Bloom Like A Flower

COZ EVERY PICTURE HAS A STORY...

Have you ever wondered how a bud blooms into a flower, spreading beauty, joy and fragrance around it? Have you realized that it blooms on its own, with the power within? You cannot force open a bud and make it bloom. We too are like buds ready to flower, but lack in power within to bloom and spread beauty and fragrance and glory. Like buds, no outsider can open us from within and bring the best in us. We have to realize on our own and shape ourselves better and better. Every one of us enjoyed childhood. Parents judge their children as the best, and are always protective of them. This acts as an obstacle when we grow up. This creates a false perception within us that what we do is always right. We pretty well know that our perceptions are not based on facts, truth, reason and logic. Still we cling to wrong actions based on falsehoods, away from reason, away from logic, away from truth. Like children, we continue to believe that we are the best. We continue to be buds rather than bloomed flowers. The only thing you have to do to bloom like a flower is to base your actions on truth, reason, logic, compassion, love and sympathy. What is the use of dying like a bud that never flowers? Let us bloom into flowers in full glory before we wilt and disappear. Let us shed the child like qualities in us and develop qualities that will last beyond our death. Let us shed our shortcomings, faults, mistakes, falsehoods and false perceptions, like we shed a dirty cloth. With all these things in us we are living like drainage dirt in a glass bottle, beautifully covered with a cloth, and perfumed with the best scent. We ourselves know the dirt in us. We have to remove the dirt and clean. No amount of dressing will help. Then only we will bloom like beautiful flowers. Let us do these things: Perceptions based on ignorance, falsehoods, and lies are your first enemy within. Throw that enemy out. Base your actions on truth, knowledge and right perceptions. Hate the word “hate”. Never hate others. This hate within you like a pest inside a bud, never allows you to bloom like a flower. Separate faultfinding from you forever. Never find fault with others for your miseries. Mostly the reason for your misery lies within you. Your wrong actions and deeds based on wrong perceptions, away from truth, reason and logic. Rely on truth, reason and logic. Don’t compare your self with others and feel sad and bad. God never gives any body everything. He gives different gifts to all. Instead of lamenting on the happiness of others, bring out the special gifts God has given to you. For this you have to rediscover your self and realize at what you have the best abilities and skills.





Develop them. Don’t live to eat. Eat to live instead. Realize that you are pure within. All the insults and abuses that others hurl at you will not harm your spirit. They can at best harm your body only which too withers like a flower. Your spirit survives forever till it merges into the Lord. Realize that like a flower, you too have a time span of life. Once life goes out of you, you are like dead wood and nothing more. So don’t accumulate things and wealth beyond your needs. What ever is surplus distribute it to the less privileged so that you will receive the blessings of the Lord. Nothing comes with you after your death. It is only the spirit that flies out of you without any attachments. But you will be remembered for your good deeds even after you are long dead. Your fragrance will be enjoyed even by so many next generations if you live a life worthy of emulation and example. Help others as much as you can as a beautiful flower never bars those who see it and enjoy it. Spread your goodness as a flower spreads its fragrance to those who seek it. Recognize and accept the good in others. Never hesitate to acknowledge the good deeds of others. Stop behaving like a child. You passed that age. Don’t feel sad if others fail to recognize the good things you are doing. You are not doing good things for recognition. You are doing good things because they are good things. Never hurt others. It will boom rang on you only. Think less about others. Think more about you. Think of good actions and deeds that remain to be done by you. List them always and update them. Be kind and compassionate to others, including human beings, plants, trees, animals and all living and non-living things that too are the creation of the Lord, just like you. NEVER EVER POSTPONE DOING GOOD THINGS. NEVER EVER THINK OF FUTURE. TAKE CARE OF PRESENT. FUTURE TAKES CARE OF ITSELF. YOU CANNOT MAKE FUTURE. YOU CAN MAKE PRESENT HAPPEN. Throw the greed out of you like you throw stinking garbage. Follow these and rediscover your self. Stop living and dying like a bud that never blooms. Live life a bud that bloomed in all its beauty and glory. .

HALLOWEEN!

Scary Wallpaper!

Photoshopping is back!!

My 2nd post on photoshopping...

Remember what I told u in my 1st post??..about using your own photos and editing them...thtz wht I did here(used a photo of myself). I used many layers in photoshop CS4 here. 

     This is a line art illustration. The concept of line art uses different densities of crosshatching to simulate lighter and darker shades of grey. Now, I went through some steps to have the desired effect. These steps   can be altered if you have something else in mind. But, the following steps will atleast give you the transition my photo has undergone. 


The steps are:

1. Open the photo you want to work on

2. Download brush set from

     http://inobscuro.com/brushes/view/35/

and download a suitable texture that you want to use.

3. a) Duplicate the layer.

    
    b) Apply Smart Blur: Filter > Blur > Smart Blur. In the pop-up mode set to Edge Only. This will       produce an inverted line art effect. Invert: Image > Adjustments > Invert. Hide this layer, we will use it later. Create a white layer above the original background (face)

4.  Create 2 different patterns.

a)  Create a new document with a with background

b)  Draw a 45 line on a new layer

c)  Use: Alt-Shift-Command+the right cursor to create a copy of the line to 10 pixels to the right. Continue until you get a set of strips.

d)   Merge the layers

e)    Select a square area

f)     Create the pattern: Edit > Define Pattern

g)    Name the pattern stripes 1

Now create a second pattern

a)    Reflect the strips horizontally

b)  Repeat the process from letter e

c)  Name the pattern stripes 2

5. Create the first layer of shadows line art

a)    Duplicate another layer of the background

b)   Apply Threshold: Image > Adjustments > Threshold

c)    Move the threshold level so you get the layer areas of shadows

d)   Open the Layer Style and apply Pattern Overlay

e)    Select the first pattern you created

f)     In the blend mode of the dialog box select Lighten

g)    Scale the pattern till you like it.

h)   Convert this layer to a Smart Object: in the layers dialog box select Convert to smart Object

i)     Set the blending mode to multiply

Similarly create a second layer of shadows line art and set the blend mode to multiply.

5. Bring back the edges

a)    Move to the top of the layer stack the Edge layer created in step 3

b)   Set the blending mode to multiply

For darkest shadows:

a)    Create another copy of the original layer

b)   Apply threshold

c)    Set the level so you only get the darkest shadows

d)   Be sure that this layer is on top of the layer stack, set the blending mode to multiply

6. Background Paper

a)    Open the texture file

b)   Drag and drop it to the main file

c)    Place the layer above the white and below the shadows line art

d)   Select the eraser tool, select a small brush with a 30 % opacity

e)    Erase some areas inside the face like the cheeks, it doesn’t has to be perfect we are emulating ink coloring

f)     Now increase the opacity to 50% and erase the external part.

Your Line Art is ready!!

Tell me how whether you liked my 1st tutorial on photoshop or not.