Nepal: An offering to Ganesha

November 14, 2013 by Jenna Filia Canty

I found this special woman in Bhaktapur, Nepal at a Hindu temple. In the first photo, she is located in the bottom right, dressed in a red salwar and raising her hand to add a dab of paste to her forehead. The same paste is rubbed onto the god as a sign of devotion and respect. I met her after taking the photo and followed her along to prepare and give an offering to Ganesh. She rang the bell to […]

Categories: Photography, Yoga • Tags: bhaktapur, darshan, deity, divine offering, Douglas Brooks, ganapati, ganesh, ganesha, Hindu, hindu temple, Hinduism, human spirit, India, Nepal, offering, puja, seeing, travel, travel notes

Weekend Instagrams, June 28-30th

July 1, 2013 by Jenna Filia Canty

By far, the best part of this weekend was having Indian food two nights in a row with Joe and finally going out to hear music and dance together. It had been too long! Friday night we ate at Tiffin Wallah in Curry Hill and Saturday night at Devi in Gramercy Park.  I know it seems crazy having Indian two nights in a row, but let me tell you – he loves it as much as I do!  Or, maybe […]

Categories: Good Company, Weekend Instagrams • Tags: Bushwick, Chana Masala, Curry Hill, Devi New York, ganesh, Gay Pride, graffiti, India, Indian Food, Marquee New YOrk, Nepa, Poery, prayer beads, Public Garden, Rumi, the chainsmokers, Tiffin Wallah

Merlin’s Favorite Remedy: Learning

June 28, 2013 by Jenna Filia Canty

“The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, “is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for […]

Categories: Photography, Traveling • Tags: better oneself, boudhnath, Buddhism, challenges, creative writing, healthy living, India, journaling, learning, meditation, merlin, monk, monk reading, museum, museum classes, Nepal, New York City, reading, remedy for sadness, Stupa, T.H. White, The Once and Future King

Moments of seeing, truly seeing

April 11, 2013 by Jenna Filia Canty

“I have been through some terrible things in my life,                                                                                              some of which actually happened.”  -Mark Twain- “Each of us can tell some sort of story about our lives, who we are, what gives our lives meaning, what we are capable of, what our lives are about.  Think for a moment about the stories […]

Categories: Meditation, Photography, Traveling • Tags: better oneself, challenges, Famous Quotes, healthy living, India, Insight Meditation Society, Mark Twain, meditation, mental health, moments of seeing, Photography, Sharon Salzberg, ted talk

A pilgrim’s Song

April 5, 2013 by Jenna Filia Canty

Sorting through the thousands of images and videos I took when I was in India has been such an ongoing pleasure.  Even though it was two years ago, it still feels like yesterday.  I miss the colors, the people, the temples, the bus rides, the food, the soulful moments with strangers, waves from little kids as our bus drove by, the excitement, the charm of each village, the fabric shops, the women that wrapped us in sari’s, the Dikshitars in […]

Categories: Good Company, Photography, Traveling, Yoga • Tags: hindu temple, India, Indian Temple, South India, yoga pilgrimage

Find your wells. Go to them. Let the others be.

March 19, 2013 by Jenna Filia Canty

A mentor of mine once gave me advice on personal relationships that I still refer to when it seems fitting. I don’t know about you, but I love extracting quotes from casual conversations and writing them down in a little notepad to remember later. He helped me understand relationships in the sense of a well that either can or cannot provide a consistent source of water. He said, “you walk up to the well time and time again, drop the […]

Categories: Meditation, Photography, Yoga • Tags: better oneself, Buddhism, challenges, empty wells, healthy living, healthy mind, hindu temple, India, India Photography, meditation, mindfulness, spiritual mentor, well being

Pablo Neruda’s Sea

October 7, 2012 by Jenna Filia Canty

I need the sea because it teaches me. I don’t know if I learn music or awareness, if it’s a single wave or its vast existence, or only its harsh voice or its shining one, a suggestion of fishes and ships The fact is that until I fall asleep, in some magnetic way I move in the university of the waves. -Pablo Neruda-

Categories: Photography, Traveling, Writers & Writing • Tags: India, Photography, seascapes

Auspicious light

September 23, 2012 by Jenna Filia Canty

Oftentimes an auspicious light shines when we are longing most for it.  Today, this light came in the form of a dear friend that went to India with me two years ago.  We ran into each other this evening and hugged until we sufficiently made up for the length of time it had been since we saw each other last.  What a hug that was!  She is beautiful, magnetic, passionate and charming – just what I found India to be.  […]

Categories: Photography, Traveling • Tags: challenges, friends, India, Photography