According to Buddha
When women come into their full power, a balance will occur which has not been seen for so long that no one remembers it.
cowgirls don’t cry, ride, baby, ride
lessons in life are gonna show you in time
soon enough you gonna know why
it’s gonna hurt every now and then
if you fall get back on again
cowgirls don’t cry
***
36th Annual Smoky Lake Stampede, Town of Smoky Lake, AB ~ August 2017
How amazing for an old diety to give us women even such enpowerment in this quote.🌿
i know i didn’t know…i read other Buddha words…and yes i surprised knowing patriarchy is alive and well 😉 😀 just wanted to show women here in western Canada…so many sports are for men while women watch…these women are skilled and talented and it looks like so much fun! smiles hedy 😀
Love these shots. And the quote.
oh thank you kindly Bunty…appreciate you saying…just revisited your blog as my heart is thinking of Cuba…and all they will endure now…sending you joy for a happy day! 🙂 smiles hedy
Wow! Riding ponies at Smoky Lake. I love how the girls balance to withstand the centrifugal force while rounding the barrel. These are like the illustrations in the cowboy novels in my youth 🙂
😀 yes it’s the wild west here still Peter..these are BIG ponies…and the women are skilled and talented riders…Barrel racing is a rodeo event in which a horse and rider attempt to complete a cloverleaf pattern around preset barrels in the fastest time…so it is exciting for sure! have a happy day ~ smiles hedy 😀
Such photos, the intensity, power and action taking place during this competition has been captured for all to feel.
Ah, the balance, the ying and yang of the universe, for those that live it you see the power of a harmonious relationship with all beings and things.
thank you Terry…for your comments and thoughtfulness i appreciate it very much 😀 and yes i don’t care for some events at rodeos but this one is one i am always captured by firstly, i only have seen women doing it and no doubt it takes a lot of practice and guts…i wish i could do it…hmmmmmm well perhaps, in my next life 😀 have a joyful day ~ smiles my friend!
Time for the rodeo. Yay!!!!!!
YEEHAW! smiles Chris!
Ride’em cowgirl!
🤗☺️💫
The sequencing is cool. Round and around they go. 📷⚜️
yup…it’s a pattern and it’s almost a song Ray 😀 thanks…hope your doing well smiles and hugs your way!
Amazing how you see so much more when the motion is frozen.
Great photos.
thank you kindly Rabirius…humbled 😀 sending you wishes for a snappy day!
Couldn’t agree more with Buddha. We’re getting there. Slowly but surely. 🙂
well who knows…i think it varies culturally…within families and communities and yes maybe over time…it would be nice if we were just beings in human suits 😀 😉 happy days!
Likewise.
There is just something about a cowgirl. So self assured!
oh yes…horses have a way of doing that to us 😉 😀 the barrel riders are very confident! smiles Emilio have a happy day! smiles hedy
So me, presupposing lovely photos of sunrise, wilderness, open land, maybe city people doing city things. Love these photos. And reminding me to let go of preconceptions, expectations. ☺
😀 i’ve learned to have no expectations…then i’m not i don’t feel disappointed ^_^ and yes i like you see a my rhythms…they also make me feel safe 😀 so i appreciate you saying Robert…i enjoyed playing with lightroom to create a sort of retro look…well it is in my hedy head 😀 smiling at your comments…thank you Robert 😀 sending your joy!
Rhythms and ways we’ve
for me it’s finding happiness in the mundane and life has that…so i work every day to be happy and do things i love to do…smiles
I suspect some don’t understand about mundane. Some do. ☺
i don’t know i just know me ^_^ you know 😀 smiles!
Oops☺ feeling safe is important. Yes, patterns or preferred ways, we all do. Dynamic, those photos. Peace be with you. ✌
peace om 😀
Very impressed with what Buddha has to say here! (Surprised, too!)
Incredible action photos with gorgeous colour! I’ve never been to a rodeo–I worry too much about the critters. 🙁 You would never guess that by how I dress–ha ha.
Hope you’re keeping warm with this cooler weather! <3
😀 ahhhhh that Buddha…who knows for sure…i have read that Buddhism is widely known throughout the world as a religion of peace and kindness. It is less known as a religion of gender-equality. And, in fact, many Buddhists throughout the world are taught that women, because of their characteristic karmic dispositions, are incapable of awakening or of becoming a buddha, at least without first being reborn as men…i don’t know…in the 90’s i did some work around gender/androgyny etc…so i think about that in Buddhism…i am thinking it’s probably an evaded issue…The assumption is that Buddhism is rational, modern, agnostic, and liberal in matters of gender and sexuality. Book after book has conditioned us to see the celibate and chaste Buddha as a kind of androgynous, asexual, gentle sage with a beatific smile. Yet, some of the earliest and most systematic documentation of rejection of female sexuality in Indian literature is from Buddhist scriptures, especially the rules of monastic discipline (Vinaya Pitaka), traditionally attributed to the Buddha himself…so i wonder…and i’m the first to say i don’t know…i find bits to front my posts that makes sense to me in the moment or ones that trouble me in the moment…BIG smiles yes i’m warm…i’m thinking soon snow 😀 enjoy the freshness <3 thank you for commenting i appreciate your thoughts 😀
https://qz.com/586192/theres-a-misogynist-aspect-of-buddhism-that-nobody-talks-about/
Thank you for enlightening me about the Buddha! 🙂 So interesting! I have noticed in quite a few representations of the Buddha, if you look at them from the side, he appears to be “more than happy,” so I assume he has been around women! (I will try to take a photo.) I’m a “recovering” Catholic (that indoctrination was fierce!) so I really appreciate this open-minded and refreshing perspective. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and wisdom! <3
I have never seen a rodeo, but love the sculpture flying through the air.
worth a peek…i like small ones…the Calgary Stampede is huge and doesn’t allow me to get close…i also enjoy visiting rural communities…people are very friendly and welcoming…i would suggest going to one…it’s fun! smiles Barry have a happy day drawing 😀
Ooooooh wonderful photos – such clarity. You captured the power!
Alison
oh thank you Alison for looking and commenting…i appreciate it! smiles from rainy etown 😀
What a great set, Hedy! Stop action is perfect, dirt flying, conveys the power of horse and rider! Everything backed up by a dramatic sky…
thank you kindly Mic…always a fun day to be at…in particular small town…as i can get closer…and yes you feel the energy of the horses and the community…strong people! have a happy day ~ smiles 😀
very cool
It is Gavin I agree ☺️
AWESOME!!! “The glint in her eyes mixed with the afternoon sun lulls us in before a quick shift in the saddle flaunts her message: a woman with a Cowgirl Spirit can stretch, bend, and break the rules society lays at her feet.” You bring this spirit with every photo and word in this post. So cool Hedy ~ now which photo above is of you 🙂
Humble thank you Randall seeing your works and other rodeo photographers works helps for me to understand the sport and looking at “real” images I learn to see the positions that show the skills of the rider and horse better…cowgirls rock! ☺️🤓
It is always great to watch other photographers to see how they work and then incorporate the style/technique to fit you. Really fantastic shots, and you are correct ~ cowgirls rock 🏇🤠
Humble thank you Randall I did have fun playing in Lightroom too…and being close to the events makes it fun for me with my little black box…my legs are my zoom 🤓
Wow, another category of photography nailed by Hedy! The processing you did made these all look so classic, picture-postcard perfection, frozen in time. And I bet you had fun. That is some serious grrrrl power!
yes Lynn i looked at ‘retro’ and played with sliders in lightroom…so i had fun both shooting and playing in lightroom…mostly i love behind the little black box 😀 and yes grrrrrl power 😀 have a wonderful day ~ smiles hedy 🙂
…and, reading your comment to Raven Wolfe, I have to agree, but what would you expect? Sexism is deep, and old. I’m reading a very interesting book – maybe you read it – The Alphabet Versus the Goddess, by Leonard Shlain, Viking 1998. It was controversial, but I’m enjoying it for his refreshing ideas. He posits that it was writing and the alphabetic, linear modes of thought that paved the way for misogyny. That kind of spreads out the male/female problems across a pretty wide swath of humanity – any culture that writes! But we do have good Buddhist female role models around today, that helps.
indeed and yes Lynn of course you are right 😀 lots of scripts to play in 😀
Wow, such cracking good action shots, Hedy! Strong, powerful and the quote is a gem.
Have a wonderful weekend.
thank you kindly Dina 🙂 and yes the Buddha always has a lot to say…appreciate your comments ~ compose a wonderful day ~ smiles hedy 😀
😊😗
Great pictures. Brave cowgirls.
many rodeo people are brave…i can’t imagine but they grow up and seeing the children starting so young riding sheep it seems to make more sense…this is a different world for me…always fun to visit! smiles Alex…have a wonderful week! 😀
I might add that I am quite happy to live in a culture and a time that have seen so much progress for women. When I went to College, there were 15-20% women at the most. Now the proportion is close to 60% overall in the “Millenial” generation. 🙂
my father raised me as a feminist I ways say and yes progress…always hopeful we evolve 🤓 here is Alberta we now have 27 universities so now an undergrad degree less value it’s an extension of high school…as an adjunct I have many wonders about the place of education in Canada but those thoughts are not for my sloppy blog 🤓☺️ here my intentions are beauty with just a touch of sloppy 😉
Well, despite all the many things that are still needed for women’s full place in society, let us stay with beauty… Have a lovely week Hedy.
yes every day i do…it is best for me…then i can share the joy i cultivate…i work daily to create happiness 😀 sorry for my delayed response…i need to see if i already did…between phone reading and writing on the computer i can get confused 😉 😀 smiles!!!! 😀
It can happen. Are you using Android or I-Phone?
iphone.
Likewise. I only use Android in Paris, a local cel I bought few years ago. It takes me ages to do anything. Don’t understand the logic. 🙁 (Myabe because I also use Mac and I-Pad?) 😉