Source: Living Tao Patheos Blog by Ilchi Lee

One of my jobs is to put up blog posts on our various blog sites, such as Ilchi Lee’s Living Tao Blog on Patheos.com. I’ve done this for the last 10 years, so it’s very familiar to me. Sometimes it involves finding and adding a stock image for the post thumbnail. The one I’ve placed in this blog post was one I chose for Ilchi Lee’s Patheos Blog Post: “Start Meditating Today, If You Care about Your Brain”.

The post is about making meditation a regular part of your daily routine. I found this photo for it: a woman doing laundry who is taking time to meditate in the middle of the chaos. I love how it combines neutral colors with bits of blue scattered throughout. It is real but a little surreal as well. The woman’s face looks like it is an animation rather than a real person’s face, and the washing machine window is a blue that would be hard to find on common washing machines. It gives the picture a little punch. The whole look has that Nordic, simple, yet American feeling to it, down to the V-neck heather gray T-shirt and striped pajama pants. I also think the composition and the textures are very balanced and harmonious. The natural light from the window is shining a light on the woman’s mind and on her ordinary life. Yet, her posture is so perfect; she’s obviously not a novice. The washing machine window feels like water, the sunlight is fire, the walls are wood, and there is gray metal. At least four of the five elements in Asian energy theory are present in this photo. Most of all, I feel good when I see it and identify with the person in it.

I really like this picture; I thought it was a great find. But I seem to have been the only person around me that liked it. In fact, I ended up having to change the picture and the name of the post. So, I thought I should explain why I like it.

For something to be good, you shouldn’t need to explain why it’s good, I think. However, taste makers and style makers and label makers seem to explain things in a way that make people get it. It’s like dressing up your house when you need to sell it so that buyers can actually see the possibilities that are there regardless.

So that’s my picture hype 🙂