Lensography of JPTanabe

Afternoon Tea
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So, I'm British! That means a "cuppa" is part of my life. One of my favorite sayings, not quite from a fortune cookie but close, is that "Life without chocolate is too terrible to contemplate." While that is true, life without tea would be even worse!

I drink coffee as well as tea, and one day I'll probably get to writing lenses on coffee. But while I love a good cup of coffee, it doesn't quite give me the sense of tranquility, that life is OK really, that feeling of contentment and happiness that sitting down with a lovely cup of tea does. Of course a good book, a gorgeous view, and lovely friends and family help complete the picture!

Child Reads a Book in Front of the Hot Stove
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Mythical creatures, creatures of legend, lore, and fantasy, they just fascinate me! Some are beautiful, delicate, enchanting creatures that delight, amuse, and bring joy. The unicorn, phoenix and some fairies are in this category for me. Then there are the dangerous, scary, monster types that are intriguing but not necessarily what I'd want to meet on a dark night. These might include the basilisk, werewolf and even the dragon but only the Western kind that breathes fire, the Oriental dragon brings good fortune!

Dragon's Dream
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All of them though are amazing, they are either evidence of human creativity in dreaming them up, or a part of the incredible cosmos of which we are a part; either way I just love them. And the legends and tales that surround them together with such creative artwork make me happy! And you can even buy lots of them as figurines or plush toys. My zodiac sign is the dragon so that one just has to be featured here.

All over the world are the remains of cultures that lived long ago, thousands of years in the past. Some of these remains are the things you'd expect - bones of animals they must have eaten, evidence of fires, human skeletons, a fragment of pottery, and for more advanced civilizations the ruins of buildings, jewelry and other treasures. But sometimes what is uncovered is amazing to us and our contemporary culture.

Pyramid and Sphinx, Giza, Egypt
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These mysterious monuments are not just simple "primitive" creations that we might expect from the distant past, many are structures that reflect knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, and advanced architectural and engineering principles, not to mention a deep sense of beauty and creativity.

Ancient Moai at Ahu Ko Te Riku at Sunset, Easter Island
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Even if I don't get to see these amazing and mysterious monuments in my lifetime, the pictures and stories I've found about them give me a deep sense of connection to something that transcends our own time and space, and with that comes happiness.

Prehistoric cave paintings have been found in so many places, created by so many different cultures, it's quite mind boggling!

These paintings were created thousands of years ago, so the first amazing thing is that they have survived. Some were sealed in caves where the environment remained stable and so they were preserved intact until they were discovered and opened up. Of course then tourists flocked in and the damage started! That got so bad, some places have been closed up again and replicas built for the tourists. Actually that works for me. Keep the place preserved and let a few scientists in to study them, and make a copy that we can all look at without damaging the originals.


View of a Bison Painted at Lascaux Approximately 17,000 Years Ago
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The other thing that amazes me is the quality of art found in these caves. It's not just a few primitive attempts to draw the animals they saw, or a few handprints made by kids, kind of like fingerpainting, although those do exist. Some of the artworks show amazing understanding of artistic techniques, blending colors and making use of the structure of the cave and its surfaces to produce 3-D effects. Others show much better understanding of the underlying anatomical and skeletal structure of the animals than many artists today!

But beyond all that, there's often a spirituality about the pictures that evokes a connection to the animals or whatever was being painted that many are seeking today. It makes us almost jealous and want to regain that understanding.

The cosmos includes the realm of mind, of thought, of consciousness, of spirit. So in addition to images of physical things in the universe like suns, moons, planets and such, it also often involves the realm of thought or imagination, even dreams, as well. It has that spiritual connection to things of eternal existence in a realm that is not just physical.

Moai on the Small Planet
by Misticmedia at zazzle

And some cosmic art is based on those mysterious monuments that are fascinating in their own right and already feature in my "things that make me happy" list; these cosmic artists just take their essence a step further into a new realm.

The RocketMoms group is the brainchild of Bonnie, aka bdkz, a great Squidoo lensmaster. RocketMoms is "a gathering of the smartest women on the web, working together to make Squidoo lenses (and a whole lot more)."

I joined the 4th session of RocketMoms and it was a truly amazing experience! The RocketMoms are an inspiring group of lensmasters, mothers all, who enjoy Squidoo and enjoy making lenses together. In fact, I had such a great experience I joined Session 5 as well!

Helix Nebula
by annaleeblysse

For me, cosmic stuff should include the whole universe of physical things, naturally all the beauties of the earth and human beings as well as space and the galaxies, nebulas and planets out there. But more than that, the cosmos includes the world of mind and spirit. So here we should also find the connections to a world beyond our physical senses, fantasy and science fiction are part of it, but also thought and represenations about the world of spirit and the realm of the divine. There's just endless possibilities here!

This lens was nominated for

"Best About Me Lens"
in the 2009 Giant Squid Awards!

Copyright © Jennifer P. Tanabe, 2009.
This page was created on July 25, 2009 and is the property of jptanabe (Jennifer P. Tanabe) and Squidoo, LLC. Please do not copy my material!