Viktoria Vidali

photography & poetry for living

[imagesforrenewal]

MAKING HEADLINES The Art of Homeschooling: Foundations of Inspired Education Monthly articles on SixtyandMe.com The Luminous Compass on Substack

[imagesforrenewal]

Soon to be sunset along the Kapa'a Trail.

[imagesforrenewal]

Kona palms and sky.

[imagesforrenewal]

Advent

Let your notions fall away your assumptions ~ set them free into the sea of rolling change laid in motion years ago Impossible? Think again Unlikely? now never so the vortex swirls as twilight fades hear the requiem resound Cycles large and small converge catch your breath to see anew where the sailing ship upon the deep will point a passage through. ~ Viktoria Vidali

[imagesforrenewal]

Return

The divorce, small thinking the break up, models vain shame and blame, harsh isolation sunken spirits, trust decayed

systemic pressure’s hidden menace ubiquitous and smart the major role it’s played too well in tearing lives apart

be wise to what is pandered to what is pedestalled on high if you truly seek your freedom you will pass these falsehoods by

how to see them in their nakedness you must find the litmus test return to hear the inner voice that puts your heart at rest.

~ Viktoria Vidali

[imagesforrenewal]

In The Course Of Things

Do you take a moment in the course of things to look up wind cool on your face into the distant clouds?

Do you take a moment in the course of things to look down moss soft to your touch on the verdant earth?

Do you take a moment in the course of things to look straight spirit evoking your own into the eyes of another?

Do you take a moment in the course of things to look inward calming your racing heart to breath’s healing flow?

Do you take a moment in the course of things to wonder lucid intuition stirred at tender intimations of love?

~Viktoria Vidali

[imagesforrenewal]

Held In Fermata

When nothing sounds true like it used to when you’re lost in the pause in a cadence unknown— make strides in the right

When your dreams and the scores you have worked on feel strangely off key with the fixed melody— make strides in the right

When you’ve come to the end of a passage then question where next what chord could resolve— make strides in the right

Strides in the right? Attending to details necessities all, the small day-to-day callings essential— so when the tune changes …

You’ll be ready to pick up the tempo.

~Viktoria Vidali

[imagesforrenewal]

Quiet Sympathy

Do you have sympathy for the strong Norfolk pines that have weathered the mighty Trades of Hawaii's biggest island? For the black pahoehoe once a flow of molten lava intensely glowing red and orange? For playful crested cardinals seeking shade in golden grasses spanning rugged coastal edges? Not in the word’s ordinary sense today but in sympathy's old Romantic meaning: mystical interconnection mutual resonance entire Do you have such sympathy for brilliant yellow tang shimmering as one in turquoise ocean's clarity? For multi-colored rainbows coaxed alive by liquid sunshine arching deep in verdant valleys? When Well-being awakens— flowering discreetly arising by surprise— wherever you may be know it as the quiet sympathy that underlies all things. ~Viktoria Vidali

[imagesforrenewal]

Meet Me Halfway

Meet me halfway and I will show you troves of by-the-wind-sailors aside ocean coves

meet me halfway and I will fill your lungs with the fragrance of flowers strewn wide and among the grassy hills covering landscapes afar meet me halfway and I will sparkle a star meet me halfway and I will bring you to tears under towering redwoods ancient of years meet me halfway and a secret I’ll share your belonging is here our union a prayer.

~Viktoria Vidali

[imagesforrenewal]

As It Is

You could bike to an epic desert see Anza-Borrego in super bloom try out your camera’s clever features panoramic sweep, the close-up zoom you could start a drive at Dana Point coastal sun and moon to set it past Big Sur’s grandeur cliff by cliff as far as forested Leggett

you could hike through the tropical jungle into Nā Pali’s island valley cooled by soothing trade-wind breezes at daylight’s grand finale you could fly to romantic Italy immerse yourself in centuries’ art look aloft to cathedral vaultings stirring humbleness in the heart Or— you could stay just where you are: city, suburb, or country town and from your special vantage point sense the quantum magic now. ~Viktoria Vidali

[imagesforrenewal]

The Mandarin Tree

The mandarin tree and the mandarin tree keeper  live on the northern shores  of a big island 

the mandarin tree is young its keeper is old and  devoted daily  to its gentle care

the mandarin tree keeper protects its trunk feeds its roots ensures that it gets  deep-in the-soil watering

islanders on the way to work rest their gaze for an instant upon the verdant colors of the mandarin tree 

children on the island  walking home from school pick orange fruit  from its laden branches

artists on the island admire the tree for its shape and beauty

island philosophers ponder the nature of love that passes from man to tree from tree to man

and how such kinship  carries gifts unspoken  to the wider circle of community.

~Viktoria Vidali

[imagesforrenewal]

How Fairy Tales Came To Be

Truth is stranger than fiction. ~Mark Twain

The events actually happened in the past but it’s impossible in the retelling to evoke every detail or the exact sequence or dates or particulars about the characters since memory selects with the passage of time

as the years go by  the recounter simplifies and exaggerates edits and embellishes cuts and dramatizes sculpting a full cast of heroes and villains quests and triumphs pathos and passion into fantastical hyper relief —

then along comes the fabulist who believes something is missing in hearing and reciting the narrative (as captivating as it might be) certainly a fairy tale must have a purpose teach a lesson edify good behavior — hence the embedded message

ah, such brilliance spinning in the human imagination — golden thread, golden hair golden fleece, golden lion golden sword, golden bird golden egg, golden apple golden flute, golden harp golden throne, golden castle golden key … and a golden touch that turns everything in life to luster.

~Viktoria Vidali

[imagesforrenewal]

Sketching

If you outline a figure I am told your image will be flat and lifeless if you draw forms and shapes your subject will take on depth when you meet people as others they are fine line silhouettes when you bend in close to know them perspective makes them kin.

~Viktoria Vidali

[imagesforrenewal]

Abracadabra

I create as I speak I create as I dream I create as I move through time I create on the winds of intuition … outcasting spells that confine my being  to smallness

There is magic in speaking in dreaming in moving in listening to the silent voice that never stops singing the eternal melodies of Love.

~Viktoria Vidali

[imagesforrenewal]

Encounter With A Master

He talked like one who preceded speech with thought cordial deeply peaceful interested in me but not involved offering company of mind

what you might call  a perfectly normal person 

when we stepped outside he pointed up into the night sky spangled with silvery stars then turned to me as he swept his hand heavenward ~

There is all this … and then there is the omelette on the stove that needs turning over

these many years later  I remember his words  as I direct my gaze into the moving clouds heeding my footsteps as I go.

~Viktoria Vidali

[imagesforrenewal]

Efflorescence

There are no guarantees  along the way 

a windstorm  heavy rain  scorching heat

and the grand finale is cut –

but not every time

with cool watering golden light and tender care a green bud  takes shape

to become a glorious  efflorescence more perfect  than a dream.

~Viktoria Vidali

[imagesforrenewal]

Emergent Properties

All science aside

we know the feeling of closeness

how something different is generated when people come together

to their delight and surprise a new element arises

both foreign and familiar to broaden possibility

seemingly singular though grown in tendered soil

we are –every last one of us– children of connection.

~Viktoria Vidali