer #stories #writingcommunity #writerscommunity #fiction #writers #reading #story #author #writersofig #creativewriting #authorsofinstagram #book #wordporn #storytelling (at West Hoxton, New South Wales, Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHRZP3DH7-e/?igshid=1b74scp0y4hal

The Fountain Of Eden . Seeking out some peace and quiet from this obfuscated world. Solitude my only companion. . . . . Photo and words © by @Shadowjo #shadowjo #color_captures #asi_es_colorsworld #colormyworld #colors_photogroup #unintentionalart #tv_hiddenbeauty #through_the_details #the_detail_lens #simplephotography #creativecontentbuilders #addicted_to_colors #jj_art #jj_colorlove #details_and_closeups #details_world #addicted_to_details #alluring_details #words #comfort #bestcolorpics #fountains #solitude #garden #peace #quiet #fivestars_gardens #ig_magical_nature #shadows_magazine #hiyapapayaphotoaday https://www.instagram.com/p/CHOBIGTHEeU/?igshid=pcqzxcf9axtf

The Elections Blues . Leo is not impressed with all this palava! He thinks it should just be decided by a fight to the death. Winner take all!! . I can't disagree, it would be at least fun to watch hahaha 😂 . . . . Photo and words © by @Shadowjo #shadowjo #election #vote #resist #politics #america #usa #bhfyp #results #justforfun #foralaugh #humor #laughter #fun #smile #laughteristhebestmedicine https://www.instagram.com/p/CHLSJdaHFHC/?igshid=1r75nfdgchkhu

Deliver Us From Evil . May we all do what our conscience tells us, and not what others tell us. . . . . Photo and words © by @Shadowjo #shadowjo #color_captures #asi_es_colorsworld #colormyworld #colors_photogroup #unintentionalart #tv_hiddenbeauty #through_the_details #the_detail_lens #simplephotography #creativecontentbuilders #addicted_to_colors #jj_art #jj_colorlove #details_and_closeups #details_world #addicted_to_details #alluring_details #bestcolorpics #total_my_blue #fivestars_sunsets #ig_magical_nature #shadows_magazine #clouds #concience #dotherightthing #election2020 #vote #usa #america (at New York, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHIK9kxHyGZ/?igshid=1xsxrsv9sisg1

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Number 65 (A short tale) . Do you recall walking past Number 65 and daring each other to enter that overgrown garden and knock on that dilapidated door? We mimicked courage while feeling the fear, and as we walked on by, our courage grew. Sometimes when I walked past it, all alone, I would stop to look at those curtained windows with cracked glass and peeling paint and wondered what or who lived behind them. The wind seemed to have taken up permanent residence around that ramshackle old building, where autumn leaves danced merrily all year round. It was as if time had left and never returned. Weeds had long ruled the kingdom of garden and path, but yet never quite taken complete control. Like some kind of naturally occurring chaos where no one thing had supreme power. Something in me was drawn to that old place, but my wild imagination kept me at bay. I can still recall that afternoon, when I lingered there too long. The skies were dark with an impending storm, and the winds were in a nervous hysteria, sending leaves and other debris on a wild dance all around. My eyes were pulled inexplicably towards that top window by invisible hands, and just as the first lightning flashed across the purple sky, I glimpsed a pale face peering out from the darkness inside. I jumped back so fast I stumbled and hit the pavement hard, scraping my hands, as my fast beating heart tried to resume control. I remember not looking back as I ran all the way home like a startled deer. I wish I had know then what I know now about that face that peered at me from the grey darkness of that room. I wish my courage had not been controlled by ignorance and I had walked up those steps, past that rusty old gate, and knocked on that time forgotten door. I wish the sun had shined brightly like today, and entered into that house at Number 65. . October 22 2015 . . . Photo and words © by @Shadowjo #shadowjo #asi_es_colorsworld #colors_photogroup #unintentionalart #tv_hiddenbeauty #through_the_details #simplephotography #creativecontentbuilders #jj_art #details_world #ig_magical #shadows_magazine #story #shortstory #tales #writingcommunity #writersofinstagram #mystery #words #regret https://www.instagram.com/p/CHA0YbeHhzm/?igshid=imragixlmy0s