“Borrowed thoughts, like borrowed money, only show the poverty of the borrower.”

-- Marguerite Gardiner

How often do I let ‘labels’ get in the way of my experiences? There are times, I recall, that I actually allow the labels to determine what I am going to experience.

How many times do I check a movie review before I go to see the movie? Do I then allow the critic to become the one who is determining how I see it? Do I ask someone else how a new food tastes before I try it for myself?

All interesting queries that I invite you to try on for yourself. Continue on with the question, “Can I identify times that I truly experience something for what it is without relying on others’ words and interpretations?”

For me, it’s definitely when my camera and I go for a walk. I started qualifying the latter statement with “in Nature” and then realized it’s anywhere that I can focus my camera.

~ Sheila Finkelstein

“I had never been as resigned to ready-made ideas as I was to ready-made clothes, perhaps because although I couldn’t sew, I could think.”

-- Jane Rule

“Think wrongly, if you please, but in all cases think for yourself.”

-- Doris Lessing

Sheila is a photographer, and she offers both her beautiful photos and her valuable insights in a lovely email series, ‘Pictures to Ponder.’ If you are interested in this, please visit her site.