Red brick wall or vibrant mural?
I came across this mural today and rather than walk past I stopped to grab a snap. Something about the colours and shading was pleasing on the eye to me. It is painted on a plain red brick wall and stands out very prominently. Whilst it is just a painting it's location, a small out-of-the-way lane in the centre of the city, and the stark contrast of vibrant colours and beauty against the plain dull red brick wall reminded me of the contrasts within my own life - The choices I make between living my best version of it, or not.
Each day we have the choice to create a vibrant life, the one we truly want, or not - Some choose one or the other and some choose not to choose which is a choice in itself of course.
Taking the time to be present in every moment of our lives is incredibly important - There's so many ways to do so as well. For me it's taking the time to see what's around me, to appreciate it: Trees, sunsets, the smell of that early-morning coffee, the friendly smile of a passer-by, satisfaction of a job well done...A mural in the street on a sunny day. It's also the choice to apply ownership of self: Actions, reactions, and attitude plus the choice to take responsibility for my life, its success and failures. That's what I call being present. Gratitude and presence are very important elements to my life.
Being one hundred percent present in the moments of our lives means we have a greater chance of getting the most from them, of holding regret at arms' length and of feeling more grateful for the things, experiences and people we have in our lives.
Someone once asked me, "what makes a great year for you?" It was during a talk I was giving to some new-to-the-industry young people...I think he wanted to know a dollar-figure. What I told him was a good year for me is simply 365 ten out of ten days in a row [366 on a leap year I suppose.] I went on to explain that it's the minutes and hours of a day lived at, or as close to ten out of ten, that all come together to culminate in a great year over all.
It all starts with presence, in those minutes and hours.
We have a choice in life, a pretty simple one. Choose one way and there's a result. Choose the other, a different result. It's a little like the mural on that wall you see. I could ask a hundred people what they see and I can guarantee you there'll be a mixture of answers spread between a red brick wall, a vibrant mural or a mixture of both. The same mixed response would be gained if I asked those same people to look at themselves in a mirror.
We choose to see things in our own unique way, all things, including ourselves. What you see, and what you do with what you see, is up to the individual. So, what do you see - Red brick wall or vibrant mural?
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default
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I like having random pieces of art around cities in weird places. Makes it all a bit more interesting.
Yep, quite a few here now. Nice to come across one by accident. Could be a good coffee table book I reckon. Street art from around the world.
I see both a red brick wall and a vibrant mural. And I can wonder about the life the red brick wall has had and what kind of things it would have witnessed and what kind of stories they would have if we knew how to communicate with bricks.
I love finding street art especially in random places :D
Maybe you should make that coffee table book ;D
I agree, street art has a certain vibe, the artwork is usually very good and it looks much better than blank walls or that scribble people spray paint up...Their tagged street-names and such. Idiots. Gimme some good old street art any day.
Howdy sir galenkp! Love the mural, very striking and skillfully done, enlivens the whole section of the block. What "industry" are you in?
Property industry. Commercial and residential. (Ex-sales and now Business Manager over a few big offices here.)
Oh very good. Mrs. J. and I built a successful real estate business in Ohio although it was residential but we did do some commercial properties. The economy is strong there yes? You guys in a city or town?
That's pretty cool, I didn't know you were in the job.
I have been in the industry for 17 years now, had my own property-development company for about 6 of those. I'm in Adelaide, South Australia and there's about a million people in the greater-metro area.
The market is not too bad, but like always, they have to be priced right to sell - Inflated prices mean time-on-market and lower eventual prices as you would know. Rental market is strong here with the average rent for a house being $380-$400/w and average house price being about $455,000. Adelaide tends to float through the middle rather than experience peaks and troughs like the Sydney and Melbourne markets. Our house pricing in the metro-area spans about $300,000-$5,000,000 depending on area and rents span $255-$1,250/w. It's a conservative market.
I've heard for years how expensive the houses were down there. The rental prices seem unusually low for the value of the homes though. In the States you would be hard pressed to find a home to rent that cheap unless it was very small in a run-down neighborhood. In most areas you might be able to find one for $1,000 if it was small. lol.
Many people are moving to Australia every year so the population is growing because of immigration? I also heard that you have strict immigration requirements. Like we don't but we should!