my sister is living in alicante, spain, which is where we started our adventure.

there's an area of the city called the barrio. it's below a castle (a castle high on a hill) and is full of flowers and plazas and doors and windows that are surrounded by colors and patterns.

i took this picture as we hiked down from the castle. it is a little over-exposed, but when i looked at it, it reminded me of how it felt to be there in the warm and bright sunshine.

{a photo project honoring radiance, one of my words for 2012 :: 52 photos that represent radiance, 52 photos that represent luminosity.}

the spanish light.

i am back!

do you want to hear the good news first or the bad news?

let's start with the bad news: my camera stopped working less than a week into the trip.

what is the good news, you say?

the good news is that it all worked out perfectly!

i panicked for half a day and tried everything i could think of and asked the guy at the hostel if he was a camera person and he was so he tried everything he knew. nothing worked.

then, i found the bright side. (i am good at finding the bright side but i must say that this one took a while.) i decided that it would be a chance to just immerse myself in adventure and inspiration. and, i had my iphone. and, it was really nice to not have a heavy camera in my purse. (so this is how you people without cameras feel all the time, she says with a wink.)

it really did work out perfectly! the camera stopped working on our last evening in cordoba so i had already taken pictures of the mezquita. after that, we were in madrid, and in museums much of the time, so i wouldn't have taken many pictures. after that, we were in marrakesh, and i discovered that i might not have taken many pictures there either.

if this scenario had occurred to me before i left, i would have thought it a disaster, but it turns out it wasn't a disaster at all. now there's a little bit of unexpected magic.

and i do feel inspired. when i used to close my eyes – except during meditation or reiki – i saw black. now, i see colors and patterns and images and light. i am full up with inspiration and beauty.

i woke up at 6.30am yesterday and got home at midnight. in between, i spent 18 hours on planes and 8 hours in airports. needless to say, it might take me a while to go through my photos. for now, here is a glimpse of two places full of beauty and inspiration: the alhambra in granada and the mezquita in cordoba. i fell in love with them both.

there is much excitement in the elizabeth & atlas house.

early tomorrow morning, i am setting out on an adventure. my youngest sister is studying in spain this semester and i am off to spend her spring break with her.

as a bonus, i am going to turn 35 years old in morocco! with that beginning, i am pretty sure that 35 is going to be the best year ever.

i will be back on the 20th – with lots of photos, i suspect.

(speaking of photos, did you know that if you buy a spare camera battery and it sits in the box for four plus years without use, when you happen upon it and are excited to take it on an adventure with you and go to charge it in preparation for the trip, you will discover that it doesn't work? i feel rather sad that my poor battery expired without ever getting to do the thing for which it was created.)

my blog will be quiet while i am gone, so i am leaving you with three things:

a picture of atlas, who will be having a jolly time at the doggy ranch;

a rather silly story about a hippopotamus named humphrey;

Humphrey

and a sneak peek of my brand new website, which i adore and will introduce sometime after i return. it's from the lovely allie of allie creative, who is a design genius.

until i return, may your april be full of sunshine and flowers.

on the one hand, it's been a very rainy and strangely snow-filled winter.

on the other hand, it's been exceptionally mild, so we've been doing a lot of walking and wandering and exploring of various portland neighborhoods over the past few months. it is one of my favorite things to do.

these days, there are signs of spring everywhere.

{a photo project honoring radiance, one of my words for 2012 :: 52 photos that represent radiance, 52 photos that represent luminosity.}

today, i offer up a musing on radiance from my journal.

do i have a sense of myself as sweet and steady? not really.

i notice [redacted], wherever he is. do i have that same sense of myself? definitely not. i feel like i go unnoticed, am passed over, which would explain why i like to be funny. humor draws attention and i am afraid that people won't notice me otherwise.

i think about friends of mine – i think they would be noticed no matter what because there is something about them that stands out. you just feel better because they are there. i don't have that same sense of myself and i think i try to compensate.

that's related to radiance. what if i could trust that i was enough, and i was visible, and the right people are attracted to me. i wouldn't feel that same need to be funny. not that i might not be funny anyway, just that it wouldn't feel forced.

you can't fool me!

and i most certainly will not pose for a picture with you.

sheesh.

there is a veil between the visible and the invisible.

sometimes, if you look closely, or if you don't look at all, the veil slips a little, and you can see into the world of mystery and magic.

"Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf."

– Rabindranath Tagore

{a photo project honoring radiance, one of my words for 2012 :: 52 photos that represent radiance, 52 photos that represent luminosity.}

today, i offer up a thought on radiance from my journal.

i wonder what it would feel like to radiate the essence of me and of love for me/others. mmmmmm. there is a sense of a sweet steady grounded happiness.