Moments that take our breath away

Originally Posted by Zephillo

I had one of those good moments when I went to France a couple of years ago.
I went to the Louvre and entered the room with GINORMOUS paintings all over the walls. (I don't even remember their names) My knees were weak and it took me a while to catch my breathe.

Were the ginormous paintings of water lillies? If so, it is the delightful Monet (one of my fav artists). Apparently he painted on such huge canvases (towards the end of his life) because his eyesight was failing. His garden can still be visited (with the waterlillies, famous blue bridge and cascading, delicate willow trees). So beautiful.

[Zephillo]

Originally Posted by amy green

Were the ginormous paintings of water lillies? If so, it is the delightful Monet (one of my fav artists). Apparently he painted on such huge canvases (towards the end of his life) because his eyesight was failing. His garden can still be visited (with the waterlillies, famous blue bridge and cascading, delicate willow trees). So beautiful.

I don't quite remember. There were two rooms where they had them. They looked like Michelangelo's. I think the room I went it was about two stories tall, and it was mostly just paintings of people.
My memories are foggy about the details, but the feeling I can still remember.
I wish I could go back for a refresher.

Originally Posted by Belle

Seeing a ginormous spider in my living room.

Hope it didn't get anywhere near you, I got bitten by a spider once right at the center of my back & it swelled & hurt for a few weeks, nasty.

Here is one of my funny moments one beautiful morning I opened all the curtain of the front of my old room, I was on the way to work and in a hurry as usual, put on the jeans I put out the night before, and lo!...
I felt something unusually cold, squirmed up my leg-
I'm sure the jaw of the passersby at the beach dropped
who saw me freaking out as if I'm dancing & in an unbelievable freaking hurry to take the pants off. I found a cockroach inside it after the funny actions which still makes me laugh until today when I remember it.
Never in my life did I ever take my pants off in a such a hurried funny fashion.

Reacting that way to spiders is just a learned response. I used to be like that too. I had to overcome it one night when I visited a farm. Directly above my pillow - high up on the ceiling - was a substantial spider. I knew there was nothing I could do about it. Right then I rationalised away my fear by asking myself what I was afraid of? Answer: that it would crawl on my face - likelihood? Remote. It allayed my fear.

Thereafter my fear subsided each time I saw a spider; I also learnt the card and glass trick, i.e. to place a glass over the spider and edge a card underneath it. Lift the whole thing and set it free outside somewhere. Have you ever seen a spider freeze when you scream? Has it occurred that it might be pretty damn scared of this towering screaming person that has suddenly appeared? Pause for thought. Spiders have a right to life too. I admit that I used to kill them out of fear and am glad I know not to do this now.
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Something else that takes my breath away.....the innocence of childhood - it's just so pure and beautiful
(in fact I have a thread on it, in this section!)

Having an intimate moment with a lover definitely takes my breath away :)

[Kaere]

Originally Posted by amy green

Were the ginormous paintings of water lillies? If so, it is the delightful Monet (one of my fav artists). Apparently he painted on such huge canvases (towards the end of his life) because his eyesight was failing. His garden can still be visited (with the waterlillies, famous blue bridge and cascading, delicate willow trees). So beautiful.

The Illusionists are at the Musee d'Orsay... if you ever get the chance, GO! Unbelievable...

[Tobi]

Originally Posted by amy green

Reacting that way to spiders is just a learned response. I used to be like that too. I had to overcome it one night when I visited a farm. Directly above my pillow - high up on the ceiling - was a substantial spider. I knew there was nothing I could do about it. Right then I rationalised away my fear by asking myself what I was afraid of? Answer: that it would crawl on my face - likelihood? Remote. It allayed my fear.

Thereafter my fear subsided each time I saw a spider; I also learnt the card and glass trick, i.e. to place a glass over the spider and edge a card underneath it. Lift the whole thing and set it free outside somewhere. Have you ever seen a spider freeze when you scream? Has it occurred that it might be pretty damn scared of this towering screaming person that has suddenly appeared? Pause for thought. Spiders have a right to life too. I admit that I used to kill them out of fear and am glad I know not to do this now.

This is so lovely. Not many people stop to feel any empathy with the spider, but you do. I like that. Poor little things. They can't help having hairy legs!
They really are scared of us. If you touch one, and it senses/sees you, it can't wait to get away! It is a shame they are so hated and feared.

It makes me wonder what is it about them people generally dislike? (apart from the venomous ones of course)
1) They're black. (....uh-oh....something about that sounds iffy doesn't it!)
2) they run fast (so do Olympic sprinters but we're generally not scared of them! haha)
3) They are hairy. (big deal)
4) They make webs which stick to you. (That might be the cause for the fear really....I wonder)

[SpiritCarrier]

Something that always takes my breath away is the beauty in animals. I have a lot of pictures of cute animals on my computer and anytime I feel sad they can cheer me up.

One little dog in particular can give me a lick and the way she loves me make my heart so full that it takes my breath away.

PETS are a gift and I love mine.

[Tobi]

SpiritCarrier -yay!
What takes my breath away is a visit from my dog's Soul in the spirit world.

[SpiritCarrier]

Originally Posted by Tobi

SpiritCarrier -yay!
What takes my breath away is a visit from my dog's Soul in the spirit world.

One of the happiest events in my life was seeing my two pets, that have passed on, together on the other side. It still brings tears of joy to my eyes. It was an unbelievable gift.

Tobi,

I understand completely what you mean. Thank you for sharing your experience it has brightened my day. :)

Peace and Light be yours,
SpiritCarrier