water | Recovery Thru My Lens

Hope

here I wait
anticipate
meditate
mitigate
debate
Hope

Surfing

one step
then two
like man
on moon
surfing soon

Sometimes it feels like we are stuck in the sand, frozen in time.
We see where we want to go, hear it, can even smell it.
But we can’t move. We’re paralyzed by the thought
that we might make the wrong move. This
alligator reminds me that there is
no such thing. One step, the
slightest movement is
progress.

August 27, 2012 | Categories: Beach | Tags: anxiety, awareness, beach, depression, Hamptons, healing, health, hope, inspiration, Long Island, love, nature, ocean, outdoors, poetry, progress, psychotherapy, sand, sand sculpture, sculture, summer, surfing, therapy, water, Westhampton | 6 Comments

Glide

take me

where

rivers appear

where

there’s no fear

where

we glide on glass

where

there’s no past

where

dreams come true

where

you glide with me

and

I with you

August 25, 2012 | Categories: Beach | Tags: anxiety, awareness, beach, children, depression, Hamptons, healing, health, hope, inspiration, Long Island, love, mental health, nature, outdoors, photography, poetry, psychotherapy, recovery, summer, surfing, therapy, water, Westhampton | 7 Comments

Divide

first sight
swath of green
nothing more
in between

time turns
emotions fly
windows close
walls arise

divided still
peeping thru
fencing now
glimpses
too

Setting boundaries is vital to recovery.
For me, it was a revolutionary idea and one of the most difficult
skills to learn. And once I finally did, it was even harder to maintain them,
to keep them sturdy and solid. It seems that when we adopt new behavior we go from one
extreme to the other. So initially, those boundaries were walls with no windows, no way to
look outside. As I’ve become more comfortable setting limits in old relationships as well as new,
I notice that my walls have become more like beach fencing, shielding me
yet providing lots of openings so I can see others
and others can still see me.
🙂

August 18, 2012 | Categories: Beach, Summer 2012 | Tags: anxiety, awareness, beach, boundaries, depression, Hamptons, healing, health, inspiration, Long Island, love, mental health, nature, outdoors, photography, poetry, psychotherapy, recovery, spiritual, summer, therapy, water, Westhampton, Westhampton Dunes | 13 Comments

Love IX

I blend in
yet ask you
to see me

I chime in
yet ask you
to hear me

I stay in
yet ask you
to save me

I leap out
yet ask you
to love me

We all have our contradictions.
Aspects of our personality that are at odds with one another.
It’s often difficult to reconcile those parts of ourselves that don’t seem to get along;
that don’t make sense to us or those around us, especially our loved ones. That’s where
we often get in trouble. It’s difficult to accept that some things are simply just as they are,
regardless of what we think is logical. The sooner we can let go of what
we think “should be”, the sooner we can love ourselves
and others, warts and all.
🙂

visit Love to see all in this series
©Meryl Spiegel 2012–All rights reserved–No reproduction without permission

August 16, 2012 | Categories: Love Series, Uncategorized | Tags: amphibians, anxiety, awareness, depression, frogs, Hamptons, health, hope, inspiration, Long Island, love, mental health, nature, outdoors, park, photography, poetry, recovery, spiritual, summer, therapy, water, wildlife | 14 Comments

Etching

graphs

etched

minds

of coal

palms

creased

hands

of old

inhale

exhale

temps

rising

so little

we know

In these uncertain times, it helps to remember
that I’m just one speck of sand in the ocean–the vast ebb and flow.
That my life–so large to me– is microscopic in the scheme of things. However
that my contribution, no matter how small, is vital to that big picture. That without it,
the world would be just a tad different. That I’m just as I should be at this moment in time.
That I am enough just as I am.

August 12, 2012 | Categories: Beach | Tags: anxiety, awareness, beach, health, hope, inspiration, Long Island, mental health, nature, outdoors, photography, poetry, psychotherapy, recovery, sand, spiritual, water, Westhampton | 8 Comments

Whisper

tell me

how lavender skies

stretch across

your dreams

how sadness

is soothed

by grape and

raspberry streams

how beach plums

turn white

praying

just before

twilight

talk to me

whisper clear

your visions

your hopes

let me hear

August 10, 2012 | Categories: Water | Tags: anxiety, awareness, depression, faith, health, hope, inspiration, Long Island, love, mental health, nature, North Fork, outdoors, photography, poetry, psychotherapy, recovery, spiritual, summer, talk, therapy, twilight, water, whisper, why, worship | 12 Comments

Coincidence

east west
north south
wherever I go
a coincidence
reminder
someone
I know

Since my posts have lately been on the serious
and perhaps downright spooky side, I thought this might be
a fun image to lighten things up. While on an assignment for my
local Patch online news magazine, I was photographing amusing
boat names and came across this one. I couldn’t help but laugh since
I’m indeed a typical Pisces: sensitive, creative and
always swimming in opposite directions.
It’s coincidences like this that
make me sure there are
no coincidences.

August 8, 2012 | Categories: Summer 2012 | Tags: anxiety, astrology, awareness, boats, depression, health, hope, inspiration, Long Island, mental health, photography, pisces, psychotherapy, spiritual, summer, therapy, water | 10 Comments

Streaming

pink sand
wonderland
triangles
squares
no cares
silver sheen
emerald green
jet stream

When I’m stressed or overwhelmed,
I often find relief by escaping into my imagery
with wordplay. In the weeks since I started this blog last spring,
my short verses have become even shorter—more and more like
word association than poetry.With this post, it seems I’ve likened this
wordplay to “streaming” —the data transfer that takes place when radio stations
broadcast via the Internet. Or is it just verbal dreaming?
I’m not quite sure but it seems to make
some kind of imaginary sense.