Each Season Exists to Serve its Purpose

WInter-SummerI love this quote from Tshepo H. Maloa: 

“One of the most important lessons I’ve come to learn is this:
We are all sailing in our own individual ship of life; and no matter how great of a sailer you may be, we all experience seasons the same.
The storms will come, and the cold will come, the warmth shall come, and the blossom of spring shall also come.
… Winter is not bad for existing, nor is summer any less great for being hot.
Each season exists to serve its purpose…
And none of us are exempted from enduring the seasons.
Understand the seasons and times of life.
Take delight in the sun and at the sight of blooming flowers, but remember, the storms and the winter shall also surely come.
Learn how to adjust your sails and know when to adjust them, prepare yourself for the cold and the stormy seasons, but remember to always enjoy the sun while it shines…”

Underwater Exploration

Two cute little children playing in a pond

Humans have a long-standing fascination with the underwater world. From the earliest of times, people have been enthralled by stories of what lies beneath the sea. For many, the idea of diving into a new and unexplored realm is an exciting prospect. The allure of the deep blue ocean remains strong, with advances in technology making it easier to explore the depths below. For some, this fascination is a gateway to a lifelong passion for ocean exploration. The ocean’s depths hold so many secrets, and our fascination with uncovering them will undoubtedly continue for many years to come.

Children, too, are curious about the underwater world and its inhabitants. They’d love to explore the depths of the ocean and discover its many wonders. These images are not real-life, obviously as the children are not wearing breathing apparatus, but they are a depiction of our fascination with the beauty of life under the sea.

I rendered these images in MidJourney, an AI image generator that uses deep learning to create stunning visuals from simple text inputs. It uses natural language processing to interpret descriptions and generate images in real-time, allowing for quick and easy creation of visually stunning content and is my favorite of all the art generators right now.

Other Popular AI art apps include Neural Style Transfer, Artbreeder, Google AutoDraw, and DeepDream. Each of these apps provide users with a variety of tools to create beautiful works of art using AI technology. Deepart.io uses artificial intelligence to transform photos into AI art. Pix2Pix uses neural networks to generate images and Artbreeder, which combines existing images to create new artwork.

Dreamlike.art, Night Cafe Studio, Dream Studio, Prisma AI, Google AutoDraw, AI Painter, Deepart, Prisma and the new Adobe Firefly all allow users to turn their photos into works of art with various AI filters, while Google AutoDraw uses machine learning to convert sketches into digital art. AI Painter allows users to create abstract art based on photographs, using a variety of AI-generated painting styles.

Easter With a Difference

Today I am playing with MidJourney on an Easter theme


What do you think of these pictures? Could they depict an Easter of the past or is this a peek into the future?

Maybe an Easter Bunny from Another Planet?

Boy-Bunny?

Boy-Bunny?

Repper Pattern Maker

Repper helps you to make seamless patterns like a pro. With over 30 tiling templates and gorgeous 3D product previews, get ready to be inspired by the endless pattern possibilities.

Look out for times of the year, such as Black Friday when when you can often get up to 50% off the first year of your membership 

Learn more and try for free at www.repper.app
Sample from one of my images

Moving Across Country

My place is very messy at the moment, not at all like the image above, but that is the goal – to reduce my belongings acquired over 20+ years into about 10 large packing boxes. Why, because I’m moving across Australia from Brisbane in Queensland to Perth in Western Australia. Why? To be closer to my daughters and their families at last plus the bonus of my first great-grandchild to be making an appearance later in the year!

Fast Video Creator

I really enjoy learning and playing with new software and Fast Video Creator is looking really good, posting here a meaningful quote that inspires & encourages me.

Quick Social Media type videos from Meme templates

Nothing is Impossible!
Everyday Is Smile Day
(No sound on this video)

Tips for Reducing Stress this Holiday Season

This time of year seems to be stressful for everyone. Whether you are celebrating, Christmas, Hanukah, or Ramadan, there are special meals, guests and Stress!

Here are some ways to manage.

1. Don’t overspend. Don’t use credit cards unless you can pay them off in January. If you do, you will spread December stress into the New Year. If you have already extended your credit, resolve not to do so next year. You can open a Christmas Club account at your bank and save whatever your credit card payment was each month so that you will have the money set aside for next year.

2. Don’t have unrealistic expectations. Something is sure to go wrong. Don’t let it ruin your celebration. It will only be ruined if you allow it to be.

3. Give to charity. If you can afford it, give money/and or gifts to reputable organizations such as Salvation Army, Angel tree, Toys for Tots, church food and/or toy drives, Red Cross, or local women’s shelter. If you can’t afford to give money or gifts, give time. Volunteer to sort and/or wrap donations, deliver packages to recipients, staff a selection/drop-off center, serve a meal to a shelter. Giving makes you feel good as well as benefitting the recipient.

4. Share. Invite someone who can’t be with family to share your celebration.

5. Exercise. One of the best stress busters around!!

6. Allow yourself to be sad that loved ones can’t be present, whether they have passed away or can’t make the trip. After allowing yourself some time to be sad, focus on the positive, like all the holidays you did get to share with them or the future holidays you expect to have. Take time to relax.

 

7. Delegate. Let other family members bring dishes, use pre-made food, and ask others to help with the set-up and/or clean up.

8. Be flexible. Compromise when necessary.

9. Don’t overindulge in alcohol. If you do, use a designated driver, call a cab, or don’t leave until you’ve sobered up.

Doing these things should help you have a safer, more pleasant holiday season. Enjoy!!

Learn to relax

Reaction to Life’s Lessons

I came across a saying I liked recently, so made a short animation about it for my FaceBook page.

What do you think?

One of life’s lessons is that our reaction to a situation will often determine our path from that situation. So when we feel badly about any experience, it’s helpful to reflect on the process or situation we’ve been though and look for any useful insights that can help us move forward in some way. Self-reflection is a useful tool to help us grow & develop.